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Length: 1:56
MILES O'BRIEN: In Iraq it appears that horrible spasm
of violence is tapering off, at least in Baghdad, now
that the holy month of Ramadan is over. The numbers
are grim. On average, 40 Iraqis died in sectarian
violence every day. The death toll among American
troops in October stands at 96. It's the most since
last October when the same number died.
Michael Ware is in the capital with more. Michael.
MICHAEL WARE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Miles, we see
that whilst the violence does continue, as the
American military points out, in the last couple of
days there has been a lull here in Baghdad.
Nonetheless, that has to be taken in a particular
context.
But let's have a look at what a U.S. military
spokesman, Maj. Gen. William Caldwell, had to say
yesterday about the drop in violence.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MAJ. GEN. WILLIAM CALDWELL, SPOKESMAN, MULTINATIONAL
FORCE IRAQ: The violence is focused along Sunni-Shia
ethnic fault lines, predominately outside the cleared
focus areas. With the end of Ramadan, we have seen a
decrease in the levels of violence; but this has only
been in the past few days, and we'll have to wait to
see if this decrease proves to be a trend.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WARE: Now, Gen. Caldwell has accurately hit the nail
on the head. This lull is a direct result of the end
of the holy month of Ramadan. We've just been through
the Festival of Eid, which is essentially Christmas
and Easter and the Fourth of July wrapped up together
in a three-day festival. So the insurgents launched
their month-long offensive. They're now taking their
breath, literally, as their foot soldiers celebrate
with their families.
Also, this would not be a time for the insurgents to
attack. It would play badly with their constituency.
So this is just a moment of intake of breath and Gen.
Caldwell is right, we need to see if this continues.
Meanwhile, violence around the city is continuing, 29
police officers were killed yesterday, just 45
minutes from the city -- Miles.
M. O'BRIEN: Michael Ware in Baghdad, thank you very
much.
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Length: 2:45
MILES O'BRIEN: In Iraq, a
lull in violence in Baghdad now that Ramadan is over,
but not so elsewhere. A bloody battle northeast of
Baghdad to tell you about. At least 25 Iraqi police
killed, 20 more wounded in a fight with insurgents
yesterday.
Michael Ware is in Baghdad with more.
Hello, Michael.
WARE: Hi, Miles.
Yeah, this incident north of Baghdad in Diyala
province is fascinating, Miles. I mean, this tells us
so much.
What we've seen in Diyala province, there's Sunni
insurgents, there's al Qaeda, and there's also large
presence of Shia militias. So this very much is a
fault line, this province, with sectarian violence
and with insurgent violence.
Over the last two Sundays, what we've seen is very
well-crafted insurgent attacks against police
recruits, busloads of them, as they're heading home
on leave or for holiday. They've been ambushed. Some
have been killed, executed, and dozens have been
kidnapped and they remain missing. So on Sunday, this
would happen for the second time in a row.
What's now happened is that the local police forces
were fed information to say you may be able to find
some of the kidnapped police in this location. So
they mount up in 10 vehicles and head out to that
village. Lo and behold, they're ambushed again.
There's no women, there's no children on the streets.
They were clearly laying in wait and were lured into
a trap. More than 25 killed, more than 20 wounded.
And this is on the back of two successive attacks on
their recruits where dozens were killed and kidnapped
-- Miles.
M. O'BRIEN: Well, meantime, as we said at the top
there, in Baghdad a bit of a lull in the violence.
What's going in the capital city?
WARE: Yeah, well, as we see from the official U.S.
military spokesman, General Caldwell yesterday,
saying that the last few days -- and let's bear this
in mind -- the last few days, there has been a drop
off in violence. Let's ask why.
The reasons are relatively evident. One, we're now at
the end of the holy month of Ramadan. So effectively,
we've just seen Iraq celebrate the Festival of Eid,
which is like Christmas and Easter and the Fourth of
July rolled up into one three-day holiday.
Now, that marked the end of the insurgents'
offensive. They would have spent a lot of resources
on that and would now be catching their breath,
regrouping, getting ready to move on.
Plus, literally, during Eid, it's not good PR to be
launching attacks, and quite literally, your soldiers
want to spend time with their families. So there's
very evident explanations, and even the U.S. military
points to the end of Ramadan as the reason for this
lull, and they're very cautious about saying let's
not get too excited about this temporary drop in
violence -- Miles.
M. O'BRIEN: Michael Ware in Baghdad.
Thank you -- Soledad.
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Length: 2:39
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: In
Baghdad, it appears that that horrible wave of
violence is now tapering off. Let's get right to
Michael Ware. He's in the capital.
Michael, good morning to you.
MICHAEL WARE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Soledad.
Yes, what we're seeing is that in the capital of
Baghdad, and that's just Baghdad alone, the military
is saying in the past few days there has been a lull
in the violence. However, even in announcing that,
the military is still sober in its assessment of what
this means. Even as the U.S. military spokesman here,
General William Caldwell, put it when he was
discussing this current drop in violence.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MAJ. GEN. WILLIAM CALDWELL, SPOKESMAN, MULTINATIONAL
FORCE IRAQ: The violence is focused along Sunni/Shia
ethnic fault lines predominantly outside the cleared,
focus areas. With the end of Ramadan, we have seen a
decrease in the levels of violence. But this has only
been in the past few days and we'll have to wait to
see if this decrease proves to be a trend.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WARE: So while this is a sliver of good news, it must
be put in the context that General Caldwell alludes
to. This marks the end of two things. One, the holy
month of Ramadan and the festival that follows it. So
people literally have been celebrating here in
Baghdad this week. PR wise, that's not been a good
time for the insurgents to attack.
But, more importantly, it marks the end of their holy
month of Ramadan offensive. They've launched an all
out campaign for the past month. This is most likely
the insurgents now drawing in breath and regrouping
before they move on. So whilst it is a hint of good
news, you need to understand that 45 minutes from the
city, 29 police officers were slaughtered yesterday.
Soledad.
S. O'BRIEN: Michael, what kind of a role do you think
this search -- this house-to-house search for that
missing soldier is playing in the decline in
violence?
WARE: Soledad, in terms of the search itself, how
that impacts on the violence, I would say it's
marginal if none at all. I mean, this is a very
focused thing. I mean, they're hunting for this lost
American soldier.
Now, they are doing searches, but it's in specific
areas when they get specific intelligence or some
clues that he may be in that area or his captors may
be in that area. So it's very, very focused. And that
is, indeed, if he has been abducted. I mean, we've
seen before one U.S. soldier just walk off his base
and next appear in Beirut. So though there is a lot
of evidence to suggest this individual was abducted,
there still remains a lot of questions about how a
U.S. soldier just walks off his base.
Soledad.
S. O'BRIEN: Michael Ware for us this morning in
Baghdad.
Thanks, Michael.