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Length: 3:09
PAULA ZAHN: I want to turn now to our Baghdad
correspondent, Michael Ware.
You have been covering Baghdad and the war for years.
What do you see once U.S. troops withdraw?
MICHAEL WARE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, a lot of blood
will be shed, Paula. I can't begin to imagine how
much. Politically, already, Iran is much more
influential in Baghdad than Washington is. The...
ZAHN: What are the obvious signs of that, besides
weapons...
WARE: Well...
ZAHN: ... coming into the country?
WARE: Well, the fact that most of the ministries, the
individuals and their parties were created in Iran
during the 1980s. The building blocks of political
power in Iraq are Iranian-linked. These are parties
that were forged in Tehran as people fled from
Saddam. They are the ones who have now returned, and
under the democratic system that America created,
they're the ones who capitalized and have seized
power.
They're the ones running the government death squads.
They're the ones who own the Interior Ministry, the
hospitals, the, you know, transport system,
everything. So, Iran would consolidate its power and
extend. You would see Western part of Iraq turn into
essentially one large al Qaeda training camp.
You would see that Iraq's Sunni allies -- America's
Arab allies -- Saudi Arabia, Jordan, assisting the
Sunni insurgents, and, indeed, turning a blind eye to
al Qaeda. So, that's the most immediate -- you would
have regional conflict brewing.
ZAHN: So, who would be in place, then, to protect
Iraqi civilians? No one?
WARE: No one.
ZAHN: Yeah. We just heard about one of the security
guards talking about...
WARE: It's in no one's interests. I mean...
ZAHN: ... how no one is brave enough to protect them
now.
WARE: Listen, this government right now, many members
of it, or many of the most powerful factions within
it, all they want to do is see the Americans get out
of the way, so they can unleash their forces on the
Sunni population.
ZAHN: We heard a staggering report today from the
inspector general of Iraq, essentially saying that
seven out of eight U.S. reconstruction projects that
were once considered successful are failing.
So, if U.S. troops pull out, what does that mean? All
that work is down the drain?
WARE: Well, there is no work. It's already down the
drain. I would like to see what they define as
successful.
I have not seen one hugely successful American-backed
project. I mean, the infrastructure is not there. The
delivery of this money and aid and construction has
not happened. And, anything that the Americans touch,
the insurgents blow up.
ZAHN: We have just heard your prediction what happens
if U.S. troops completely withdraw. How many years
are they going to have to be there to prevent what
you're talking about happening?
WARE: Well, one American two-star general said to me
it may not require the troops we have there now, 20
combat brigades there for 15 years, but it's going to
require a long-term commitment.
Any insurgency has never been defeated in anything
less than about 12 years. America broke Iraq, now
America must stay until it's fixed.
ZAHN: Michael Ware, thank you.
WARE: Thanks, Paula.
ZAHN: And we know you have a series of reports coming
up. We will be looking for them.