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Length: 3:51
WOLF BLITZER: A
catastrophic day in Iraq, with a death toll well --
well into the hundreds. Car bombs killed at least 43
people in Diyala and at least 76 people were killed
in a Shiite marketplace in Baghdad.
This as politicians debate whether there's been a
letup in the carnage. Joining us now, our
correspondent in Baghdad, Michael Ware -- Michael,
walking around Baghdad, it's become a sensitive
subject over the past few days because of various
comments.
I discussed it earlier in the day today with Senator
Joe Lieberman, your description of what's going on
there on the scene.
Listen to what he said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LIEBERMAN: But I'll tell you most significantly, the
American soldier is more confident walking the
streets of Baghdad today. And that's a very important
change.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLITZER: You speak to American soldiers all the time.
Are they more confident walking the streets of
Baghdad today?
MICHAEL WARE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, they're
certainly never fully confident.
But do they see that there has been some kind of
adjustment in the broad climate?
Absolutely, as has been well noted by these soldiers'
U.S. commanders. Their enemies, the insurgents and
the Shia militias are by and large laying low at the
moment, waiting to get the shape of this surge.
Nonetheless, in one of these areas that has been so
prominently secured by the U.S. military and its
Iraqi partners, where U.S. troops are now basically
patrolling all the time with this great confidence,
an area that had been controlled by the Mahdi
militia, today more than 70 people died when two men
detonated themselves in a busy market.
And don't forget, we're looking across the country at
about 80 American soldiers, sailors and Marines being
killed; in March, we're approaching that number
again, the third month in a row.
So are the soldiers seeing changes? Yeah, sure. But
are the fundamental dynamics altering at all? No, not
really, not yet. There's a chance, but far too early
to tell -- Wolf.
BLITZER: A year ago, the president said this,
referring to the situation in Tal Afar.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I'm
going to tell you the story of a northern Iraqi city
called Tal Afar, which was once a key base of
operations for al Qaeda and is today a free city that
gives reason for hope for a free Iraq.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLITZER: That was a year ago. The situation had
calmed down. But today it looks like all hell is
breaking loose in Tal Afar once again.
You've been there. You've covered this story. What's
going on?
WARE: Well, Wolf, I was actually in that battle to
reclaim Tal Afar, this city on the Syrian border,
from al Qaeda. I was with the 3rd Armored Cavalry
Regiment. I was with American Green Berets and I was
with the Iraqi troops, the Kurdish Peshmerga, as they
battled al Qaeda and took that city back.
Whilst that had a huge impact on al Qaeda's
operations there, no one for a minute believed that
that was going to remove them.
The suicide bombings continued, a much lower rate,
but no one imagined that al Qaeda would disappear.
What have we seen now?
We've seen al Qaeda hit yet another market, killing
too many people. And then what we saw later that
night is essentially Shia police from another Islamic
sect go into a Sunni neighborhood and all but execute
entire families.
So, honestly, the dynamics, the fundamental
underlying schisms, what's really driving this war
all over the country, are not yet being addressed.
We're only talking about the surface.
BLITZER: Michael Ware reporting for us from Baghdad.
Michael, thanks.
WARE: Thanks, Wolf.