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Length: 4:23
JOHN ROBERTS: More
details are emerging this morning from a leaked
classified intelligence report about the strength of
al Qaeda. Sources tell CNN the report shows that al
Qaeda has increased efforts to get terrorists inside
the United States and has nearly all of the
capabilities to make it happen. The head of Homeland
Security said this week that his gut told him an
attack could happen this summer. Yesterday the
president was asked what his gut told him.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: My
gut tells me that -- my head tells me as well -- is
that when we find a credible threat, I'll share it
with people to make sure that we protect the
homeland. My head also tells me that al Qaeda's a
serious threat to our homeland and we've got to
continue making sure we've got good intelligence,
good response mechanisms in place.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: The president also repeatedly stressed the
importance of taking on al Qaeda in Iraq as he
unveiled an interim report that found the Iraqi
government had made progress on eight of 18
benchmarks set by Congress. Let's get a reality check
on that now from CNN's Michael Ware. He joins us live
in Baghdad.
Michael, you've heard what's in the report. How does
that square with what you see on the ground there in
Iraq?
MICHAEL WARE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, good morning,
John.
Look, what I'd have to say is that the authors of
this report are far more generous than I would ever
be in making my assessment of the situation here on
the ground. I mean, for example, to suggest that
there's been satisfactory progress in the area of
sectarian violence is quite a stunning claim to be
made by the White House.
Okay, here in Baghdad, they're finding less bodies on
the streets each morning tortured and executed, but
we're still talking about 500 or 600 each month. Now
that's just in the capital. That does not account as
a measure for what else is happening toward sectarian
violence elsewhere in the country.
It almost dishonors the suffering of the Iraqi people
here to say that because -- bear in mind, too, in the
past 12 months since the Samarra bombing, hundreds of
thousands, literally hundreds of thousands, about
50,000 Iraqis a month have been fleeing this country
or have been displaced. So there are simply less
targets for the sectarian violence. Some of the
neighborhoods that were once mixed are now
homogenous. The ethnic cleansing has been successful.
There's no Shia left in some suburbs to attack or
vice versa with Sunni.
And, finally, we're seeing the American military is
now allowing some Sunni neighborhoods to have their
own Sunni militias. As long as these militias agree
to target al Qaeda, they're allowed to operate with
U.S. support. The flip side is, if there's a Sunni
militia in your neighborhood, the police death squad
can't get to you. So it really is an inaccurate
reflection of reality. John.
ROBERTS: And, Michael, is there any sign that this
so-called surge is working and is there any reason to
believe that things will be markedly better by the
time that General Petraeus delivers his report in two
months?
WARE: Yeah, look, it's an extraordinarily difficult
things to gauge, whether te surge is, in fact,
working or not. Now, don't forget, the surge is just
the capital of Baghdad and some of the Fertile
Crescent that surrounds it. It's not the rest of the
country and it's not the complete answer to the
country's questions.
Now, General David Petraeus, the American war
commander here in Iraq running the operation, is
keeping his indicators close to his chest. He's not
telling people what are the things he's judging the
success or measuring the success of this surge by.
Why? Because if he tells everybody what those
measures are, then the insurgents and the
Iranian-backed Shia militia are going to go and
attack those numbers. They'll specifically try to
skew the picture that he'll be able to present to
Congress and he doesn't want that.
Nonetheless, for example, the deadly EFP roadside
bombs that punch through American armor with ease
have doubled in the last three months. We're still
seeing American soldiers killed at roughly the rate
of three a day. And as the second-most powerful
general in this country said, our enemies are surging
while we are surging. So it's a tough call.
John.
ROBERTS: All right. Michael Ware for us live in
Baghdad this morning.
Michael, thanks.
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Length: 2:53
KIRAN CHETRY: Well, while
Congress debates and looks over the president's
report on Iraq, what is the situation on the ground
there?
CNN's Michael Ware is live in Baghdad.
And I know it must drive you crazy. You hear all
these politicians here in the United States weighing
in on both sides of the issue.
You're there. What are you seeing?
MICHAEL WARE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, it's always
good to hear from the armchair generals, that's true,
Kiran.
Well, put it this way: if America wants to withdrawal
by April 2008 -- and I can understand the public mood
for that, moms and dads are sick of having to send
their children to this war, and they're even more
mortified of having to receive them home in worst
conditions than what they sent them to Iraq in.
Nonetheless, if America wants to withdraw, certainly
by 2008, then it must be ready for the history books
to record that as an ignominious defeat in the war in
Iraq.
Plus, America must be prepared to shoulder
international blame for what will follow. Indeed,
even before all U.S. troops are out of this country,
as a phased withdrawal were to unfold in the current
environment, once you drop American forces from the
160,000 in Iraq currently now to anything less than
100,000, 80,000, that means essentially they're going
to be restricted to their bases, unable to do
anything but protect themselves.
And honestly, that could mean the blood would be
flowing right outside the razor wire. If America is
prepared to pay the prices like that, and the
emboldening of Iran and al Qaeda, then, sure, America
can pull out.
CHETRY: Interesting, though, because you talk about
being ready to bear international blame. What about
international responsibility as well? I mean, there's
been talk and there's been suggestions, including, I
believe, in that Iraq Study Group report, about
getting some of these other countries in the fold to
help make sure that doesn't happen.
WARE: Yeah, well, right now, it's almost in no one's
interest to assist America in this regard.
The situation in Iraq has become such that I would
imagine it would be very, very difficult for any
politician to sell to his domestic audience, be it in
Europe or be it elsewhere, involvement in what would
essentially be the stain of Iraq. Plus, if you start
chipping in now to this effort, you're really
chipping in at the wrong end.
Remember, there was a whole coalition of the willing
in the beginning of this war. And we saw, one by one,
they fall away as attacks intensified on their forces
in this country, no matter how large or how small
their contingents were and you saw the public
reaction back home.
I'm afraid we're past the point where anyone is going
to be sticking up their hands to help.
CHETRY: Michael Ware for us in Baghdad.
Thank you.