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Length: 6:35
ANDERSON COOPER: The war
in Iraq, which, as you will see in a moment, is
costing us all $10 billion a month, $10 billion. CNN
has learned that the Pentagon's report card on Iraq
will arrive Thursday on Capitol Hill. We now expect
it will say that, out of 18 political and military
benchmarks, the Baghdad government has met only one,
one out of 18.
Despite that, President Bush today stood behind the
troop surge and the top American commander, General
David Petraeus.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We
just started. He got all the troops there a couple of
weeks ago. He asked for, you know, 20,000 something
troops, and I said, "If that's what you need,
Commander, that's what you got." And they just showed
up. And they're now beginning -- beginning operations
in full. And in Washington, you have got people
saying, "stop."
But I believe that it's in this nation's interests to
give the commander a chance to fully implement his
operations, and I believe Congress ought to wait for
General Petraeus to come back and give his assessment
of the strategy that he's putting in place before
they make any decisions.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: And that would be September.
A reality check now from CNN's Michael Ware in
Baghdad and Jamie McIntyre at the Pentagon.
Jamie, of the 18 benchmarks, which is seen as the
most important one?
JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN SENIOR PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT:
Well, Anderson, I think it's clear that one benchmark
is the -- stands out among all of them. And that is
reducing the level of violence. And, by the way, it's
a benchmark that clearly hasn't been met. The level
of violence in recent months has been pretty much the
same as was before the surge. There have been periods
where certain areas go up and down, sectarian
violence or attacks on civilians.
But, when you measure it overall, the level of
violence is just as bad as it has been for the past
year.
COOPER: And, Michael, the whole idea of reducing the
level of violence is to allow for a political system,
a political solution, to form among Iraqi
politicians. Is that any closer to actually
happening? I mean, are these guys highly motivated?
MICHAEL WARE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Not at all, in fact,
quite the opposite, Anderson.
There's many of -- or some of the very key political
factions, some of the major power brokers within this
so-called government, don't share this American
agenda. For some of them, it's just not in their
interests to see the situation settle down, as D.C.
would like to see.
So, no, this is not something that can be done
certainly before September. The concept of the surge
being an opportunity to give this government
breathing room to achieve some of the political gains
that D.C. is insisting upon, whilst noble, is not
going to happen.
COOPER: Jamie, what's the thinking at the Pentagon
about why the Iraqi forces don't seem ready to take
over the security of their own country? I mean,
obviously, that is one of the benchmarks, trying to
get -- increasing the number of Iraqi security
forces, but are they just not motivated?
Why -- why -- I mean, this has been allegedly
priority number one for the last four or five years.
MCINTYRE: Yes, we have certainly heard that.
And the U.S. has spent $19 billion trying to get the
Iraqis up to speed, and we still hear from commanders
in the field that the reason the so-called surge
force can't leave is that the Iraqis still aren't
able to operate independently. And that was the other
key part of the strategy that President Bush laid out
back in January, that the U.S. wasn't going to be
doing the heavy lifting. It was going to be helping
the Iraqis.
But, in fact, the U.S. is doing the heavy lifting.
And the problem with the Iraqis is, they're
infiltrated in some cases, by sectarian militias.
There's a loyalty question. There's equipment
problems. There's leadership problems, getting really
good Iraqi leaders.
The bottom line, though, is, the Iraqi army and
police are just not ready to step up to the job. And
that's another reason the policy's not working so
far.
COOPER: Michael Ware, though, it seems like the
insurgents don't have a problem with training or with
motivation or with, you know -- basically motivation.
Why is it that, of all the forces, the Iraqi forces,
the ones which seem unable to operate are the ones
that are actually in the military, whereas the
insurgents seem more than capable of operating?
WARE: Well, you touch upon something that's obviously
important. That's the matter of commitment.
Now, clearly, anyone who takes up arms within the
insurgency, and who stays with it, is as you say, a
very committed individual. However, in the Iraqi
security forces, there's hundreds of thousands of men
at arms now in the police and in the army. Obviously,
most of them are simply doing it for a pay packet,
because unemployment here is appalling, and people
need to make do.
Obviously, there are Iraqis who are motivated by a
belief in or a hope for a better future. Nonetheless,
the Iraqi security forces remain, indisputably, a
coalition of militia forces in uniform, as opposed to
their militia buddies, who are out of uniform. So,
it's very hard to get all of those guys pulling in
the same direction, when many of their interests
directly conflict with each other and the American
mission.
COOPER: Michael, I want to play something that
Senator Lieberman said about the war in Iraq. Let's
listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JOSEPH LIEBERMAN (I), CONNECTICUT: The war is
not lost in Iraq. In fact, now American and Iraqi
security forces are winning. The enemy is on the run
in Iraq. But, here in Congress, in Washington, we
seem to be, or some members seem to be on the run,
chased, I fear, by public opinion polls.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: Is the enemy on the run in Iraq, Michael?
WARE: No, certainly not.
And I think we need to be aware that it's enemies. I
mean, America doesn't face just one opponent in this
country, but a whole multitude, many of whom are
becoming stronger, the longer the U.S. occupation
here, or presence here, in Iraq continues. So,
unfortunately, I'm afraid that Senator Lieberman has
taken an excursion into fantasy.
Now, I know, elsewhere, that Senator Lieberman told
the Senate or reminded the Senate of its greater
responsibility to rise above its frustrations and the
opinion polls. Now, never a truer word has been said.
That's, indeed, what America needs right now, some
political maturity.
But -- but that message was diluted by this fantastic
notion...
COOPER: Michael Ware...
WARE: ... that America is winning.
COOPER: Michael Ware, appreciate the reporting in
Baghdad.
Jamie McIntyre, at the Pentagon, thank you very
much.