Click
photo to play
Length: 5:16
ANDERSON COOPER: Right now, let's go back to John
King in Washington for some important news about
America's mission in Iraq -- John.
JOHN KING, CNN ANCHOR: Thank you, Anderson, and back
to you in a moment, a remarkable look there in the
rain forest. Thank you, Anderson.
As you noted, a string of bombings in and near
Baghdad today has left dozens of Iraqis dead. Rebels
also hit an American military outpost north of the
capital -- three suicide bombs going off, killing two
U.S. soldiers and eight Iraqi policemen.
These attacks come at a time Iraq's prime minister
has been calling the recent security crackdown in
Baghdad, in his words, a dazzling success.
With us now in Baghdad, CNN's Michael Ware.
Michael, let's start with this brazen daylight attack
against the U.S. combat outpost by insurgents.
How'd they carry this out?
MICHAEL WARE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, what we are
being told, John, is that at least one, perhaps as
many as three car bombs -- that's suicide car bombs
-- were used, plunging into this heavily fortified
former police station that was being used by U.S.
forces north of the capital, Baghdad.
Once the car bomb, or the car bombs, if you --
depending on whether you listen to U.S. or Iraqi
government officials -- there was then an assault by
up to as many as 40 or 50 gunmen, using
rocket-propelled grenades, machine guns, and assault
rifles, as they attempted to close on that U.S.
position and the troops inside, amidst the confusion
in the wake of that car bomb.
What we do know is that two U.S. troops were killed
and at least 17 were wounded.
KING: A tactic like this, Michael, is this something
that is done frequently? And why now?
WARE: Well, it's not done every day, but, yeah, sure.
We've seen this quite a few times before.
I mean, there's some absolutely classic examples that
stand out for their extraordinary nature: back in
April 2005, the multiple car bombings used in a very
complex attack on Abu Ghraib prison, another car bomb
on a very similar combat outpost in Ramadi in August
2005.
We see these things happen. We've seen the use of car
bombs in the same way that the U.S. military would
use combat engineers to blow a breach in a wall or in
defensive positions. This -- the jihadies use -- the
insurgents use their car bombs to plunge in, make a
hole, and the hope then is to pour their fighters
through the breach.
We do see this, John, from time to time.
KING: And, Michael, let's move on now to this series
of bombings rocking Baghdad in the past few days. How
does the Iraqi government square the new violence
with the prime minister's term of the operation, the
security operation, being a dazzling success?
WARE: Well, there has been a dampening, I think you
could put it, of some of the sectarian violence in
the capital, Baghdad.
I mean, on the streets each morning, the citizens of
this metropolis right now are waking up to fewer
tortured and executed bodies as a result of the civil
war here than they normally do. Rather than the 40 or
50, they are finding as few as five, 10 or maybe 20
in the mornings. So, there has been some softening.
However, even the American commander in charge of
Baghdad, the commanding general of the 1st Cavalry
Division, when noting that there had been a certain
downfall in some levels of violence, said: Let's not
get our hopes up here. We have seen this before. Each
time we change tactics, the enemy sits back and
watches us, thinks, and adapts their tactics.
So, nothing can be read into this. What we are
seeing, John, is, rather than a dazzling success, I
think everyone, from the U.S. military and the
citizens of Iraq will agree, is a war holding its
breath, waiting to see what the insurgents' next move
is.
KING: Well, Michael, you mentioned an insurgency that
repeatedly changes its tactics to adapt. What do you
make of these recent reports indicating that the
radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr has ordered his
men to keep a low profile during the security
crackdown?
Any indication of whether we ought to believe that,
and any indication as to where al-Sadr is?
WARE: Well, there is a lot of chatter to that effect.
Certainly, you can hear it from your sources in Sadr
City, the slum -- sprawling slum stronghold here in
the capital, Baghdad, a capital of five to six
million, where half of those people live in Sadr
City.
Now, we are hearing from that militia's stronghold
anecdotal reports that, yes, they have been told to
put the arms away and stay out of sight. We are also
hearing from the U.S. military that they believe that
most of the fighters have been told to keep a low
profile. And, indeed, much of the leadership may have
moved out of the capital for the duration of the
offensive.
This is not new. This is what they do every time.
It's classic guerrilla insurgent tactics: only fight
the fight you know you can win.
KING: Michael Ware, for us in Baghdad on another
deadly and depressing day in Iraq.
Click
photo to play
Length: 4:18
JOHN KING, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: With the
U.S./Iraqi security clampdown in full swing, people
in Baghdad had been enjoying something of a lull in
the violence, at least by Iraq standards.
Fewer bombings, fewer shootings. Not as many bodies
tortured and dumped throughout the city. Today,
though, that lull came to an end in a big way.
CNN's Michael Ware is in Baghdad and joins us once
again tonight.
Michael, any explanation why? At the end of last week
some optimistic talk, a bit of a lull in the bombing.
It seemed like perhaps a reason for optimism. Then,
bloody violence again today. Any understanding of why
today?
MICHAEL WARE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, John, I think
part of the explanation is clearly people shooting
their mouths off, speaking well before they should.
How many times do we have to see it in this war? The
patterns of violence ebb and flow. There are
fluctuations. I mean, there are chess pieces being
shuffled across the board here all the time.
We've seen a step up in tempo of government
operations against the insurgents here in the
capital, Baghdad. So for a couple of days, we started
to see a lull. That prompts the trigger-happy --
rhetorically trigger-happy Prime Minister Nouri
al-Maliki to come out and declare the operation a
dazzling success. Something the American general
commanding Baghdad was not willing to do.
In a much more sober assessment, the general said,
let's just wait and see what the results are. It's
too early to tell if this is going to be a pattern or
if in the more likely event that we've seen every
other time there's been an offensive, the insurgents
are just pulling back, sitting, watching, waiting,
learning what the new methods are, adapting and
re-attacking.
KING: And Michael, north of the capital, there was a
brazen attack today against U.S. soldiers north of
Baghdad, killing two soldiers. How did the insurgents
carry out this strike?
WARE: Well, John, we've seen this on several
occasions throughout the war. It's not a daily event,
but it's certainly something we've become accustomed
to or that's not a surprise. The use of suicide car
bombs.
In this case, we're told there was one, perhaps
three, that were used to plunge into the heavy
fortifications protecting the band of U.S. troops in
an abandoned police station.
This precedes a mass assault by what we're told today
was as many as 50 gunmen. We've seen this several
times before.
KING: Michael, you just heard Nic Robertson talking
to Kiran about this al Qaeda resurgence inside of
Pakistan. What about inside Iraq? Have you heard al
Qaeda is also making a comeback there, including a
push in Baquba? What can you tell us about that?
WARE: Well, al Qaeda hasn't had to make a comeback
here in Iraq, nor has it had to do so in Waziristan.
I mean, I've run through the mountains of Waziristan
two years ago and al Qaeda owned them back then. Why
are we surprised that they still own them now and the
hierarchy is restructured?
Here in Iraq, despite any arrest, despite any
pressure that you're able to put on the organization
in this country, in this war, they regenerate. This
is an organization built and designed for loss.
They're always ready to refill their ranks. And we
see it time and time again.
Indeed, this is an al Qaeda organization that's under
so much pressure, we're told, it feels fit to declare
an Islamic state through a third of the country,
which includes Baquba, Baquba in Diyala province,
which has always been an al Qaeda stronghold.
Back in 2005, we saw them overrun a police station in
Baquba and fly the al Qaeda flag, or the then Tawhid
wal Jihad flag. That has been a part of their running
ground, their range since the beginning.
And we're acting like it's a surprise that they are
strong there. They're not reconstituted. They're just
reappearing -- John.
KING: Michael Ware for us tonight in Baghdad.
Michael, thank you very much.
And now back to Kiran in New York for a look at more
of what's still ahead this hour in 360.