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WOLF BLITZER: Americans
are skeptical that the troop increase in Iraq is
bearing fruit. A new CNN/Opinion Research Corporation
poll out today shows 54 percent believe it's failing.
Just 40 percent believe it's succeeding.
The U.S. ambassador, Ryan Crocker, told Congress
today that he can't guarantee success. But he issued
a dire warning about giving up in Iraq.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RYAN CROCKER, U.S. AMBASSADOR TO IRAQ: I am certain
that abandoning or drastically curtailing our efforts
will bring failure. And the consequences of such a
failure must be clearly understood by us all. An Iraq
that falls into chaos or civil war, will mean massive
human suffering well beyond what has already occurred
within Iraq's borders.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLITZER: Let's get a closer look on the reality on
the ground.
Joining us now, our correspondent in Baghdad, Michael
Ware.
That's a very dire assessment from Ambassador Ryan
Crocker. As bad as the situation is right now, if the
U.S. starts leaving, it's going to be so much more
painful, so much worse.
Is that a fair assessment from the ambassador?
MICHAEL WARE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, the ambassador
has hit the nail directly on the head. I mean, any
kind of withdrawal, precipitous or not, right now by
U.S. forces would create a vacuum, or certainly
pockets of vacuum, that would immediately be filled
by elements either hostile to America or certainly
destabilizing in the region. There is no way America
can pull out just yet.
And the withdrawal, so-called, that General Petraeus
is flagging, much welcome to weary American ears back
home and the families of troops, but let's face
reality. Firstly, these troops were pretty much going
home next year anyway. It was the end of the
so-called surge or the escalation. It was a one year
deal.
And let's not forget, too, that the relief that's
being provided in Anbar that might allow Marines and
others to go home is essentially built on the back of
a deal cut with the Sunni insurgency and the tribes
-- the Sunni tribes. It's become ironic that whilst
the surge has achieved many of its military
objectives and violence levels have dropped, but for
a myriad of reasons, rather than buying political
breathing room for the Iraqi government to stand up,
what, in fact, has happened is it's given time for
America to begin developing Sunni militias -- Sunni
militias that are either going to prod the Maliki
government into action or will help preserve U.S.
interests as things devolve -- Wolf.
BLITZER: I was struck at the beginning of Ambassador
Crocker's testimony, Michael, how he made comparisons
to the early years of America's own independence
during the Revolutionary days. It took a long time to
deal with issues like slavery and suffrage, women's
rights, civil rights, and that people should be
patient with this new Iraqi government.
So here's the question, in a nutshell: is Nouri
Al-Maliki, the Iraqi prime minister, George
Washington?
WARE: Oh, no way. Absolutely not. He's not even a
Hamid Karzai, the unifying president of Afghanistan.
There's no one unifying figure waiting in the wings
here in Iraq and certainly there's not one in the
prime minister's chair right now. And I must admit, I
was surprised to hear Ambassador Crocker harken back
to America's constitutional and revolutionary
history. That is such an old and tired line that
we've heard trotted out almost since the beginning of
the invasion in 2003.
Most significantly, though, Wolf, really what we've
just witnessed in this testimony is the shifting
nature of the war in Iraq. Wolf, it's changed.
How little did you hear Al Qaeda mentioned and how
much did you hear Iran mentioned?
Wolf, we are now ushering in -- we are welcoming the
real proxy war between America and Iran. We're about
to see that become the true rivalry in this country.
BLITZER: Michael Ware on the scene for us in Baghdad,
as he has been for the last four years.
So, Michael, thanks very much for that.
WARE: Thank you.
BLITZER: Let's go to Jack Cafferty in New York with
The Cafferty File -- Jack.
CAFFERTY: You know, he's even better than you are.
BLITZER: He's much better than I am. He's not as good
as you, though.
CAFFERTY: Oh, he's terrific. I enjoy Michael a
lot.