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WOLF
BLITZER: In Iraq, meanwhile, a car bomb killed at
least 15 people on a busy shopping street in Baghdad,
just as the defense secretary, Robert Gates, was
visiting another part of the city. And those who know
the situation there say the overall violence is
intertwined with the tense relationship between the
United States and Iran.
And joining us, now, from Baghdad, our correspondent
Michael Ware.
We know this National Intelligence Estimate now
saying that the Iranians actually stopped building a
nuclear bomb back in 2004.
But what about these conflicting reports that we're
getting about Iran still meddling in Iraq?
What's going on?
MICHAEL WARE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, what I
can tell you is the latest that U.S. military
intelligence is telling Secretary of Defense Robert
Gates on his sixth visit here to Iraq. What they're
saying is that the number of attacks that they can
directly link to Iranian support is down. Whether
they can attribute that to a downturn in Iranian
influence, that they cannot answer.
The other thing I can tell you: Iranian nuclear
issues and Iranian issues on attacks on America here
in Iraq are not unrelated.
Now, during the historic talks between the Iranian
ambassador here in Iraq and the American ambassador,
Ryan Crocker, here in Iraq, it was made very clear
they would only talk Iraq. They would not talk
nuclear issues or anything else.
Iran's strategy has been to force to America to bleed
here in Iraq to gain concessions elsewhere. Indeed,
we got to a point where top American commanders were
saying just a few months ago, more American troops
were dying as a result of Iranian-backed violence
than Al Qaeda-backed violence. We've now seen that
dip.
But right now, I can tell you, Secretary Gates is
being told that Iran, according to U.S. military
intelligence, is still training Iraqis to kill
Americans. None of this, Wolf, is unrelated.
BLITZER: Robert Gates -- he's in Baghdad right now --
an unannounced visit. And he and others are
suggesting things clearly are getting better.
Is security and stability in Iraq right now within
reach?
WARE: The short answer is that, yes, things are
better. Where we would have 1,500 or 1,600 attacks a
week -- be it bombs or shootings or suicide
detonations or whatever you want -- it's down to
something like 500 on a week.
Can you imagine if there was 500 and something
attacks in Pakistan or Israel or America?
Yet this is our idea of success now. That's how
numbed we've become to the violence. Nonetheless,
less Americans, less Iraqis are dying. There's two
reasons for that. One, America is backing Sunni
militias. They're protecting their areas. America has
finally cut a deal with the insurgency.
Secondly, Iran has cut down its military activity.
You talk to the top U.S. officials, they don't yet
know why. They don't believe it will hold. But
there's a key question there. It's quite a dilemma --
Wolf.
BLITZER: Michael Ware, our reporter in Baghdad.
Michael, thanks.
WARE: Thank you, Wolf.
It's a pleasure.