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Length: 3:18
WOLF BLITZER: About eight
minutes away from when the president will be
introduced as he walks into the House of
Representatives.
Welcome back to our coverage.
People in Iraq are going to be watching this. They're
going to be anxious to hear what the president has to
say. And, Paula, we're really fortunate to have one
of our best correspondents, Michael Ware. Normally,
he's in Baghdad. He's here in THE SITUATION ROOM with
us tonight, watching all of this unfold.
Give us your sense, Michael -- this is probably the
first time you've been in Washington for a State of
the Union address, but for all of us who are
interested in what's happening in Iraq, this is going
to be potentially critical, this new phase in the
war.
MICHAEL WARE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely. And it
will be interesting to see this evening how the
president describes the State of the Union with
regard to the war. I mean, what kind of a reference,
a frame of reference is he going to give the American
people for a strategy that essentially is ailing if
not failing, as the poll figures show that the people
themselves are aware. America's enemies are becoming
stronger, not weaker. How is the president going to
address that this evening?
BLITZER: We see all these members already there.
They're on the floor of the House of Representatives.
This new strategy, so much of it depends on Nouri
al-Maliki, the prime minister of Iraq. Can he, will
he deliver?
WARE: Well, what's certainly clear is that Nouri
al-Maliki is perhaps the only ally the U.S. has in
Iraq politically, along with his national security
adviser. Yet at the end of the day, their interests
-- Nouri al-Maliki's interests and the security
adviser's -- don't necessarily align with America's.
Their backers are not necessarily America's. So no,
you cannot count on Nouri al-Maliki. If that's the
exit strategy, then America has a long, long way to
go.
PAULA ZAHN: And when you hear a U.S. general say that
the situation in Iraq is dire but not hopeless, do
you buy that?
WARE: Well, it's certainly dire. In terms of
hopeless, right now I see little sign of improvement.
The strategy that the president has recently unveiled
and has been widely criticized is nothing more than a
Band-Aid. And it fails to address the fundamental
dynamics that are really driving the many wars of
Iraq. It's really just window dressing. And if you
want to increase troops, then really increase them.
If you want to change strategy, then really change
strategy. And the president is doing neither.
BLITZER: Let's go back to Michael Ware for a moment.
Michael, Iraq clearly hovering over this speech. I
take it you're getting ready to head back?
WARE: Very much so. Back there on the weekend, Wolf.
So, Iraq, I think, underwrites this State of the
Union. No matter what's happening on the domestic
political agenda, it's Iraq that dominates people's
minds. Not just in the U.S. We see opinion polls, for
example, in Australia showing that Australians are
going to be voting according to the war in Iraq.
So very much this hangs over everything at the
moment.
And honestly, Iraq is not going well. And in fact,
that's a reflection upon the entire global war on
terror. President Bush has time and time again put
Iraq at the centerpiece of the war on terror. Well,
essentially, it's the gaping hole in the president's
war.