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Length: 4:37
JOHN ROBERTS: We should
say that Michael Ware is joining us now live from our
Baghdad bureau.
Michael Ware, I know that you're coming into this
just a little bit late, but, just to set you up here,
this idea that troops could be out by September of
2008, if the House of Representatives, the Democrats,
at least, were to have their way, U.S. troops, of
course, could pull out any time they wanted. But, if
there is a timetable set to pull out by a date
certain, September 2008, what do you think would
happen there?
MICHAEL WARE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, that just
gives America's enemies opportunities to
strategically poise themselves for that moment.
It also allows America's enemies to use that moment
as a block or a wedge, against which they can
pressure America politically and indeed militarily.
This just feeds those who are opposing the U.S.
mission. Whether you were for this war or against
this war, whether -- from the beginning, whether you
want the troops home or not, it doesn't matter
anymore.
This is the war that you have, and it needs to be
fought, and it needs to be fought properly and to the
end. And, by putting these unrealistic artificial
caps of any kind on them, you are only playing to
your opponents.
ROBERTS: As we speak, Michael, there is some sort of
evolution among the Mahdi militia, as I understand
it, that they're breaking away into far more splinter
groups than they had in the past. There's some
question whether Muqtada al-Sadr even has control
over many of the elements formerly of the Mahdi
militia.
If he doesn't have any control over them, and U.S.
forces were to pull out, what could be the possible
result of that?
WARE: Well, someone else scoops them up.
And apart from the anarchy that would ensue, what we
would see is that, from the turmoil -- be it
political or be it on the streets fighting, sort of
what we're seeing underneath the surface now -- you
would see others moving into the gap to consolidate
their power.
So, primarily, we're seeing some of the most powerful
Shia blocs outside of Muqtada right now doing just
that, consulting their power. So, all sorts of
tempests would be unleashed if the U.S. forces left,
from al Qaeda on the Sunni side, to the most
hard-line Shia militias, backed by Iran's best Quds
Force special operatives.
ROBERTS: Kathleen Hicks, all this talk about
deadlines, the fight between the White House and
Congress, what kind of an effect is that having on
the military?
HICKS: I think the military expects the fight that
they're seeing now.
And I think that, at all ranks of the military,
you're seeing a great disenchantment with the
political process in Washington, with the laying at
the feet of the military the political strategy for
winning Iraq. The only voice I have heard in the last
month out of Iraq on the U.S. side is General
Petraeus. And he's responsible for the military
portion of the strategy in Iraq.
And we seem to have lost that distinction between the
political ends that we're seeking and the military
means that are but one piece of that strategy.
So, I think it's -- the whole situation is
disheartening. But I'm not sure that the actual
disagreements between the White House and the
Congress are to blame for that.
ROBERTS: Michael Ware, I talked with Senator Joe
Lieberman earlier, a former Democrat, now
independent, caucuses with the Democrats. He's
opposed to this whole idea of setting deadlines,
saying it looks like there's a little bit of progress
on the ground, and to start talking now about taking
troops out is just the wrong thing to do.
Is he correct? Is the surge working?
WARE: Well, American generals themselves will say
it's far, far too early to tell. You're talking about
one or a little over one month or more into an
operation that's going to take six months, perhaps
nine months, 12 months. So, it's too early to tell.
Yes, we have seen some positive signs. The number of
sectarian murders, the number of executed bodies
showing up on the streets of the capital each morning
are down. There were still 33 the other day, but
they're down. You can't read too much more into that,
particularly when you're seeing violence displaced to
other areas, like Diyala Province to the north, and
when militia and Sunni insurgent leaders, we know are
laying low, sitting back, and seeing where the new
strategy takes them.
ROBERTS: Well, as we said at the top of this, another
phase in the debate coming up, when the Senate takes
up its measure next week.
Kathleen Hicks from CSIS, Michael Ware, as always,
thanks very much.
HICKS: Thank you, John.