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Michael asks General Petraeus about Iranian "agents of influence" within the Iraqi government.
FREDRICKA
WHITFIELD: Well, the commander of all multinational
forces in Iraq said further troop pull-outs will have
to wait. And today, the commander-in-chief agreed.
President Bush announced some new deployment and
redeployment terms for combat troops in Iraq.
Our Michael Ware spoke about those terms with General
David Petraeus in Washington. He joins us again now
from Washington.
Good to see you again.
MICHAEL WARE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Thanks, Fredricka.
Yes, sitting down with the commander of the U.S. war
in Iraq, General David Petraeus, fresh from his two
days of testimony here on Capitol Hill in Washington,
D.C. . The general was sure to remind the American
public of some of the grim realities of the war in
Iraq.
This is a conflict that, whether you like it or not,
is not going away any time soon. The president may
have said it is not endless, but that end is not yet
in sight.
Now, I know General Petraeus wishes he had a happier
story to tell the American people, but,
unfortunately, he doesn't.
And as we sat down, we talked about the nature of his
testimony and whether he believes his message sank in
to the members of Congress or not. He also spoke
about the presence of militias in Iraq and how they
may just be a political reality whether America likes
that or not. And he also talked about America's
enemy.
Now whilst he did say Al Qaeda is the wolf that must
be watched, it's just one of many enemies. And he
also gave us a sense that, indeed, the war in Iraq
has really evolved and that the true dynamic of this
conflict is now that America's competition with Iran
and Iran's influence, perhaps, is much more dug in in
Iraq than most Americans would like to think.
Here's what General Petraeus had to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WARE: You would know, as well, that many of your
intelligence agencies say Iranian agents of influence
stretch to the highest levels of the Iraqi
government. We've seen the interdiction by the
president of Iraq during the detentions of some of
the Quds Force operatives.
GENERAL DAVID PETRAEUS, COMMANDER, MULTI-NATIONAL
FORCE-IRAQ: Yes, and...
WARE: Does that concern you?
PETRAEUS: Again, it's a reality and it is...
WARE: That there is that kind of infiltration and...
PETRAEUS: It's a reality, again. Look, as you pointed
out earlier, but, again, for the -- for the
listeners, your audience, these parties are products
-- many of them -- of time in Iran. It's where a
number of the current Iraqi leaders spent their time
in exile, where they went when pursued by Saddam's
army or his thugs.
So a lot of that is understandable and, again, it is
a reality. And it's something that just has to be
dealt with.
At the end of the day, though, there is -- as
Ambassador Crocker occasionally terms it -- a
self-limiting aspect to Iranian involvement in Iraq.
And you do see that right now. You see leaders of
parties that, again, have benefited financially,
physically, all kinds of different ways from their
relationships with Iran now being gravely concerned
about what the Special Groups and, to a degree, the
militias, are doing in Iraq. And they also realize
that they have to -- again, this is going to take a
very, very comprehensive approach.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WARE: And that comprehensive approach, like much else
in this conflict, is going to take great patience
from the American people.
So, it's not a pretty picture that General David
Petraeus has to paint, yet it's one he feels he has
no option but to show. And it just suggests that
there really is quite some distance to go in this
conflict -- Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: And, Michael, just earlier we spoke with
one Vietnam vet. And he's also an advocate of
soldiers serving in Iraq and Afghanistan now. And he
said one of the stresses brought upon these soldiers
is the redeployments. And he said perhaps if there
were not the redeployments or perhaps even a draft,
that perhaps there might be a more solid endgame to
this war.
I wonder if the general has ever made any comments
that he's comfortable with saying publicly about the
draft issue or about the issue of redeployments. Is
that something he was willing to talk about?
WARE: Well, it's certainly not something that we
touched upon today and it's certainly not something
that he's ever commented upon in the past.
But here's another little reality check for you.
America has never really fought this war, certainly
not without one arm tied behind its back. The
administration that's guided this conflict has wanted
to have its cake and eat it, too.
Now, it's gone into Iraq and removed Saddam. It has
not filled the vacuum. It's allowed Iran to fill that
vacuum. It's allowed Al Qaeda to exist in Iraq where
it never used to. And it's delivered a legacy of
sectarian hatred that even General Petraeus said did
not exist before this war.
Now, to really fight it, we all now know that America
does not have enough troops. So if you really did
want to occupy Iraq, if you really did want to change
the dynamics, then many would say that, yes, you do
need a draft. But there's no president, there's no
politician in this country who's going to even utter
that dreadful "D" word for the sake of their
political career. So the fighters on the ground, the
commanders, the ambassadors, have to deal with what
they've got. And the heavy burden of all that,
ultimately, will fall on the ordinary soldiers and
their families -- Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: All right. Michael Ware, excellent
reporting, as always. Thank you so much.
Well, expect to see and hear much more of that
conversation with General Petraeus throughout the day
and watch the full interview tonight, 10:00 p.m.
Eastern. That will be during "ANDERSON COOPER
360."