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Wolf talks to Michael via the nightlighted (pretty sure that's the correct term, as "nightlit" would mean moonlight; whatever, he's green) broadband connection about the politics of ending the war.
WOLF
BLITZER: The war in Iraq beginning its sixth year
today. President Bush calls it a noble, necessary and
just fight. Here's how the presidential candidates
view it.
Listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OBAMA: Are we safer because of this war? And that is
why Senator McCain can argue, as he did last year,
that we couldn't leave Iraq because violence was up,
and then argue this year that we can't leave Iraq
because violence is down. When you have no
overarching strategy, there is no clear definition of
success. Success comes to be defined as the ability
to maintain a flawed policy indefinitely.
Here is the truth. Fighting a war without end will
not force the Iraqis to take responsibility for their
own future. And fighting in a war without end will
not make the American people safer.
So when I am commander in chief, I will set a new
goal on day one. I will end this war. Not because
politics compels it. Not because our troops cannot
bear the burden, as heavy as it is, but because it is
the right thing to do for our national security.
CLINTON: The Iraqi government has to take
responsibility for its own future that we have given
them: the precious gift of freedom. It is up to them
to decide whether or not they will use it. But we
cannot win their civil war. There is no military
solution.
And as we bring our troops home, we must take care of
them. Our veterans deserve our greatest efforts to
fulfill our obligations to them, with the healthcare
and the other services that they have so richly
earned, and we've got to have a 21st century G.I.
Bill of Rights for these young men and women so they
can go to school or start a business or buy a home.
So there's a lot of work ahead but I'm confident and
optimistic that we can do this work together.
SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We are
succeeding. And we can succeed and American
casualties overall are way down. That is in direct
contradiction to the predictions made by the
Democrats and particularly Senator Obama and Senator
Clinton. I'll be glad to stake my campaign on the
fact that this has succeeded and the American people
appreciate it.
Now will we be able to succeed fast enough, will they
be able-- al Qaeda be able to come back, that's a
tough question. They're on the run but they're not
defeated.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLITZER: Joining us now from the northern part of
Baghdad, a small U.S. combat outpost, our own Michael
Ware. He's embedded with the 101st Airborne right now
on the scene.
Michael, five years. Who would have thought U.S.
troops -- 140,000, 150,000 --would still be deployed
in Iraq five years later? We got an assessment from
the president of the United States today, a rather
upbeat assessment. Things were definitely, he says,
moving in the right direction.
You have been there since day one. Give us your
five-year bottom line assessment.
MICHAEL WARE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, first
and foremost, I have to tell you that given the
situation on the ground, even though there's a
downturn in violence, even though the surge,
so-called, has been a success -- and I'm not talking
about 30,000 troops sent to reinforce the capital.
I'm talking about America doing deals with its
enemies, about America running its own militias and
putting them on the U.S. government payroll, I'm
talking about a political surge trying to batter this
Iranian-linked Iraqi government.
All of these things have produced some success.
Certainly less people are dying each and every month.
But just last month, more than 600 Iraqi civilians
still died. That's not good by anyone's measure.
So despite these successes, what I can tell you,
Wolf, is that even entering the sixth year of this
grinding, seemingly never-ending war, there's no way
America can leave any time soon; not if it wants to
retain any shred of its international standing, nor
if it wants to do anything to help the Iraqi people,
Wolf.
BLITZER: So when they talk about a pause in the
withdrawal this summer -- it's going to go down to
140,000, 145,000, then they are going to keep it at
that level for awhile -- what I hear you saying is
they're going to have to keep it at that level or
roughly at that level for some time to come.
WARE: Oh, absolutely. You talk to any officer here in
Iraq, you even talk to the sergeants, you can even
talk to the specialists, the everyday soldier. Now,
as embittered as they may be, though their morale may
remains high, their commitment to being a
professional soldier, to protecting their brother,
continues, all of them know that this problem is far
from fixed, and there's only long-term solutions.
Indeed, I have had countless conversations with
soldiers and officers over the past month here in
Iraq where we talk endlessly about America's
opponents, be it al Qaeda, be it Iran, be it others,
playing a long game, a generational game, whereas the
men in uniform can't help but feel frustrated by the
fact that America is fighting this war election to
election.
So this country is broken. America broke it. Whether
you were for or against the war in the beginning is
moot. Whether there was WMD is irrelevant. You have
the situation you have now. America simply can't walk
away, not any time soon -- Wolf.
BLITZER: What would happen if the U.S. started
withdrawing troops in major numbers, a brigade or two
a month, over the next year and brought it down to
20,000 or 30,000 troops? What would be the immediate
impact?
WARE: Well, what we would see is once U.S. forces
reach a certain level where they're unable to flex
real combat muscle, where they can no longer
intimidate the myriad of groups and international
players like Iran here in this country -- and I have
to say, Iran is not intimidated right now with
160,000 troops -- but once American forces get to the
point where all they can do is basically defend
themselves as they withdraw, watch out.
I mean, lot of people point to the southern Iraq. Now
while relatively peaceful, you see a whole rainbow
alliance of Iranian-backed militias in tussles for
power. Now imagine that writ large across the
country, throwing in not just rival Shia-on-Shia as
Iran plays its hand and dabbles, making sure no one
group becomes powerful enough. Add to that Shiite
versus Sunni, Arab versus Kurd, Turkey and Iran
pressing their claims in the Kurdish north.
You will see that if America pulls out or if America
stops paying the 70,000-plus former insurgents who
are now U.S. backed militias, then other people are
gonna step in; Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Egypt, Kuwait,
even American rival Syria will step in. You will see
proxy wars, something that will be far worse than
Lebanon in the 1980s -- Wolf.
BLITZER: Michael Ware, be careful over there. Good
luck. Thanks for joining us.
WARE: Thank you, Wolf.