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Michael has a new VO for the section of "Inside the Surge" that detailed the deal made with insurgents (and the death of Abu Fahad) and then talks a bit about the hearings.
(BEGIN
VIDEO CLIP)
GEN. DAVID PETRAEUS, COMMANDER, MULTINATIONAL FORCES
IN IRAQ: We very much share the frustration. Those of
us who have been at this for a long time obviously
want the war to end as much as anybody else, perhaps
maybe more.
We're not after the Holy Grail in Iraq; we're not
after Jeffersonian democracy. We're after conditions
that would allow our soldiers to disengage. And that
is, in fact, what we are doing.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CAMPBELL BROWN: General David Petraeus, the top U.S.
commander in Iraq, was grilled for a second day by
members of Congress. And today he hinted that he
would argue against any order from the next president
to bring U.S. troops home quickly.
General Petraeus has faced tough questioning about
the success of the so-called surge. Well, tonight a
reality check on whether it's working as well as the
general says.
CNN's Michael Ware is "Keeping Them Honest."
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (speaking foreign language)
MICHAEL WARE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This is
how we first introduced you to this man, Abu Fahad,
his face blurred to protect his identity. Today we
can show you his face, because he was murdered. His
crime: siding with the U.S.
His was a true front line of the surge. It was his
own neighborhood. Defending it against al Qaeda and
Shia death squads, he did it all under contract with
U.S. forces.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Somebody is there just watching.
WARE: When President Bush unveiled his surge strategy
in January last year, ordering 30,000 extra troops to
Baghdad, he vowed their mission would prevail.
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: This
time we will have the force levels we need to hold
the areas that have been cleared.
WARE: But the surge is much more than force levels.
It's a shift in strategic thinking, comprising many
components.
First is to pay one American enemy to assassinate
another American enemy. In other words, accept the
Sunni insurgents' offer for them to target al Qaeda.
It was like hiring an instant army of 70,000, all now
on Washington's payroll.
Some treat al Qaeda without mercy. These men now hold
the areas cleared of al Qaeda, this senior insurgent
commander tells me. "It's the agreement that made the
violence against the Americans go down," he says.
"And if the Americans say it was because of troop
numbers, that will provoke the resistance."
Even Shia cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, an opponent of the
U.S. presence, plays a part in the surge. Just last
week, his Mehdi Army militia was drawn into fierce
combat by an Iraqi government military offensive in
the southern port of Basra. That is, until Muqtada
and Iran ordered a cease-fire.
It's made a difference, as has Muqtada's nationwide
cease-fire declared last year.
These paratroopers patrol an area dominated by the
Mehdi Army, and their captain would have once hunted
down those militia members.
CAPT. JEREMY USSERY, COMMANDER, BRAVO COMPANY: As you
know, as of the last, six, eight, maybe even ten
months, the coalition forces have said, "We're
willing to work with anybody that is willing to
pursue peace as one of their objectives."
WARE: A clear sign of the new strategy is a line of
blast walls built by Americans. They encircle
neighborhoods and separate Sunni communities from
Shia, cementing the militia's' sectarian cleansing
and turning Baghdad into a segregated city.
Even changing how Iraqis get married. For this groom,
a Sunni marrying a Shia, collecting his bride from
her neighborhood, controlled by the Mehdi Army, could
be a death sentence.
"I was forced to decorate two cars for the wedding,"
he says. "One for driving in my neighborhood. And
another for traveling through hers."
But the surge remains an undeniable success. Though
spiking in recent weeks, attacks nationwide are down
60 percent over last year, with violence at low
levels not seen since 2005, according to the U.S.
military.
In fact, sectarian killings in Baghdad have plunged
by as much as 95 percent. These successes would
evaporate without U.S. troops. But they depend on
that home-grown help: U.S.-backed militia leaders,
like the man we met, Abu Fahad.
"We had to start this, but we are putting death in
front of our eyes. We're being put under a lot of
pressure to stop. But we won't."
Soon after, someone did stop him. And with America
cutting deals with its enemies, thousands more Iraqis
like him are the key to the surge.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BROWN: Michael is joining us now from Washington.
And Michael, you pretty much dismissed yesterday's
testimony from General Petraeus as political theater.
You were at the hearings today. Do you still feel the
same way?
WARE: Well, it's not so much political theater on the
general's part. It's more that -- the whole
stage-managing of the event itself. That's what truly
struck me. Perhaps it's because I'm so fresh from the
war zone, and I'm imminently returning here.
I mean some of us, like the general, live this
conflict, day in, day out. And what has really
appalled me is -- despite being a political cynic by
nature -- is the fact that these hearings were more
about three presidential candidates and national
politicians trying to represent their own interests
and politics, rather than sparking a true discussion
or a true debate about the war, its cost, and its
consequences.
Nonetheless, there was some refreshing things that
came out of it. One of them is that there appears to
be a growing realization at last among Democrats that
this war is not finishing. That you just can't yank
your troops out, no matter how badly you want to.
Because the price that you will pay will be so
significant.
So, we even heard a slight change in tone from
Senator Obama. Even talking to Senator Kerry, he gave
a much more nuanced assessment or appraisal of what
withdrawal would mean. That's been refreshing.
The other thing is that the issue of Iran, the true
heart now of this conflict begin to bubble more so to
the surface during the hearings.
So General Petraeus and Ambassador Crocker
represented the situation as best they could. There
are certainly things about their assessment I
wouldn't agree with. For example, their reliance and
their highlighting of this Iraqi government as their
ally. I mean, please. I think that's quite a stretch.
But nonetheless, in terms of the nature of the
conflict, how grinding it is and how America has got
to stay this course in the sense that you can't put
this to timetables, that was right on the money --
Campbell.
BROWN: All right, Michael Ware for us from Washington
tonight. Michael, thanks.
And we should mention you're sitting down, too, with
General Petraeus tomorrow. We look forward to seeing
that interview tomorrow night.