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Campbell Brown speaks with Michael and Nic Robertson about today's testimony. "Reality check" is certainly needed in DC...!
CAMPBELL
BROWN, CNN ANCHOR: We are going to get an update from
the members of the best political team in television
and a reality check from our Baghdad correspondents,
who actually know what it is like there on the ground
in Iraq.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RYAN CROCKER, U. S. AMBASSADOR TO IRAQ: We have no
problem with a good, constructive relationship
between Iran and Iraq. The problem is with the
Iranian strategy of backing extremist militia groups
and sending in weapons and munitions that are used
against Iraqis and against our own forces.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BROWN: That was U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Ryan Crocker
with another headline from today's Iraq hearings,
that Iran is just as much of a problem in Iraq as is
al Qaeda.
We want to get a reality check now on how it's going
on the ground. And I'm joined by our own Michael
Ware. He is usually based in Iraq, but was in
Washington today for today's hearings. And senior
international correspondent Nic Robertson, who is in
Baghdad joining us as well.
And, Michael, let me start with you, because I know
this was an unusual place for you to be, to be able
to sit there on Capitol Hill and observe all of this.
How did it square, what you heard today coming from
Petraeus and Crocker with what you see on the ground
in Baghdad?
MICHAEL WARE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, it's pretty
much an accurate reflection. Certainly, it's a
reelection of the American position and assessment of
things.
And, for example, the issue you highlight, Iran,
that's been the story of the Iraq war for the last
two or three years. Now, this hasn't been a war about
al Qaeda for quite some time. And even before many
military commanders and certainly others realized it,
Iran was emerging as the big winner of this conflict
by spreading its influence into Iraq, where it once
stopped at Saddam's border, where it saw many of its
friends and allies take power in U.S.-sponsored
elections.
So, the fact is that what's at the heart of this
conflict now, apart from trying to stabilize a broken
country as a result of America's invasion, is the
competition between America and Iran for influence,
now, not just in Iraq itself, but throughout the
region.
So, there's a lot riding here. And for them to be
hitting those marks, I mean, that's been the story on
the ground for years. And al Qaeda is the same. Al
Qaeda has been put under pressure. We have seen the
successors of the U.S.-backed militias, the awakening
councils. And we have seen the mixed results of the
Iraqi government security forces. So, pretty much,
they painted a good sense of what's been happening.
BROWN: Let me follow up on that with you, Nic,
particularly, because it was another big theme today,
the Iraqi security forces, their ability to step up,
along with the Iraqi government.
And a point that came up today was this recent battle
in Basra. Let's listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LEVIN: In your judgment, was the Iraqi government
operation in Basra properly and carefully planned and
were the preparations adequate? Could you give me a
direct answer?
PETRAEUS: Sir, the answer is, again, it could have
been much better planned. It was not adequately
planned or prepared.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BROWN: So, what does that tell you, Nic? Bottom line
it for us. Is there a lack of confidence by General
Petraeus, by the Americans in the Iraqi security
forces and in Iraqi government and their ability to
lead on this?
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL
CORRESPONDENT: I think perhaps almost
counterintuitively at the moment, there's perhaps a
greater degree of confidence in the prime minister,
Nouri al-Maliki, because what he's doing at the
moment is taking on the Shia militias. Now, that's
his constituency. And that is bringing him support
from the other constituencies in Iraq, the Kurds and
the Sunnis.
And that's allowing him as prime minister to build
some political bridges and find political compromise,
to move forward on key issues like oil law, election
laws, the issue of Kirkuk in Iraq that he hasn't been
able to do before. He's making himself stronger and
he's making himself more able to take some hard
political decisions and move the country forward.
But in terms of security and running the country's
security, I think what it really showed is that as a
prime minister in the job of running security for the
country, that he is learning it on the job and he is
learning it almost at the expense of some of his
security forces and is working with an army that is
learning war-fighting on the job.
So I think really General Petraeus probably has a
very accurate read of what the security forces in
Iraq can do. In some places, he said, they did well.
Basra was a real point in case where they didn't do
well. And Sadr City in Baghdad another point in case
where they absolutely need U.S. military support
behind them. I think General Petraeus has a pretty
clear understanding of what the prime minister's
capabilities are right now -- Campbell.
BROWN: All right, to Nic and Michael, thanks to both
of you. Appreciate it.
And Michael will be back with me at 10:00 p.m.
Eastern time tonight for a special edition of "A.C.
360," the Truth About the Troop Surge in
Iraq.