TSR: "Let's not think that
just because Iraq had slipped off the public radar,
that people weren't dying here all this year. They
were."
Saturday, June 27, 2009
Length: 3:06
LARGE (35.9 MB)
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SMALL (3.8 MB)
Wolf Blitzer asks Michael what we should expect
come Wednesday morning. Recorded Friday (looks to
be around 7pm in Baghdad).
WOLF
BLITZER: A bloody wave of violence is washing over
Iraq with scores of people across the country killed
in a series of gruesome bombings this past week. And
it all comes only days before U.S. forces are
scheduled to withdraw from all major Iraqi cities.
Let's go to Baghdad, CNN's Michael Ware, is standing
by. The deadline is Tuesday for U.S. combat forces to
leave the cities. Michael, what's likely to happen?
MICHAEL WARE: Well, on the morning of July 1st, not a
great deal to be honest, Wolf. This withdrawal has
been going on since January. Now you're still going
to see some odd Americans out on the streets. You're
going to have U.S. advisers embedded with Iraqi
units. You'll still see them occasionally. There's
going to be some partnered operations. There's some
partnered patrols, some joint events. But by and
large, you're not going to see the presence of U.S.
forces that we've become so accustomed to.
Because as you point out, as of Tuesday, all U.S.
forces by then have to have had retreated to
predesignated bases. They're allowed to operate in
the green belt around Baghdad. They're allowed to run
around in the desert, but they're not allowed in the
cities or the townships without the true commanders
of the Iraq War as of Tuesday: the Iraqis. Wolf.
BLITZER: Why has there been, at least it seems like
there's been an upsurge in violence, deadly violence
over the past week or two?
WARE: Well, it all comes within, you know, the
breadth of a longer running campaign. I mean, let's
not think that just because Iraq had slipped off the
public radar, that people weren't dying here all this
year. They were.
There's a broader bombing campaign trying to reignite
the bloodbath of the sectarian civil war. But in the
past week from bombings, mortar attacks, shootings,
roadside explosions, at least 210 Iraqi civilians
have been slaughtered. And many of them, I regret to
report, are women and children because a lot of these
blasts, a lot of these attacks are in marketplaces.
This is ratcheting up the pressure. Not so much on
the Americans. There's no questions about the
Americans coming back into the streets, not unless
this Iraqi government which has been hardlined, does
a 180 and invites them. America is out of the
decision-making process. The American-led war will be
over as of Tuesday.
The real point I think here is to put pressure on the
Iraqi government. The prime minister here staked his
claim. He has said that "I will stop the violence."
He had success in Basra, some limited success in Sadr
City last year. However, if this continues, it's he
who will suffer at the ballot box next January,
according to most diplomats and analysts here on the
ground. Wolf?
BLITZER: Michael Ware, be careful over in Baghdad.
We'll check in with you throughout the week. Michael
Ware is reporting for us.