NR: "None of this is
hardly a declaration of bold resolve."
Friday, February 27, 2009
Length: 7:56
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TJ Holmes talks to Michael as well as Joe Klein
from Time Magazine about the president's plans for
removing the troops from Iraq.
TJ
HOLMES: Camp Lejeune in North Carolina. That's where
he has been for a good part of the several past
hours, making an announcement about troop levels in
Iraq.
They will be reduced and reduced drastically. Combat
forces will be out, according to President Obama, out
of Iraq by August 31 of 2010. That is next year, just
about 18 or 19 months from when he took office.
He was promising it would happen within 16 months of
him taking office. However, he's just missing that
mark by a couple of months, but a lot of people will
certainly think right now he is keeping one of his
major campaign promises, one of the promises that
certainly highlighted him and really skyrocketed him
certainly during the Democratic primary race against
Hillary Clinton.
Let's bring in a couple of folks who know a whole lot
about this. We're going to be talking to Joe Klein
with "TIME" magazine, also Michael Ware. There they
are.
But before I get to you gentlemen, let's listen in
now to the what the president said at Camp Lejeune.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: So let
me say this as plainly as I can: By August 31, 2010,
our combat mission in Iraq will end. As we...
(APPLAUSE)
OBAMA: As we carry out this drawdown, my highest
priority will be the safety and security of our
troops and civilians in Iraq. So we will proceed
carefully, and I will consult closely with my
military commanders on the ground and with the Iraqi
government.
There will surely be difficult periods and tactical
adjustments, but our enemies should be left with no
doubt: This plan gives our military the forces and
flexibility they need to support our Iraqi partners
and to succeed.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: All right.
Michael Ware, I will start with you. You know Iraq,
and you know it well. Listening to this plan, is it
possible, plausible and prudent?
MICHAEL WARE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, yes, it could
definitely happen.
Obviously, everything depends upon the situation on
the ground in Iraq and what the president's
commanders of the war are telling him. So, the plan
is that the timetable has been outlined. But the
actual withdrawal in essence doesn't begin until next
year.
There's two brigades of troops coming home this year,
as planned. The rest are being kept there until after
the Iraqi parliamentary elections. So, it's going to
be a matter of what's happening next year,
particularly in the lead-up to all this.
But, on the whole, none of this is hardly a
declaration of bold resolve. The Bush administration
that started the war, had already negotiated the end
of the war in the Status of Forces Agreement that
came into effect on the 1st of January. That gave
American troops 36 months to get out of Iraq.
President Obama has chosen that he will only need 19
months to get the bulk of them out, and the
remainder, the residual 35,000 to 50,000, will be out
by the date set by the Bush administration.
HOLMES: Well, Joe, on his point right there, Joe,
like he said, not necessarily bold resolve, but will
this be viewed by the American public as a bold move
by this president and this president keeping a
campaign promise?
JOE KLEIN, COLUMNIST, "TIME": Well, yes, it will
probably be viewed that way. But Mick is right about
the deal and the inevitability of the deal after the
Status of Forces Agreement. One other thing that I
would emphasize here is it is, as Mick said, a very
back-loaded deal. You're only going to have two
brigades fewer in Iraq by the end of the year.
And those two are going to be moved to Afghanistan.
And so, a year from now, we're going to have as many
American troops, if not more American troops,
downrange in Afghanistan and Iraq total that we have
now. So, the military is still facing a very stressed
situation.
HOLMES: Still going to be stressed.
But, Michael, on that, we know President Bush was
adamant about making sure he never set a timeline,
never going to let the enemy know when we're going to
pull our troops out. They would just lie in waiting,
until troops left, and then they would move in and
attack. Is that still possible? Or are we dealing
with a different Iraq now?
WARE: Well, we are dealing with a different Iraq
post-surge, post-deal with the Sunni insurgency, the
accommodation with rebel anti-American cleric Muqtada
al-Sadr.
But the Bush administration did in fact, at the end,
in one of the last gasps of their time in office, set
out precisely that, a timetable. The Bush
administration signed a deal with the Iraqis to say,
we will be out by the end of 2011, no discussions, no
negotiation. That's it.
And the Iraqis insisted upon that. So, already,
President Obama had that, in many ways, the heavy
lifting, done for him. And the other thing to
remember is, come June, July 2009, if Iraq is falling
apart, heaven forbid, it will be a daring President
Obama who pulls the troops out then, because he will
be then seen as the president who oversaw the defeat
of the war in Iraq or the loss of what successes had
been made.
HOLMES: Yes. And it might come as a surprise right
now to folks where the support and where some of the
grumblings are coming from in this particular plan,
Joe.
We're going to listen to, of all people, a supporter
right now. Might be surprised whose face pops up on
the screen to some of the viewers. Stay with me here
and we will talk about it after this sound bite, Joe.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), ARIZONA: The American people
should be clear. The president's plan, even after the
end of its withdrawal timeline is reached, will leave
in place up to 50,000 U.S. troops. All will be in
harm's way.
Some will continue to conduct combat operations. They
will play a vital role in consolidating and extending
the remarkable progress our military has made since
early 2007. That's why I believe that the
administration should aim to keep the full
complement, 50,000, as briefed by Secretary Gates and
Admiral Mullen, and not succumb to pressures,
political or otherwise, to make deeper or faster cuts
in our force levels.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: And, Joe, we know who that is, the opponent
in the election.
KLEIN: Yes.
HOLMES: He actually said he's cautiously optimistic
about the plan, but said he thinks it can lead to
success there.
What do you get there? Go ahead.
KLEIN: And he was hedging a little bit there at the
end about the 50,000.
You know, he -- John McCain was someone who
campaigned on the need for American troops in Iraq in
perpetuity. He's gotten some religion in part because
he's now far more aware of how terrible the situation
in Afghanistan and Pakistan is. He gave a big speech
about Afghanistan this week.
But, essentially, you know, this deal was -- you
know, was cooked about six or eight months ago. And,
you know, and McCain knew it then, even when he was
attacking Obama about it during the campaign.
What we have to look at -- there are a couple of
areas in Iraq that are still of concern. The most
important thing of these elections, if you get the
same kind of results nationally as they just got
locally, that means that it will be a strong national
Iraqi state supported by a parliament.
But a lot can change between now and next December.
The other thing is that there's still a lot of
tension in the northern part of the country between
Arabs and Kurds, and that could blow up at any time.
HOLMES: All right. Joe Klein, again, with "TIME"
magazine, Michael Ware, longtime correspondent, knows
all about that war and Iraq, but today with us from
New York. Gentlemen, always good to see you.
Appreciate you both.