CB: "Iraq needs its
intellectual strength back. Let's hope they come
back."
Friday, February 27, 2009
Length: 9:18
LARGE (128.7 MB)
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SMALL (11.4 MB)
Wolf sits in for Campbell Brown and takes a
lengthy look at the plans for withdrawing the
troops from Iraq in a discussion with Michael,
Christiane Amanpour, and Chris Lawrence.
WOLF BLITZER: Today, President Obama revealed for the
first time the real timeline he has for ending the
war in Iraq. But there was no banner reading "Mission
Accomplished," instead, a sobering assessment from
the commander in chief as he addressed the troops at
Camp Lejeune.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Let
there be no doubt: Iraq is not yet secure, and there
will be difficult days ahead. Violence will continue
to be a part of life in Iraq.
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...
We will retain a transitional force to carry out
three distinct functions: training, equipping, and
advising Iraqi security forces, as long as they
remain non-sectarian; conducting targeted
counterterrorism missions; and protecting our ongoing
civilian and military efforts within Iraq...
Every nation and every group must know, whether you
wish America good or ill, that the end of the war in
Iraq will enable a new era of American leadership and
engagement in the Middle East. This does not lessen
our commitment. We are going to be enhancing that
commitment to bring about a better day in that
region, and that era has just begun.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLITZER: A new era, the president says, but there's
still a lot to do before then.
Let's talk about that with our chief international
correspondent, Christiane Amanpour, CNN's Michael
Ware, who has reported extensively from Iraq over
these past several years. And, once again, we will
bring back our Pentagon correspondent, Chris
Lawrence. Chris, the administration is saying all
combat troops will be out by the end of next summer,
2010. When will the first troops be coming home and
what will the mission be for the troops that stay in
Iraq after that August 2010 deadline?
CHRIS LAWRENCE: Well, the first troops will start
coming home at some point later this year.
And as to the president's three missions that he
outlined, let's take a look at those. The first part
of that mission is to train and advise the Iraqis.
Well, that means, we know from the Pentagon
officials, that some American troops will be
embedding with those troops, which means they could
be caught in conflict.
Two, protect U.S. civilians and assets. Well, that
could mean actually defending, say, a reconstruction
team from attack. And, three, conducting
counter-terrorism missions. Even though the Iraqis
will be in the lead on these missions, that still
means American troops going after the terrorists to
capture or kill them. Even though these may be not
designated combat missions, all of these missions can
involve combat.
BLITZER: Chris, the generals, as you know, they had
some concerns that they brought to the president's
attention. What do you know about that?
LAWRENCE: Yeah, the generals were very concerned
about that initial 16-month proposal, because what
they want to do is keep as many troops in Iraq as
possible through the end of the year and get through
those Iraqi elections.
They would not have been able to keep as many as they
wanted. Now that they have got a little bit more
time, what you will see is maybe a brigade or two
leave later this year. But the majority of those
troops will not leave until next year.
BLITZER: All right, stand by.
Michael, the president's clearly aware that there are
major, major concerns about Iraqi's stability.
Listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OBAMA: We cannot rid Iraq of every single individual
who opposes America or sympathizes with our
adversaries. We cannot police Iraq's streets
indefinitely until they are completely safe, nor can
we stay until Iraq's union is perfect.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLITZER: The president phoned the prime minister,
Nouri al-Maliki, today, reportedly told him that the
Iraqis -- al-Maliki saying the Iraqis are ready to
take over.
Michael, you know this country. You know the
stability there. Are they ready?
MICHAEL WARE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, I think the
prime minister is dreaming there.
I mean, if the Iraqis were to take over now, we would
see a weak central government, Iraqi security forces
that are not yet cohesive or entirely battle-ready.
And it's almost certain that we would see ongoing
sectarianism.
Now, none of that bodes well for American interests
and indeed would amount to an embarrassment for the
American mission, if that were to be their legacy.
I think Prime Minister Maliki's government needs a
bit more time before it can fulfill that great
statement. And let's remember, in terms of the
president's statement today about withdrawing the
troops, there's enormous symbolic importance to this.
But, in reality, it isn't that great a development. I
mean, the Bush administration that started this war
are the ones who had already signed the deal to end
the war, surrendering America's war-fighting
capability.
President Obama had 36 months to play with. It was
merely up to him how many of those months he would
need for the bulk of the forces. And we learned today
that it's 19. So, really, this is just a calibration
of something that we already knew -- Wolf.
BLITZER: Christiane, we know there are deep concerns
here in Washington about what Iran will do once the
United States leaves.
What is the relationship right now, as best as you
can tell, between Irar and Iraq?
CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL
CORRESPONDENT: Iran wants a stable Iraq. That's in
Iran's interest. And while Iran has been on record
over and over again as saying that it wants
eventually to see U.S. troops out, it also doesn't
want chaos on its border there.
And many people are saying that once the United
States, if in fact President Obama pursues his desire
for a new strategic relationship with Iran, then a
very positive fallout from that could be help and
stability in Iraq.
And, of course, U.S. generals are saying that the
Iraqi forces, upon which the entire system will
depend eventually, are not yet ready. There is a long
way to go. And 2009 is going to be a really critical
year in beefing up the Iraqi forces. Most of their
problem is in logistics. And that's something that's
really going to have to be beefed up.
BLITZER: Michael, there are millions, as you well
know, millions of Iraqis who have fled the violence.
They're now refugees, whether in Jordan, Syria,
elsewhere. The president says he wants them to return
home. Here's the two-pronged question: Will they, and
what will the impact be?
WARE: Well, this will be the great test, won't it?
I mean, the Iraqis here will literally be voting with
their feet. We have about four million displaced
people either in Iraq or who have fled outside,
primarily to Syria and Jordan. Now, whether those
people, mostly Sunnis, but also a large number of
Shias, are willing to return will be the litmus test.
And should they do so, well, that will be a vote of
confidence in the government and the situation. It's
certainly much-needed by Iraq for these people to
return. And let's not forget, anyone who had money,
anyone who had education, anyone who had a profession
left a long time ago.
Iraq needs its intellectual strength back. Let's hope
they come back. But President Obama wishing it to be
so doesn't necessarily mean that it will be -- Wolf.
BLITZER: Yeah, good point.
Christiane, in Iraq, the president's withdrawing
troops slower than he originally wanted. They're
leaving more troops on the ground. A lot of Democrats
aren't very happy about that.
In Afghanistan, he's sending 17,000 more troops
there, instead of the 30,000 or so that some of the
military commanders originally wanted. This more
cautious approach, what does it say about the
president and the situation in the region?
AMANPOUR: Well, surely, it says that the president is
consulting with his commanders on the ground. And
this is what they have come up with.
He has always said, we want a responsible end to this
war. And, to be frank, Wolf, the difference between
16 months and 18 months, when you're talking about a
massive logistic withdrawal of troops, is almost
negligible.
And, also, as you know, Iraq and the United States
have signed a contract whereby all U.S. troops have
to be out by the end of August 2011. So, we're really
playing with months here.
In terms of Afghanistan, that is where the big focus
obviously of this administration is going to be. And,
as you say, they have decided to send some 17,000
more troops, which should start arriving in the
summer.
The question, though, is, what is the mission for
these troops? From what we can gather, the mission
will be at least in the short term to protect the
elections, which are coming up towards the end of the
summer in Afghanistan. But that's a very limited
mission.
So, while the president says he wants to stop
Afghanistan from ever returning as a safe haven for
terrorism, there is also a huge amount of work to be
done there that goes beyond the military. Most agree,
wherever you go and whoever you talk to on the
ground, this is not something that's going to be won
militarily. And so there's a huge amount of
diplomacy, development, and economic rebuilding to be
done to make Afghanistan stable.
BLITZER: To be sure.
Christiane Amanpour, Michael Ware, Chris Lawrence,
guys, thanks very much.