Length: 3:25
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Wolf Blitzer talks to Michael about the Iraqi elections as well as what faces US troops as they are more deeply involved in Afghanistan, long known as "the graveyard of empires."
WOLF
BLITZER: Let's head over to CNN's Michael Ware. He
has been covering the war in Iraq since day one. He's
joining us from our studios in New York.
They had elections over the weekend. By all accounts,
they went relatively smoothly, with Iraqi military
forces taking the lead, U.S. forces playing a
secondary role.
Does this open the way for President Obama to
accelerate, accelerate a withdrawal of U.S. combat
forces from Iraq? He hopes to do so over 16 months,
Michael. But might he be able to do it even more
quickly?
MICHAEL WARE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, if he wants to
terrify his U.S. military commanders and put the fear
of God throughout the Iraq population, he certainly
can accelerate the pace of his withdrawal.
Let's not muck around here. The relative success so
far of this Iraqi provincial election -- now,
remember, they're voting state by state, they're not
voting for the national government -- is clearly a
success. But let's not go patting ourselves on the
back anytime soon.
I would have bet last month's salary that this would
have been a successful election, in terms of security
and the absence of attacks. In fact, I would argue
that most of this year, most likely, will see an
ongoing downward trend in attacks. Why?
Because it's in none of the parties' interests right
now to promote attacks. All of the political factions
are competing in the political process, waiting to
see what they get out of the game. But, remember, to
be in this game, you must have your own militia or
paramilitary force. That's what's backing every
player here.
Now, in the provincial elections, we hear the secular
parties have done well, and so has the party of Prime
Minister Nouri al-Maliki. If that's true, let's see
what the big loser, the Islamic party, the ISCI
party, which was created in Tehran, does about the
loss of its share in the provinces.
This could just be the beginning of the true
political warfare in Iraq -- Wolf.
BLITZER: So it's by no means a done deal in Iraq.
But what about Afghanistan? He's got to make a major
decision. You saw the article Fareed Zakaria is
writing in the new issue of "Newsweek" magazine about
potentially Afghanistan becoming Obama's Vietnam. And
we all remember the connotations of that.
He's going to be moving troops from Iraq to
Afghanistan. What do you think about that decision?
WARE: Well, I mean, it's between a rock and a hard
place, isn't it. And in Afghanistan, that's literally
what it can be.
Put it this way. The president is obviously a much
braver man than I. To hang the bulk of his foreign
policy credibility, to hang that cap on Afghanistan,
is a daring maneuver. Afghanistan is the graveyard of
empires. No one has ever won in Afghanistan.
Now, pouring U.S. troops into those mountains, this
is the end of the Himalayas, remember -- is not going
to solve anything quick. Even 30,000 extra troops
will disappear rapidly along that border. The
mountains will just swallow them up. So it's going to
require a lot more than just shifting troops from one
theater of warfare to another.
Let's see whether the special envoy, Richard
Holbrooke, and President Obama, and the newly sworn
Secretary of State can step up to the plate here.
It's going to be miracle-making that's demanded of
them -- Wolf.
BLITZER: Michael Ware. The challenge is enormous.
All right, Michael, thanks very much.