NR: "Al Qaeda and its
allies are trying to bomb Iraq back into the sectarian
civil war."
Monday, June 29, 2009
Length: 3:57
LARGE (45.9 MB)
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Just a few moments after speaking with Hala, Ali
Velshi talks with Michael about the drawdown as
well as with Atia Abawi about the troops heading to
Afghanistan.
ALI
VELSHI: In a little more than an hour, day one
arrives in Iraq. That means day one for the Iraqi
military, the day they will be in charge of their
major cities -- Mosul, Fallujah, Kirkuk, Najaf, and
Baghdad.
U.S. military forces officially hand over security to
Iraqi police and armed forces, a major milestone, the
first of many now between the president -- when
President Obama promises all U.S. forces will be out
of Iraq.
Let's go to Baghdad and CNN's Michael Ware. But also
this hour, discussion for Atia Abawi. Why? Because
she is in Afghanistan, where numbers of U.S. forces
are about to go up rather dramatically.
Let's talk about the two wars, one of which is being
called forgotten.
Michael, first to you, tell us how the Iraqi people
are viewing this pullout day.
MICHAEL WARE, INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT, CNN: Oh, I
can tell you that very easily, Ali. They are
jubilant. There are celebrations around us as we
speak. I can hear music.
State TV is cutting from one city to the next to the
next showing the celebrations. I've just come,
several hours ago now, from a celebration in a
central park here in Baghdad. Hundreds of families
picnicking as the sun went down, singing, dancing.
There was a concert about to begin. Government
officials were showing up.
State TV has fonted its screen the last few days,
counting down the days. Right now, as I stand here,
it's counting down the hours. We're about 70-odd
minutes away from the official end of the U.S.-led
war here in Iraq. Now, let's not make any mistakes
here. This isn't going to necessarily be pretty. But
the Iraqis, of all people, know that. For the last
seven years, it's their blood that has spilled more
than any others, and that's not taking away any
respect from the 4,300-odd American soldiers.
They know that the bombings will continue, but they
want to be Iraqi -- they want the occupation, as they
see it, to end.
VELSHI: Let's go over to Atia in Afghanistan, talk
about boosting U.S. troop numbers there. Atia, talk
about this concept of the Afghanistan war having
fallen off the American public's radar. Now it looks
like it's back on, and people are worried about Iraq.
ATIA ABAWI, INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT, CNN:
Exactly, Ali. This is everything that Afghanistan has
been waiting for. The people of Afghanistan wanted
this attention to come back to their country.
Some agree with the troop increase, some don't. The
soldiers here that we spoke to yesterday, we went out
on patrol with soldiers who have been to both Iraq
and Afghanistan, and those who are new to Afghanistan
tell us that they say it's about time that they're
focusing on Afghanistan.
They're happy to be here right now because they say
it's been seven, almost eight years now, and more
needs to be done in the war on terror in Afghanistan.
They say that they're here to bring an end to this
war as well -- Ali?
VELSHI: Michael, final word to you, about 30 seconds.
Is there some fear, is there a faction of Iraqis who
are fearful about this, that the Americans move out
and it will degenerate again?
WARE: Well, yes. I mean, look, there will be ongoing
violence, absolutely no question. The bombings are
going to continue. Al Qaeda and its allies are trying
to bomb Iraq back into the sectarian civil war.
And there are people who are worried not so much
about that. Everyone's united in wanting to see that
end. What they're worried about is that it's been the
presence of the American troops that's kept the
warring factions within the government and beyond
apart.
We're going to have to wait and see after next year's
election around January to see what the losers do.
And that's when American troops will really be
thinning out -- Ali?
VELSHI: All right, we'll keep a close eye on this, as
Michael says, just hours away. Atia, of course, we're
going to be paying very close attention to the
development in Afghanistan now and how that troop
deployment works. Thank you to both of you.