Michael Ware: 2005

NPR: Sunni, Kurdish Voters Report Few Election Problems

Cynthia@mickware.com — 2005-01-30T00:00:00-08:00

...for the National Assembly and one for the creation of an independent region of Kurdistan. Hear Time magazine's Michael Ware in Baqubah.

NPR: 2:21

Air America: Randi Rhodes Show -- 16:37

Cynthia@mickware.com — 2005-11-30T00:00:50-08:00

Michael speaks by phone from Baghdad.

Randi Rhodes Show -- 16:37

NPR: Reports From Iraq - Election Day

Cynthia@mickware.com — 2005-12-15T00:00:00-08:00

Talk of the Nation, December 15, 2005 · Reporters provide updates on Thursday's voting in Iraq. Turnout was reported to be strong, even in Sunni-dominated areas, where voting in last January's first nationwide election was low.

Reports From Iraq -- 4:35

AC: How are things going in Iraq?

Cynthia@mickware.com — 2005-11-28T19:00:00-08:00

Anderson speaks to Michael in Baghdad via telephone.

The quote that caused this site to be created:

COOPER: We are starting to hear from this White House talk that the Iraqis maybe are doing better than we had previously thought...

WARE: Whoever from the White House is saying that is one of two things. Clearly, they have never been in Iraq and clearly, they have never been in a firefight with an Iraqi unit. Secondly, they're clearly lying, whether they know it or not.

Length: 4:22

AC: What really happened at Tal Afar?

Cynthia@mickware.com — 2005-11-30T19:00:00-08:00

Anderson speaks to Michael in Baghdad via telephone regarding the battle at Tal Afar. Michael was there, embedded with the US military, and witnessed the battle from beginning to end, so he is uniquely qualified to challenge White House reports that Iraqi forces led the attack.

Length: 3:59

AC: Who are the insurgents?

Cynthia@mickware.com — 2005-12-05T19:00:00-08:00

Anderson interviews Michael in Baghdad regarding the makeup of the insurgency. Michael also responds to Donald Rumsfeld’s diss on the media.

Length: 6:11

AC: How will the Iraqi elections go?

Cynthia@mickware.com — 2005-12-12T19:00:00-08:00

Anderson spends election week in Iraq. On day one, he interviews Michael in Baghdad regarding the “bullets and ballots” dual tracks of the war.

(Anderson also tries to claim Michael from corporate sister Time Magazine, again introducing him as “CNN’s Michael Ware.” Michael’s response? “Insha’allah.” I’m all for it!)

Length: 3:50

CBS: Bullets and ballots

Cynthia@mickware.com — 2005-12-13T18:30:00-08:00

Lara Logan interviews Michael on the CBS Evening News about the election and the "bullets and ballots" strategy employed by the insurgents.

Length: 3:20

AC: Election day in Iraq

Cynthia@mickware.com — 2005-12-14T19:00:00-08:00

Anderson hosts from Bakuba, Michael’s in Baghdad. Although there were fewer acts of violence than was the case for earlier elections in Iraq, the polls opened while AC was on the air and explosions occurred immediately.

Michael explains the long-term plans of the insurgents and what election results would bode well for the US mission in Iraq. (Hint: we’re in trouble.)

Length: 4:31

AC: Did we lose Abu Musab al-Zarqawi?

Cynthia@mickware.com — 2005-12-15T19:00:00-08:00

Anderson again in Bakuba, Michael in Baghdad. Michael discusses the report that Abu Musab al-Zarqawi had been in US custody but released. Zarqawi’s insurgent groups have been, in Michael’s terms, “Iraqified” from the lower ranks up, so that local insurgents are now having far more say in how the insurgency fights.

Length: 3:49

TIME: Terrorists Home In On Australians

Cynthia@mickware.com — 2005-01-26T00:00:00-08:00

By MICHAEL WARE

When Sabah Aziz trudged past the police officers at the checkpoint outside Baghdad's al-Hamra hotel just before 7 a.m. on Jan. 19, he brushed off their invitation to stop for breakfast. Everyone in the neighborhood knew Aziz. People said he'd gone insane when his only son was executed for deserting Saddam Hussein's army. He walked out on his wife and daughter, roaming their suburb but never returning home. Locals cared for him, leaving out food and blankets. On this Wednesday morning, making his way between the blast barriers and "dragon's teeth" road spikes at the checkpoint, Aziz told the police officers, "I want to walk." Turning left on the four-lane road cutting through the capital's Jadriyah district, he headed east in the direction of the Australian embassy. In front of him a garbage truck stopped, and its driver hopped out to collect the rubbish bags left out on the pavement. This early, the Jadriyah road was quiet. Shops were still shuttered; a few pedestrians and the odd car went by. The Australian soldiers in their nine-story barracks - set up in the shell of a partly built apartment block in front of the Australian embassy - peered out as they do around the clock, scanning for potential threats.

TIME: Hunt for the Bomb Factories

Cynthia@mickware.com — 2005-02-07T00:00:00-08:00

The car bombs that go off in Baghdad are manufactured in the relative quiet of an arc of Sunni tribal lands around the capital. That is the true heartland of the resistance, where it draws on massive weapons depots secreted in river valleys and deserts. The nationalist fighters who control the area supply Abu Mousab al-Zarqawi's networks with the ammo they use for their deadly operations, according to U.S. military intelligence. Even as more attacks took place last week in the run-up to the election--including mortar rounds on the U.S. embassy that killed two Americans--the Iraqi government announced the capture of several key al-Zarqawi lieutenants, including an alleged "bomber-in-chief." U.S.-led forces arrested other significant insurgent leaders, the result of a monthlong sweep beyond Iraq's big cities. On a recent mission, TIME Baghdad bureau chief MICHAEL WARE saw the strategy at work.

By MICHAEL WARE

TIME: Talking with the Enemy

Cynthia@mickware.com — 2005-02-28T00:00:00-08:00

Inside the secret dialogue between the U.S. and insurgents in Iraq -- and what the rebels say they want

By MICHAEL WARE
A TIME EXCLUSIVE

TIME: Change in Command -- The Iraqis Learn the Ropes

Cynthia@mickware.com — 2005-04-25T00:00:00-07:00

A new U.S. program for training local officers may hold the key to getting out of the country

By MICHAEL WARE / BAGHDAD

TIME: Inside an Insurgent Camp

Cynthia@mickware.com — 2005-05-09T00:00:00-07:00

By MICHAEL WARE

How sophisticated is the insurgency in Iraq? While U.S. commanders believe the insurgents are growing desperate, a recent wave of coordinated large-scale attacks--such as the series of bombings that killed at least 30 Iraqis in Baghdad in one day last week--suggests that some rebel groups have become more organized. Videotapes obtained by TIME from sources close to the insurgency appear to confirm the existence of makeshift training camps inside Iraq to teach recruits guerrilla warfare. The camps are tucked inside villages and conduct weapons-handling drills in remote fields. One tape shows four men in uniforms gathered in a dilapidated barracks facility in western Iraq and receiving instruction on how to fire a modified missile launcher. "We ask God to make this weak weapon strong by his strength," the instructor says. "God save Iraq from the Jews and the infidel." The second tape shows a group of 15 uniformed men practicing advancing under fire in a lush grove of trees and tall grass. In another scene, recruits navigate an obstacle course that requires them to climb stairs, crawl under barbed wire and dive through a flaming hoop.

TIME: Inside Iran's Secret War for Iraq

Cynthia@mickware.com — 2005-08-22T00:00:00-07:00

A TIME investigation reveals the Tehran regime's strategy to gain influence in Iraq--and why U.S. troops may now face greater dangers as a result

By MICHAEL WARE / BAGHDAD

TIME: Chasing the Ghosts

Cynthia@mickware.com — 2005-09-26T00:00:00-07:00

With doubts about Iraq growing at home, U.S. forces are struggling to put down an elusive and inexhaustible enemy. Michael Ware reports on the state of the counterinsurgency from the front lines of the biggest battle of the year

By MICHAEL WARE

TIME: The View from the Front Lines

Cynthia@mickware.com — 2005-12-05T00:00:00-08:00

The fighting men of Blue Platoon have taken a horrific beating, but no one talks about pulling out

By MICHAEL WARE / RAMADI

TIME: The New Rules of Engagement

Cynthia@mickware.com — 2005-12-12T00:00:00-08:00

As the insurgency rages on, a TIME investigation reveals a new U.S. push to exploit splits in its ranks. Can that help lead to an exit?

By MICHAEL WARE / BAGHDAD