CBS Evening News Online Edition - 2004-10-05

Channel: malgent

Transcript

Language: English (original, YouTube automatic captions)

[0:00] Hello, I'm Dan Rather. Welcome to the

[0:02] CBS Evening News online edition. Just

[0:05] ahead, did or did not the US have enough

[0:08] troops in Iraq on the ground at a

[0:10] critical time? And does it have enough

[0:12] troops now? A rift opens in the Bush

[0:15] administration about this. Also, the

[0:18] other presidential election, the one in

[0:20] Afghanistan, and just four days away.

[0:23] Also, they could elect the next American

[0:26] president. So, why don't many single

[0:28] women vote? It's all starting now on the

[0:32] CBS Evening News online edition. The

[0:35] vice presidential candidates just got

[0:37] something big to talk about at their

[0:39] debate tonight. Something neither side

[0:41] expected. A rift inside the Bush

[0:44] administration over the handling of the

[0:46] war in Iraq. Paul Bremer, once President

[0:49] Bush's top man there, now says he warned

[0:52] his superiors back in Washington that

[0:54] the United States did not have enough

[0:56] troops in Iraq to establish control. CBS

[0:59] News national security correspondent

[1:01] David Martin begins our coverage.

[1:05] Reopening an old wound over whether the

[1:07] US sent a large enough force to deal

[1:09] with the consequences of toppling Saddam

[1:11] Hussein.

[1:14] Bremer now says, "We never had enough

[1:16] troops on the ground." In remarks he

[1:19] thought were off the record, Bremer

[1:21] described what he called horrid looting

[1:23] and said, "We paid a big price for not

[1:25] stopping it because it established an

[1:27] atmosphere of lawlessness."

[1:29] 17 of Iraq's 23 ministries were looted,

[1:32] vastly complicating the task of

[1:34] rebuilding Iraq. Although at the time,

[1:36] Defense Secretary Rumsfeld downplayed

[1:38] it. stuff happens and it's untidy and

[1:41] freedom's untidy and free people are

[1:43] free to make mistakes and commit crimes

[1:45] and do bad things. They're also free to

[1:48] to to live their lives and and do

[1:50] wonderful things and that's what's going

[1:52] to happen here.

[1:52] >> Bremer also said, "I raised this issue a

[1:55] number of times with our government."

[1:57] According to the Pentagon, any demands

[1:59] Bremer made for more troops were

[2:01] referred to military commanders who

[2:03] decided they had enough.

[2:05] >> This is Basra, where our main power

[2:07] problems are. As the senior American in

[2:10] Iraq, reporting directly to Rumsfeld,

[2:12] Bremer was the point man for a number of

[2:14] controversial policies. Disbanding the

[2:17] Iraqi army, which created hordes of

[2:19] unemployed young men angry at the

[2:21] Americans for taking away their

[2:22] paychecks, disbarring some 30,000

[2:25] members of Saddam's Ba'athist party from

[2:27] holding government office, which

[2:30] deprived Iraq of badly needed expertise

[2:32] in running the government. On top of

[2:34] that, officials blame Bremer for what

[2:36] they describe as poisonous and

[2:38] dysfunctional relations between his

[2:40] civilian organization and the military

[2:42] occupation forces. These officials

[2:45] accuse Bremer of being abusive and

[2:47] shortfused to the point the two

[2:49] organizations supposed to be working

[2:51] together for the reconstruction of Iraq

[2:53] were barely on speaking terms. David

[2:56] Martin, CBS News. The Pentagon. US

[2:58] forces in Iraq are trying to establish

[3:00] enough security for elections to be held

[3:03] in January. Security is also a major

[3:06] concern in Afghanistan, which this

[3:08] Saturday will hold the first election in

[3:10] its history, ready or not. And today,

[3:12] the leading candidate delivered his

[3:15] first campaign speech. CBS's Larara

[3:18] Logan has the inside story.

[3:21] President Mohammed Kazai told cheering

[3:24] supporters that a future of Afghanistan

[3:26] will not be ruled by guns. Today,

[3:29] surrounded by heavily armed American

[3:31] bodyguards and with US Apache helicopter

[3:34] gunships circling overhead, the Afghan

[3:37] president made his first campaign

[3:38] appearance. Many Afghans believe that

[3:41] President Kazi will win this election

[3:43] because he has the backing of the all

[3:45] powerful United States. And that's a

[3:48] double-edged sword. Kazai's challenge

[3:50] will be proving to his people that he's

[3:53] not the American puppet some believe

[3:56] with ongoing violence, security, and

[3:58] intimidation are still major issues

[4:00] here, leading some to question the

[4:02] timing of the election.

[4:04] >> In a way, we're forcing Afghanistan to

[4:07] give birth to democracy prematurely when

[4:09] I think a lot of the preconditions for

[4:12] uh free and fair and safe elections are

[4:13] not in place. The US has over 16,000

[4:17] troops in Afghanistan and this year

[4:19] alone has committed $1.7 billion dollar

[4:22] in aid. Just recently, American

[4:24] ambassador Zmai Kalazad made several

[4:27] public appearances with the president,

[4:30] adding to the perception America's

[4:32] trying to influence this election.

[4:34] >> 10 million people have registered to

[4:35] vote in Afghanistan in the upcoming

[4:37] presidential election. There's concern

[4:40] that optimism will overshadow major

[4:42] problems here like the growing power of

[4:44] unpopular warlords and the escalating

[4:47] drug crisis.

[4:48] >> I think it's a very important issue that

[4:50] we not equate elections with success in

[4:52] Afghanistan. And there's a real danger

[4:55] that we not check that box of elections

[4:57] and then say mission accomplished and

[4:59] and and use that as our exit strategy

[5:02] for Afghanistan.

[5:03] However flawed the conditions for the

[5:05] elections, Afghan people have shown

[5:07] overwhelming support for the process.

[5:10] After two decades of civil war, a

[5:12] successful election now could be the

[5:15] turning point Afghanistan needs to

[5:17] strengthen a still fragile peace. Lara

[5:20] Logan, CBS News, Gazny, Afghanistan.

[5:23] >> In campaign 04, the presidential

[5:24] candidates are targeting anyone who is

[5:27] still undecided, not only about whom to

[5:30] vote for, but whether to vote at all.

[5:32] With that in mind, CBS News

[5:34] correspondent Mika Brazinski reports the

[5:36] candidates are courting millions of

[5:38] single women. They could swing the

[5:41] election if they get to the polls.

[5:45] >> 53-year-old Sakuro Marquez and

[5:47] 30-year-old Allison James are both

[5:49] single and being heavily pursued by two

[5:53] men, George W. Bush and John Kerry. The

[5:57] problem is both women have commitment

[6:00] issues. I found no reason to vote since

[6:03] I was 18.

[6:04] >> I didn't vote in the last presidential

[6:06] election.

[6:07] >> They are two of the 22 million single

[6:09] women in this country who made the

[6:11] choice not to vote last time. President

[6:13] Bush is turning on the charm with his W

[6:16] stands for women campaign. John Kerry

[6:18] has his own internet counterpart using

[6:21] websites and even their own wives to woo

[6:23] what's long been the unattainable vote.

[6:26] It's time that our voices be heard in

[6:31] full and at last. My husband believes

[6:34] that we should all have an equal

[6:36] opportunity to achieve our dreams.

[6:39] >> While there's been a lot of talk about

[6:41] soccer moms morphing into security moms

[6:43] worried about terrorism.

[6:46] >> Single women say they've heard too much

[6:48] about it.

[6:49] >> There's a disconnect. They are not

[6:51] hearing about the issues that affect

[6:53] their daily lives. Here are some of the

[6:55] reasons why women say they don't vote.

[6:57] They think their votes don't matter.

[6:59] >> That doesn't surprise me at all.

[7:00] >> They see no connection between their

[7:02] lives and the election process.

[7:05] >> That doesn't surprise me at all.

[7:07] >> They often use the phrase, "The

[7:08] politicians have never walked in our

[7:10] shoes."

[7:11] >> Absolutely.

[7:12] >> Yes.

[7:12] >> You're a single mother. You have four

[7:14] boys. What do the candidates need to

[7:17] focus on that would mean anything to

[7:19] you?

[7:20] >> Health insurance, daycare, housing.

[7:23] Maybe we need a female candidate.

[7:26] >> The single women's vote is getting a lot

[7:28] of attention from headlines, women's

[7:31] magazines, from Glamour to Miz to

[7:34] old-fashioned get out the vote drives.

[7:36] >> Really do encourage you to get out and

[7:38] vote.

[7:39] >> And for Allison, it's worked.

[7:41] >> So, will you vote?

[7:42] >> I plan to.

[7:43] >> But not Sakoro. Once again, she's not

[7:46] voting. Neither candidate has been able

[7:48] to win her over. Mika Brzinski, CBS

[7:52] News, New York.

[7:53] >> More stories are just a click away, but

[7:56] don't forget to join me on television

[7:57] for the on air edition of the CBS 18

[8:00] News. On Wednesday's broadcast, the tax

[8:03] cuts. Should they all stay or should

[8:06] some of them go? Where the candidates

[8:08] stand in the CBS series, What does it

[8:11] mean to you? For cbsnews.com,

[8:14] I'm Dan Rather.