CBS Evening News (A block) - 2006-10-30

Channel: malgent

Transcript

Language: English (original, YouTube automatic captions)

[0:03] I'm Katie Kurrick. Tonight from Los

[0:05] Angeles, a CBS News exclusive. The US

[0:08] military now says it will need to train

[0:10] a lot more Iraqi soldiers before

[0:12] American forces can come home as the US

[0:15] dev toll for October surpasses 100. Here

[0:19] on the home front, military spouses are

[0:20] fighting their own battles to pay the

[0:23] bills and keep their families together.

[0:26] States starting with California are

[0:27] flexing their political muscle, telling

[0:29] Uncle Sam, "If you won't tackle the

[0:31] tough issues, we will." And we'll

[0:34] remember the Gipper and his political

[0:36] revolution that started here in the

[0:38] Golden State 40 years ago.

[0:45] >> This is the CBS Evening News with Katie

[0:48] Kurrick.

[0:52] >> Hi everyone. The day everyone is hoping

[0:55] for. The day American forces can finally

[0:57] come home from Iraq seems more and more

[0:59] elusive. Just as the military announced

[1:02] that more than 100 US troops have died

[1:04] this month alone, our David Martin

[1:07] uncovered some exclusive information at

[1:08] the Pentagon today. Information that's

[1:11] likely to keep Americans in Iraq longer

[1:13] than anyone expected. Here's David's

[1:16] exclusive report.

[1:18] There's a video in the back.

[1:19] >> President Bush's national security

[1:21] adviser showed up unannounced in Baghdad

[1:23] today to meet with Iraq's Prime Minister

[1:25] Maliki,

[1:26] >> who according to US intelligence is

[1:28] telling his inner circle, "The situation

[1:30] is nearly out of control." At the same

[1:33] time, CBS News has learned General

[1:35] George Casey, the US commander in Iraq,

[1:38] is expected to recommend the size of

[1:40] Iraqi security forces be increased by up

[1:43] to 100,000. This comes just as the US

[1:46] military is about to reach its

[1:48] long-stated goal of training and

[1:50] equipping 325,000

[1:52] Iraqis to take over the fighting from

[1:54] American troops. Officials say the

[1:57] explosion of sectarian violence, which

[1:59] General Casey calls a fundamental change

[2:01] in the nature of the threat, now makes

[2:03] that number look inadequate. On top of

[2:05] that is the fact that on any given day,

[2:08] one quarter of the Iraqi army is on

[2:10] leave. Increasing the size of the Iraqi

[2:13] security forces would also mean more

[2:15] American soldiers would be needed to

[2:17] train and advise them. The US is also

[2:20] considering doubling from 12 to 25 the

[2:23] number of American advisers embedded in

[2:25] each Iraqi unit. General Casey is also

[2:28] expected to recommend equipping Iraqi

[2:30] security forces with more heavily

[2:32] armored vehicles. Police now ride in

[2:34] pickup trucks and heavier weapons. But

[2:37] an audit by a Pentagon inspector general

[2:39] found that of 370,000 small arms

[2:42] provided to the Iraqis so far, 14,000

[2:46] could not be accounted for, and most

[2:48] came without spare parts or repair

[2:50] manuals. Perhaps most alarming, Iraq may

[2:53] not be able to pay for its army. It's

[2:56] going to take $3.5 billion to sustain

[3:00] the Iraqi army next year and we were

[3:03] unable to uncover information in the

[3:05] course of the audit to indicate that

[3:07] Iraq was ready to sustain that burden.

[3:10] >> Increasing the number of Iraqi forces

[3:12] will take time, but if the situation is

[3:15] as bad as Malakei says it is, time may

[3:17] be in short supply. Katie

[3:20] >> David Martin at the Pentagon. David,

[3:22] thanks so much. Here's how bad it was

[3:25] today. More than 80 Iraqis were killed,

[3:27] including 33 in just one bomb attack as

[3:30] day laborers lined up for work in Solder

[3:33] City. And as we mentioned, it's been an

[3:35] especially deadly month for US troops

[3:37] who are constantly facing new dangers.

[3:40] Here's chief foreign correspondent Lara

[3:42] Logan.

[3:45] The fight for US forces in Anbar

[3:48] province, west of Baghdad, has been one

[3:50] of the hardest and the bloodiest in the

[3:53] whole Iraq war.

[3:55] Because this is the Iraqi power base for

[3:58] America's greatest enemy, al-Qaeda.

[4:02] More American soldiers die here every

[4:04] month than anywhere else in the country.

[4:07] But this month, the streets of Baghdad

[4:09] were even deadlier than Anbar. The 101st

[4:13] soldier killed in October shot by an

[4:15] enemy sniper in the Iraqi capital today.

[4:18] While roadside bombs are still the

[4:20] single biggest killer here, there's been

[4:23] a sharp increase in sniper attacks.

[4:25] >> It's not just all about losing our

[4:27] people. You know, we're getting a lot of

[4:29] these guys out there, too. I mean,

[4:30] that's what probably 10 times more than

[4:33] what they've gotten of us. US leaders

[4:35] have said their troops won't get

[4:37] involved in a civil war in Iraq. But

[4:39] American soldiers on the ground here now

[4:42] are already caught in a conflict between

[4:44] this country's two main ethnic groups

[4:46] that grows more violent and more bloody

[4:49] every day.

[4:54] >> For the soldiers left behind, memorial

[4:57] services are the last chance to say

[4:59] goodbye to fallen comrades.

[5:02] A brief moment to mourn before heading

[5:04] back out to continue the fight. Lara

[5:07] Logan, CBS News, Baghdad.

[5:11] The danger US troops face every day in

[5:14] Iraq really hits home here in

[5:16] California. There are 30 major bases

[5:18] here. In fact, no state has more. No

[5:21] state is contributing more troops to the

[5:23] war, and no state has suffered as many

[5:25] losses. More than 300 men and women,

[5:28] nearly 10% of all those killed in action

[5:30] in Iraq and Afghanistan were based here.

[5:34] I spent some time over the weekend with

[5:36] three military wives and their families

[5:38] here in Southern California.

[5:41] While 25,000 military men and women

[5:44] based in San Diego County are serving in

[5:46] Iraq, thousands more wives and children

[5:49] are soldiering on back home. What is it

[5:51] like for you all on a daily basis?

[5:54] You're not just the maid and the cook

[5:57] and um the caretaker anymore. You're the

[6:00] sole disciplinarian. You are the

[6:02] electrician.

[6:03] >> Lauren Hastings's husband, Justin, is on

[6:05] a naval destroyer in the waters off

[6:07] Iraq. Erica Luks is married to a Marine

[6:10] who just returned and could get shipped

[6:12] back any time.

[6:15] >> Amber Grogan has a six-year-old daughter

[6:17] and a baby on the way. Her Navy husband

[6:19] won't be there when she gives birth in

[6:22] February. Has it been hard for your

[6:24] kids?

[6:24] >> She comes to my bed with me and I just

[6:26] kind of like, "Hey, you you're welcome

[6:28] anytime." But she hasn't slept in her

[6:30] room since daddy left anyways. And you

[6:32] have to let them cry and you just sit

[6:34] down with them and you hold them and you

[6:35] cry with them.

[6:36] >> I said, "I wish I can just send this to

[6:38] Iraq."

[6:38] >> Many of these military families are

[6:40] financially strapped. More than 3,000

[6:43] qualify for help when it comes to food

[6:45] and basic household items.

[6:47] >> Everything is still is tight. Money,

[6:50] bills, groceries. It's It's not nearly

[6:53] enough.

[6:54] >> I don't know that any military member

[6:57] wants pity. Go ahead.

[6:58] >> Lauren uses her home as a headquarters

[7:00] for distributing donated bread for other

[7:04] wives in the same boat.

[7:06] >> Every little bit does help. We don't

[7:09] make enough money that when the radiator

[7:11] breaks, we can uh just call somebody and

[7:14] take it to the garage and have them fix

[7:16] it.

[7:16] >> So, it can be hard to make ends meet.

[7:19] Every month, at least 100 new families

[7:21] are added to the list of those who

[7:23] qualify for donated items. Organizers

[7:26] say they haven't seen this kind of need

[7:28] since World War II.

[7:30] >> They're needy. It's a shame that many of

[7:33] them, many of them are uh on food stamps

[7:37] and yet they're fighting for their

[7:39] country.

[7:39] >> Most Americans would be so ashamed to

[7:43] know that

[7:44] >> it happens.

[7:45] >> We need help just like any other person.

[7:47] >> Exactly.

[7:49] What these wives don't need help with is

[7:51] keeping a stiff upper lip. They say

[7:53] being left as the sole caregiver for

[7:55] months at a time has only made them

[7:57] stronger and more independent. And

[8:00] despite the fact that the majority of

[8:01] Americans oppose the war, they firmly

[8:04] believe in what their husbands are

[8:06] fighting for. A lot of people are

[8:08] against this war now in general. How how

[8:12] do you guys handle that? You know what

[8:15] my husband does, how he feels.

[8:19] He feels that he contributes. It's the

[8:22] reason that the guy can stand on the

[8:23] street corner holding a flag upside down

[8:25] and not know how devastating that is to

[8:28] a soldier.

[8:31] >> And I'd like to thank Lauren, Erica, and

[8:33] Amber for sharing their stories with me

[8:35] and welcoming us all so warmly. Now, an

[8:38] update on those wildfires here in

[8:40] Southern California that killed four

[8:42] firefighters and left a fifth still

[8:44] critically injured tonight. Today,

[8:45] residents were allowed to return home

[8:48] and many found their houses in ruins.

[8:50] The fire burned 40,000 acres. Crews hope

[8:54] to finally have it contained tonight and

[8:56] the search continues for the arsonists

[8:58] or arsonists who started the fire. There

[9:01] is much more CBS news ahead and coming

[9:04] up next. These days, California's motto

[9:06] could be, "If you want something done,

[9:08] do it yourself." When the CBS Evening

[9:11] News continues from Los Angeles.