CBS Evening News (A block) - 2006-11-28

Channel: malgent

Transcript

Language: English (original, YouTube automatic captions)

[0:02] I'm Katie Kurrick. On the eve of a

[0:04] highstakes summit, President Bush blames

[0:06] the violence in Iraq on al-Qaeda and

[0:09] insists US troops won't go home until

[0:11] the job's done. And the Baker Hamilton

[0:14] Commission is ready to recommend a

[0:15] timetable not for US troops to withdraw,

[0:18] but for Iraqi troops to take over. The

[0:21] Pope goes to Turkey and tries to mend

[0:23] fences with the Muslim world that may

[0:25] not be ready to forgive. and overweight

[0:28] in America. Tonight, our special series

[0:30] looks at grossly overweight teenagers.

[0:33] Is surgery the answer?

[0:39] >> This is the CBS Evening News with Katie

[0:42] Kuruk.

[0:45] >> Hi everyone. President Bush is at the

[0:48] NATO summit in Latvia where he's been

[0:50] pushing the allies for more troops for

[0:52] the war in Afghanistan. But the focus is

[0:55] about to shift to the war in Iraq at

[0:57] another summit. This one in Aman,

[0:59] Jordan, where Mr. Bush will be meeting

[1:01] starting tomorrow with the Iraqi Prime

[1:03] Minister Nori al- Malaki. It is all

[1:05] about the future of Iraq, including the

[1:07] thousands of US troops serving there.

[1:10] CBS News chief White House correspondent

[1:12] Jim Axelrod is with the president in

[1:14] Latafia. Jim?

[1:18] Well, Katie, a senior administration

[1:19] official tells me that when President

[1:21] Bush sits down with Prime Minister

[1:22] Maliki, it may be Maliki who pushes for

[1:25] troop withdrawals so Iraqis can take

[1:28] greater control of their own security.

[1:31] >> My questions to him will be, "What do we

[1:34] need to do to succeed? What is your

[1:36] strategy in dealing with the sectarian

[1:39] violence?" In Latvia for the NATO summit

[1:41] today, the president firmly repeated a

[1:43] longtime pillar of his strategy, ruling

[1:46] out bringing troops home.

[1:48] >> But there's one thing I'm not going to

[1:49] do.

[1:50] I'm not going to pull our troops off the

[1:52] battlefield before the mission is

[1:54] complete.

[1:55] >> A call from Maliki for repositioning

[1:57] troops would be a different matter. But

[1:59] heading into the summit, Mr. The Bush

[2:01] seems to be looking back as much as

[2:03] looking forward, recycling old claims

[2:06] that outside terrorists are to blame for

[2:08] the chaos in Iraq.

[2:10] >> There's a lot of sectarian violence

[2:12] taking place, fumented, in my opinion

[2:15] because of these attacks by uh by

[2:19] al-Qaeda

[2:21] causing people to seek reprisal.

[2:23] Meanwhile, in Washington, the Baker

[2:25] Hamilton Commission continued its work,

[2:27] hoping for a report by early next week.

[2:30] Today, Mr. Bush adamantly rejected

[2:32] what's expected to be a key

[2:34] recommendation, engaging Iran and Syria

[2:37] for help calming Iraq. He says that's up

[2:40] to the Maliki government. Iraq is a

[2:43] sovereign nation which is conducting its

[2:46] own foreign policy.

[2:49] They're having talks with their

[2:51] neighbors,

[2:52] and if that's what they think they ought

[2:54] to do, that's fine. I hope their talks

[2:57] yield results.

[2:59] The results yielded today were not what

[3:01] the president wanted. Iraq's president,

[3:03] Talibani, was in Iran listening to Iran

[3:05] Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Kamani, blame

[3:08] the United States for all the chaos in

[3:10] Iraq. Katie,

[3:11] >> Jim, why does the White House continue

[3:13] to be so adamant about not dealing

[3:15] directly with Iran?

[3:19] President Bush has drawn a line in the

[3:20] sand with Iran about its nuclear

[3:22] program, saying Iran must verifiably

[3:24] suspend all enrichment before talking

[3:26] with the US about anything. Having Iraq

[3:29] takes the lead allows the conversations

[3:31] to proceed. In effect, Katie, it allows

[3:33] the US to talk about it without really

[3:35] talking about it.

[3:36] >> Jim Axelrod traveling with the president

[3:38] tonight. Bringing Iran into the process

[3:40] may not be the only recommendation from

[3:43] the Iraq study group that gives this

[3:45] administration pause. There is also the

[3:48] issue of timets. The president has

[3:50] repeatedly dismissed the idea of setting

[3:52] a schedule for withdrawing US troops,

[3:55] but David Martin has learned the

[3:56] commission may have found a way around

[3:58] that by putting the onus on the Iraqis.

[4:02] >> Sources close to the Iraq study group

[4:04] predict its final report will not call

[4:06] for a timetable for the withdrawal of

[4:08] American troops, which would almost

[4:10] certainly be rejected by the Bush

[4:12] administration. Instead, these sources

[4:15] expected to recommend a timetable for

[4:17] the Iraqi government to assume greater

[4:19] responsibility for its own security.

[4:22] Still unresolved is the question of

[4:24] what, if any, consequences there would

[4:26] be if the Iraqi government failed to

[4:28] meet the timetable. The study group is

[4:31] drafting its recommendations just as the

[4:33] Bush administration is acknowledging the

[4:35] war has entered a new phase, but CBS

[4:38] consultant and former CIA analyst

[4:40] Michael Shyer thinks it's worse than

[4:42] that.

[4:43] >> I'm not so sure it's a new phase, David,

[4:45] as it is just a recognition of the of

[4:47] the of Iraq being basically out of

[4:49] anyone's control at the moment. The

[4:51] Shiite militia behind much of the

[4:53] violence has vastly increased in size in

[4:56] the past year and is now estimated by US

[4:58] intelligence at 40 to 60,000.

[5:02] Between 1 and 2,000 of them have

[5:04] traveled through Syria to Lebanon for

[5:06] training by the Iranianbacked terrorist

[5:08] group Hezbollah and thousands more have

[5:11] received training at camps inside Iran.

[5:14] But US intelligence officials say even a

[5:16] complete cut off of Iranian assistance

[5:19] would not end the violence which raises

[5:21] this question. Do you think anyone can

[5:24] bring this sectarian violence under

[5:26] control?

[5:27] >> I don't think it's possible. Certainly

[5:29] it's not possible by the United States.

[5:31] >> The study group had hoped to reach

[5:33] agreement on its major recommendations

[5:36] today, but it has broken up for the

[5:38] night and we'll have to meet again

[5:40] tomorrow. Katie

[5:41] >> David Martin at the Pentagon tonight.

[5:43] Richard Hos is president of the Council

[5:45] on Foreign Relations and a former

[5:47] adviser to Secretary of State Coen Pal.

[5:50] Richard, the president said today that

[5:52] al-Qaeda is basically responsible for

[5:54] the sectarian violence in Iraq. Do you

[5:57] buy that?

[5:58] >> Uh, in a word, no. It's clearly

[6:00] responsible for some of it. It's clearly

[6:01] exacerbated some of it. But even if

[6:03] al-Qaeda disappeared tomorrow, which

[6:05] we'd all would love, the sectarian

[6:07] violence violence would continue.

[6:08] There's Iraqis on both sides of this or

[6:10] more than on multiple sides of this that

[6:12] are doing plenty of the fighting on

[6:13] their own.

[6:14] >> The president also said, quote, he's not

[6:16] going to pull our troops off the

[6:18] battlefield before the mission is

[6:20] complete. What does that mean? Is it

[6:22] realistic?

[6:24] >> If by the mission being complete, the

[6:25] president means somehow making Iraq into

[6:28] a normal country and a functioning

[6:29] democracy, I think that's wildly

[6:31] unrealistic. I'm I'm sad to say there's

[6:33] not going to be a completion of the

[6:35] mission. There's not going to be

[6:36] success. there's not going to be

[6:38] something that's going to be a model for

[6:39] anything in the Middle East.

[6:40] >> For some time, the president seemed to

[6:42] exhibit more flexibility visa v the

[6:45] situation in Iraq, more openness, if you

[6:47] will. Today, he seemed to dig in his

[6:49] heels again. Why?

[6:52] >> I noticed that as well. The president

[6:54] understands how much his pres

[6:56] presidency, how much history is going to

[6:58] judge him by how the United States fares

[7:01] in Iraq. But I believe we're getting

[7:02] very close to that point where we have

[7:04] to cut our losses and then perhaps think

[7:06] in American foreign policy, what do we

[7:08] do to offset the failure? What can we do

[7:10] elsewhere to show that the United States

[7:12] can still be effective, can still be

[7:14] successful?

[7:14] >> Have you come up with the answer?

[7:16] >> At the end of the day, Iraq, as

[7:18] expensive as it is, as important as it

[7:20] is, is simply one square on the global

[7:22] geopolitical chessboard. We can't afford

[7:25] to put all of our our pieces on that one

[7:28] square. The United States has other

[7:30] things that matter. And if as it looks,

[7:32] Iraq is not going to turn out well, we

[7:35] need to begin to think, how do we reduce

[7:36] our losses there and how do we try to

[7:38] invest elsewhere and then have something

[7:40] more positive to show for it.

[7:42] >> Richard Hos, thank you very much.

[7:43] >> Thank you, Katie.

[7:45] >> Now, not everyone likes the idea of

[7:46] tomorrow's summit in Jordan, especially

[7:48] supporters of the radical Shiite cleric

[7:51] you've been hearing so much about

[7:52] lately, Mktad Alsader. In fact, they've

[7:55] threatened to pull out of Iraq's

[7:57] coalition government if the meeting even

[7:59] goes on. That would be a major blow to

[8:02] the future of the country. But who is

[8:04] Moktata al-Sader and how did he become

[8:06] so powerful? Here's Elizabeth Palmer

[8:09] from Baghdad.

[8:11] Mktad al-Sader may dress like a simple

[8:14] Shiite cleric,

[8:16] but he's a politician and a warlord,

[8:19] commander of a militia called the Mi

[8:21] Army. Intelligence estimates say it's

[8:24] grown eightfold in the past year alone

[8:26] to some 60,000 men. Also

[8:30] heir to a religious dynasty. His

[8:33] grandfather's picture is pasted all over

[8:35] the Shiite neighborhood in Baghdad which

[8:37] bears the family name Sadder City.

[8:41] And today thousands of his followers

[8:43] marched to commemorate the murder by

[8:45] Saddam's assassins of his father a grand

[8:48] Ayatollah. Mktata himself has only basic

[8:51] religious training. Married but

[8:53] childless, he keeps his private life

[8:55] away from the camera,

[8:58] but he flaunts his ferociously

[9:00] anti-American message, which boils down

[9:02] to get your troops out. It's not only

[9:06] that message that appeals to Iraq's

[9:07] Shiite majority, many of them poor and

[9:10] powerless. Last Thursday, when bombs in

[9:13] Satder City killed more than 200 people,

[9:15] Alsad's organization raced to the

[9:18] rescue. first aid, crowd control, and

[9:21] the next day compensation.

[9:24] But there's a darker side to the sat

[9:26] loyalists. They've taken over important

[9:28] government ministries, infiltrated the

[9:31] US trained Iraqi police, and his gunmen

[9:33] are also said to run the death squads

[9:35] that torture and murder Sunnis.

[9:38] >> Sad has also consolidated his power in

[9:41] Iraq's parliament. His loyalists occupy

[9:44] the 30 crucial seats that give Prime

[9:46] Minister al- Maliki his majority. To

[9:49] understand what it all adds up to,

[9:51] consider this. When American forces

[9:53] encircled Saturn City a few weeks ago to

[9:56] look for a kidnapped US soldier, Alsad

[9:59] called a meeting with the prime

[10:00] minister. The very next day, US forces

[10:03] were ordered to leave Sat City.

[10:06] >> Elizabeth Palmer, CBS News, Baghdad.

[10:10] And one final note on Iraq tonight. US

[10:13] forces are still searching for the pilot

[10:15] of an F-16 that crashed yesterday near

[10:18] Fallujah. The wreckage was immediately

[10:20] surrounded by insurgents and by the time

[10:22] American rescuers got there, the pilot

[10:25] was missing. Videotape shot by a local

[10:27] journalist appeared to show a body near

[10:29] the plane, but the US military can't

[10:31] confirm whether the pilot is alive or

[10:34] dead. And this program note will be

[10:37] reporting to you the next two nights

[10:39] from Aman Jordan on the Bush Maliki

[10:41] summit about the future of Iraq. There

[10:44] is much more CBS news straight ahead.

[10:47] And coming up next, the Catholic Pope in

[10:50] Muslim Turkey. Can he ease the anger

[10:52] over his speech about Islam?