CNN Newsroom - 2006-11-05 (early morning) - 2 of 2

Channel: malgent

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Language: English (original, YouTube automatic captions)

[0:00] eagerness for revenge. The initial phase

[0:03] of the war gave Americans a sense of

[0:06] triumph, shock and awe.

[0:10] >> Goodbye, Saddam.

[0:12] >> The statue of Sodom Hussein being torn

[0:14] down in Baghdad. That's a positive

[0:17] image.

[0:18] >> We got him.

[0:21] the image of voters holding up the

[0:24] purple uh die showing their enthusiasm

[0:28] for democracy. Those are the images they

[0:30] want you to see. The image of a

[0:33] functioning democracy.

[0:36] The looting was a symbol that we weren't

[0:40] in control of Bang. Wait a second.

[0:43] What's going on here?

[0:45] >> Are we going to have anarchy now?

[0:50] Major combat operations in Iraq have

[0:52] ended. In the battle of Iraq, the United

[0:56] States and our allies have prevailed.

[1:00] >> These public images, which may work

[1:01] temporarily and may win you some votes

[1:04] at the moment, if it doesn't prove to be

[1:07] a reality, it's going to open you to

[1:10] ridicule.

[1:12] You go to war with the army you have,

[1:15] not the army you might want or wish to

[1:17] have at a later time.

[1:20] >> Abu Grae is very unfortunate. It's a war

[1:24] of images. And so this gave the uh

[1:27] insurgents a chance to uh use Abdul Grae

[1:31] as a powerful propaganda tool.

[1:36] >> Get out. GET OUT.

[1:40] I THINK THEY'RE in the in the last

[1:42] throws, if you will, of the insurgency.

[1:47] >> There's plenty of evidence civilians

[1:49] were killed in Hadith. 24 bodies were

[1:52] counted.

[1:54] >> Last evening, US forces killed

[1:59] Habu Musadar Kawi, the leading terrorist

[2:03] in Iraq.

[2:04] >> Our goals are unchanging.

[2:07] We are flexible in our methods to

[2:09] achieving those goals.

[2:11] >> What's happened now is that the public

[2:14] looks at the daily scenes of carnage in

[2:17] Iraq and what it sees is failure to

[2:21] achieve quote unquote victory. Rhetoric

[2:24] language cannot trump reality.

[2:30] Images from the past three years and

[2:32] seven months here in Iraq. And every

[2:35] day, events here echo across the US

[2:37] political campaign. Coming up in our war

[2:39] of words segment, I'll get both sides of

[2:41] the debate from Republican Congressman

[2:43] Duncan Hunter and Democratic Congressman

[2:45] John Murtha. I'm John Roberts in

[2:47] Baghdad. This week at war, the Iraq

[2:50] effect.

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[5:40] Here

[5:48] in Baghdad, you can feel the impact of

[5:50] the war every day. But what's the impact

[5:52] on the political debate in Washington

[5:54] and around the United States? We want to

[5:56] hear from two dominant voices in the

[5:58] Iraq debate. Chairman of the House Armed

[6:00] Services Committee, Duncan Hunter,

[6:01] Republican of California, and John

[6:03] Murth, a Democrat of Pennsylvania.

[6:05] First, let's go to Congressman Hunter.

[6:06] And Congressman Hunter, I want to share

[6:07] with our viewers the results of a recent

[6:09] CNN poll conducted October 27th through

[6:12] the 29th, just a few days ago. When

[6:13] asked, should the US change strategy and

[6:16] tactics in Iraq? 68% of Americans said

[6:20] that they either want a complete

[6:21] overhaul or major changes. Earlier this

[6:24] week, you announced that you're going to

[6:25] take a run for the White House in 2008.

[6:28] As commanderin-chief, how would you

[6:30] handle Iraq? Would you make significant

[6:32] changes from the plan on the ground now?

[6:34] Well, I don't think I have to wait uh

[6:36] for that run to to weigh into this uh

[6:38] this debate over the over the policy and

[6:41] strategy. I've sent a letter to the

[6:43] president and to Secretary Rumsfeld uh a

[6:45] week and a half ago that uh that said

[6:48] this. We have 114 Iraqi battalions that

[6:51] we've now stood up, trained, and

[6:53] equipped. Uh right now, uh you've got

[6:55] the major fight going on in Baghdad and

[6:57] a couple of other areas. the best way to

[7:00] stand up a military. And that's what

[7:01] we're doing right now in this three-step

[7:03] process. We stood up a free government,

[7:05] we stand up a military, and then we

[7:07] leave. And standing up the military is a

[7:09] second step. It's one we're in right

[7:11] now. My recommendation is that we send a

[7:14] large portion of those 114 battalions,

[7:16] Iraqi battalions, trained and equipped

[7:19] into this fight in Baghdad. It gives

[7:21] them unit cohesiveness. It develops

[7:23] their leadership. It gives them combat

[7:25] effectiveness. And the best way to

[7:26] produce a military force that's

[7:28] efficient is to put them into combat

[7:30] operations. And I'll tell you something

[7:32] else about the Republican the the Iraq

[7:34] effect. I' I've been listening to your

[7:36] show. Uh I think that uh that Senator

[7:39] K's words have had an effect on this

[7:41] debate. My son, who did did two tours in

[7:44] Iraq, the last in Fallujah as a Marine,

[7:47] said the other day, he said, "Looks like

[7:48] the Democrats have provided their own

[7:50] October surprise." And if you saw that

[7:52] statement coming out of the Minnesota

[7:54] National Guard who are with the troop

[7:56] who are there in Iraq where they mocked

[7:58] Senator Kerry, I think the Republicans

[8:01] who weren't going to go to the polls uh

[8:03] now have uh have a little resurgence uh

[8:06] of uh of initiative in terms of going to

[8:08] the polls, taking on the Democrats. Uh I

[8:11] think this is going to be an election

[8:12] that is not dampened as much as you've

[8:15] predicted. A recent assessment from the

[8:17] US military showed a meter of the

[8:19] situation in Iraq and that that meter is

[8:21] pushing toward the red zone, pushing

[8:24] toward chaos despite all of the best

[8:26] efforts of the US military and the

[8:28] efforts to stand up Iraqi forces because

[8:30] that meter is moving in that direction,

[8:32] continues to move in that direction.

[8:33] Does there not need to be a significant

[8:35] shift on the ground here? Well, the

[8:37] whole point is that that the way that

[8:39] you that you develop a an effective

[8:41] operating military force is by putting

[8:43] them in military operations. You've got

[8:45] about 35 battalions that are in the

[8:48] fight in and around Baghdad right now.

[8:50] Iraqi battalions. You take another large

[8:52] tunch of those battalions, some of which

[8:54] are down in areas where there is no

[8:56] danger right now. A very benign

[8:58] environments. You truck them up to

[8:59] Baghdad. You get them in the fight. That

[9:02] develops their leaders. That develops

[9:03] unit cohesiveness. It makes them into a

[9:05] combat force. Let me get you to give uh

[9:08] me a quick grade here on how you think

[9:10] things are going in terms of US military

[9:11] operations, the Iraqi government, and

[9:14] reconstruction. very quickly if you

[9:15] could.

[9:15] >> Sure. Sure. Very quickly. I think it's

[9:17] uh I think it's a tough, hard,

[9:20] difficult, and dangerous work. I think

[9:23] it's necessary. And I think if you show

[9:25] wallto-wall uh coverage of Iraq of the

[9:28] of flaming Humvees, you're always going

[9:30] to have some dampening effect on the

[9:32] population. But I think most Americans

[9:34] understand the Republican party built

[9:37] our national defense capability that is

[9:39] second to none. We put over a hundred

[9:42] million or hundred billion dollars a

[9:44] year more than the Clinton

[9:45] administration did. Not not counting

[9:47] Iraq and Afghanistan into defense. They

[9:50] know they can rely on Republicans for

[9:52] national security. I think that's what

[9:54] they're going to remember when they go

[9:55] to the polls on Tuesday. And I hope that

[9:57] every American remembers John Kerry's

[9:59] statement and votes Republican.

[10:02] >> Congressman Ducken Hunter, chairman of

[10:03] the House Armed Services Committee.

[10:04] Thanks very much for joining us. Good

[10:06] luck in 2008, by the way.

[10:07] >> Thank you, John. Appreciate it. Now, the

[10:09] other side of the Iraq effect divide,

[10:11] Congressman John Murth, Democrat of

[10:13] Pennsylvania, joins us. Congressman

[10:14] Murtha, give me a quick grading of where

[10:16] you think uh the operations in Iraq are

[10:18] in terms of the US military, the

[10:20] development of the Iraqi government, and

[10:22] reconstruction here.

[10:24] >> Yeah. Well, let me let me say that uh I

[10:26] hear winning. I hear victory. I hear

[10:29] democracy. Those are all goals. Those

[10:31] are not strategies. I hear no strategy.

[10:34] The other day I heard the majority

[10:36] leader of the Republican Congress say it

[10:38] was a military's fault and he blamed the

[10:40] military for the problems we're having

[10:41] in Iraq. And and just today I saw a

[10:44] statement by General Sanchez, former

[10:45] commander in Iraq, who said the military

[10:48] does what it's told to do. They try to

[10:50] develop a strategy. Now, here here's the

[10:52] problem we have in Iraq. We we have a

[10:54] reactive situation where they're

[10:55] protecting static positions, where the

[10:58] enemy controls the initiative and our

[11:00] troops are caught in a civil war. Things

[11:02] have gotten worse every day. You're over

[11:04] there. When I was over a couple times at

[11:07] first, you could walk the streets. You

[11:09] could drive through the streets. The

[11:10] last time I was there, you couldn't

[11:12] drive. They they flew me from the

[11:13] airport 5 minutes away to the green

[11:15] zone. The government is is protected by

[11:17] the green zone. Most of the Iraqis want

[11:20] us out of there. The American public,

[11:22] only 27% support this policy. We're

[11:24] spending $8 billion a month, $1 million

[11:28] an hour. Now, when I'm out in the

[11:30] campaign trail and and when I'm out

[11:32] talking to people, they tell me, "We got

[11:34] all kinds of problem. We got Medicare.

[11:35] We've got health care. We've got

[11:37] educational benefits." None of those

[11:39] things can be solved till we work this

[11:41] out in in in Iraq. The way that things

[11:44] are in Iraq right now, with the US

[11:46] troops in many places being the only

[11:48] thing that is stopping this country from

[11:50] tipping into allout civil war, wouldn't

[11:52] a redeployment of US troops at this

[11:55] point be disastrous?

[11:57] John, I I don't believe that. I don't

[11:59] just because the White House says that,

[12:01] just because a lot of people say that, I

[12:03] don't believe that. I believe the Iraqis

[12:05] say in the polls it will be more stable

[12:08] when the Americans redeploy when when we

[12:10] when we get rid of the occupation. Uh

[12:12] there's no question in my mind that

[12:14] there's only a few al-Qaeda there. It's

[12:16] Sunnis fighting Shia and we're caught in

[12:19] between and we're providing the fodder

[12:21] for for the al-Qaeda to recruit people.

[12:24] So there's more terrorism in Iraq than

[12:26] there was before we went in. Last year

[12:28] when I spoke out in November, there were

[12:30] eight there were 400 incidents a week,

[12:32] 400 attacks a week. Now there's 800

[12:34] attacks a week. We've had 130,000 people

[12:36] on the ground for three and a half

[12:38] almost four years now. And so it's

[12:40] gotten worse rather than better. Oil

[12:42] production, electricity production,

[12:44] water, potable water, all those things

[12:46] are below pre pre-war level. So we

[12:49] haven't made the progress we need. Our

[12:51] troops deserve an achievable goal, an

[12:53] achievable policy, an achievable

[12:55] strategy. We don't have that.

[12:57] >> You heard what Congressman Hunter was

[12:58] talking about a couple of minutes ago,

[13:00] that botch joke that John Kerry made

[13:02] earlier this week and in which

[13:04] Republicans have said he was disparaging

[13:06] US troops by saying if you don't have a

[13:08] good education, you get stuck in Iraq.

[13:10] Uh Senator Kerry said that he really

[13:12] meant he was talking about President

[13:13] Bush. But has that impacted the

[13:16] Democratic party negatively at the most

[13:18] critical time in this election?

[13:21] Well, it it was a distraction. It was

[13:23] unfortunate that that Senator Kerry

[13:25] would would make those comments. Uh uh

[13:27] I'm sure none of us uh you look him in

[13:30] the eye. No, everybody believes that

[13:32] that Senator Kerry didn't mean to

[13:34] disparage the troops. All of us are

[13:36] inspired by the troops, the hardships

[13:38] they're going through, the suffering the

[13:40] families are going through, the

[13:41] psychological problems that they have

[13:43] when they come home. All of us

[13:45] appreciate that. All of us try to

[13:46] support. As a matter of fact, uh, most

[13:48] of the Democrats in Congress voted

[13:50] against going to war because they felt

[13:52] they couldn't trust the president. I

[13:54] voted for it. I made a mistake. And

[13:56] then, uh, uh, when it comes to the

[13:57] funding though, uh, only 22 members,

[14:01] Democrats voted against the funding. So,

[14:04] so, uh, you know, they voted against the

[14:05] war, but then they turned around and

[14:07] voted for the funding. So, so they voted

[14:10] for the funding, uh, most of them,

[14:11] because they know we want to support the

[14:13] troops. National Guard units. Almost

[14:15] every unit combat unit in the whole

[14:17] country has been already deployed and

[14:18] all we can deploy now are are

[14:20] individuals from individual units. So,

[14:22] uh, you know, if we're going to rebuild

[14:24] the military, if we're going to

[14:26] reestablish our credibility in the

[14:27] Middle East, we have to do that by

[14:29] redeploying our troops and let the

[14:31] Iraqis work this out themselves.

[14:34] And I've heard from a lot of troops as

[14:36] they prepare to rotate out after a year

[14:37] in Iraq, even that striker brigade that

[14:39] got extended for four months. Are they

[14:41] suddenly going to get the word that they

[14:42] have to stay a few months more?

[14:43] Congressman Martha, thanks very much.

[14:45] Appreciate your time, sir. At the heart

[14:47] of the Iraq effect is what plays out

[14:49] here every day. 140,000 plus members of

[14:52] the US military pushing forward their

[14:54] mission. Straight ahead, military

[14:56] analyst General Spider maps out what's

[14:59] happening on the ground.

[15:02] The Iraq effect, dollars and cents. For

[15:05] 2002, the US Congress appropriated $2.5

[15:08] billion dollars for the war. For 2006,

[15:12] that soared to almost 102 billion, total

[15:16] close to $320 billion.

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[17:40] >> The Iraq effect. US troop levels from

[17:45] 150,000 in May of 2003 down to 115,000

[17:50] in 2004,

[17:52] fluctuating now around 144,000.

[17:57] I'm John Roberts in Baghdad. As voters

[18:00] and politicians weigh the Iraq effect in

[18:02] the final countdown to the US midterm

[18:04] elections, what is the military side of

[18:06] the equation? Helping us map that out,

[18:09] CNN military analyst, Brigadier General

[18:11] James Spider Marks, US Army retired in

[18:13] our Washington bureau. Spider, on the

[18:16] eve of the election, where are the US

[18:17] forces in Iraq right now? John, let me

[18:20] take you to the map and show you where

[18:21] the US forces are located. And I'm going

[18:24] to show you their forward operating

[18:26] bases and their camps as they exist in

[18:28] Iraq right now. And as you can see, they

[18:30] extend from close to the border of

[18:33] Kuwait all the way up to Mosul and out

[18:36] to K2, which is an airfield out in

[18:38] western Iraq. That's where they're

[18:40] currently located.

[18:41] >> And what are the options, Spider, if

[18:43] they needed to move the troops around,

[18:44] how could they move them?

[18:46] >> Well, John, I think what's really

[18:47] important is when you the discussion

[18:49] always concentrates around the number of

[18:52] boots on the ground. So if the number of

[18:54] boots physically on the ground does not

[18:57] increase, how do you increase boots in

[18:59] very specific locations? Let me show you

[19:01] a possibility on where US forces could

[19:04] be concentrated to achieve maximum

[19:06] effect on the ground. These are four

[19:09] specific locations. They are

[19:11] representative of where US forces should

[19:14] be concentrated and could be

[19:16] concentrated based on conditions on the

[19:18] ground. Now, what that provides you is

[19:21] what I would describe as an oil stain

[19:23] effect. That is to say, you crack the

[19:26] nut when you went into a rock. Now, you

[19:28] achieve a presence in some very specific

[19:31] locations. I recommend these four and

[19:33] then you work your way out. Concentrate

[19:36] forces inside and then work to make

[19:38] adjustments and fixes on the ground from

[19:40] the inside out. John,

[19:42] >> and what has been the difficulty,

[19:43] Spider, uh, in in the war and up until

[19:46] present with these long lines of

[19:48] communication throughout Iraq and also

[19:50] in and out of Iraq? John, what many fail

[19:52] to realize is this is a very large um,

[19:56] area of operations. Support comes out of

[19:59] Kuwait in the form of air traffic up

[20:01] into Baghdad and that's about 300 air

[20:04] miles. Additionally, what happens is you

[20:06] have to take a look at what the ground

[20:08] lines of communication look like coming

[20:11] out of Kuwait up through Naseria and

[20:14] then into Baghdad along the Euphrates or

[20:16] north of the Tigris. That's about 400

[20:19] miles. This is a very large, very long

[20:22] exposed line of communications for

[20:24] convoys and vehicles to make it from

[20:27] Kuwait where the support is up into

[20:28] Baghdad. And then additionally, John,

[20:31] you have air traffic that comes out of

[20:33] Qatar and elsewhere in the greater

[20:35] southwest southwest Asia region into

[20:38] Baghdad. And then also of significance

[20:40] is a large amount of support comes out

[20:43] of central Europe or our presence in

[20:46] Germany and that flies in in many cases

[20:48] directly into Mosul. So the theater of

[20:51] operations is more than just Iraq

[20:54] itself.

[20:56] We also want to bring in our CNN senior

[20:58] Pentagon correspondent Jamie McIntyre.

[21:00] And Jamie, looking ahead, this uh report

[21:03] from the Iraq Study Group headed up by

[21:05] former Secretary of State James Baker is

[21:07] expected to release its results which

[21:10] will suggest some changes in the future

[21:12] that'll be coming out in the next couple

[21:13] of weeks. What's the sense at the

[21:14] Pentagon? Is there a major change

[21:16] coming? They're just waiting until after

[21:18] the midterm elections.

[21:19] >> Well, you know, they're really waiting

[21:20] to see what Secretary Baker comes up

[21:22] with. and he's holding his cards pretty

[21:24] close to the vest. He's been getting a

[21:26] lot of dire assessments from people on

[21:28] the ground. And what the administration

[21:31] is sort of warning against is a major

[21:33] course correction. They haven't said

[21:35] that they will automatically adopt

[21:37] whatever the uh Iraq study group comes

[21:39] up with. They're they're really waiting

[21:41] to see what they propose. And and Spider

[21:43] Marks, what what do you think is in the

[21:44] cards here? redeployment of the current

[21:46] forces, adding more US troops, perhaps

[21:49] just accelerating the pace of developing

[21:51] these Iraqi forces. John, I don't think

[21:54] it's a withdrawal. It's certainly not a

[21:56] cut and run as many have said, and I

[21:59] doubt very seriously that it's a

[22:01] dramatic increase in the aggregate

[22:03] numbers that are on the ground. What I

[22:04] do think is going to happen is the

[22:06] numbers are probably set right now.

[22:08] There may be an adjustment a little bit

[22:10] upwards and the mix of those forces may

[22:13] change as we've discussed before in

[22:15] terms of the number of forces available

[22:17] to do additional training for Iraqi

[22:19] forces because that's the key and the

[22:21] other piece is there may be some

[22:23] adjustments in terms of where they're

[22:25] physically located on the ground again

[22:27] as we've discussed in some uh some

[22:28] degree of detail. Jamie McIntyre, the

[22:31] Baker report is expected to suggest

[22:33] intensive diplomatic engagement with

[22:35] America's enemies, that being Syria and

[22:38] Iran. It that so far that concept has

[22:40] been anathema to this administration,

[22:42] but because of the situation on the

[22:44] ground, might they be forced to talk

[22:47] with Iran and Syria?

[22:48] >> Well, they certainly might be forced to

[22:49] consider a lot of uh options that they

[22:51] found unpalatable in the past simply

[22:54] because the trend hasn't been uh good.

[22:57] We saw this week the the release of a uh

[23:00] uh internal briefing slide that

[23:01] indicated Iraq sliding more toward chaos

[23:04] and away from peace. And while uh the US

[23:07] military says that was a single day

[23:09] snapshot, uh it still was indicative of

[23:12] a trend where they see things in the

[23:14] short term getting worse, not better.

[23:16] And that Baker report, as we said,

[23:17] coming out sometime after the midterm

[23:19] election, sometime in the next couple of

[23:21] weeks, and of course, we'll be covering

[23:22] that here on this week at war. Jamie

[23:24] McIntyre at the Pentagon. Spider Marks,

[23:26] thanks very much. Appreciate it. Thanks,

[23:27] John.

[23:28] >> We won't know the full impact of the

[23:29] Iraq effect until the votes are counted

[23:31] after Tuesday's election, but some

[23:33] Iraqis say they already know how we got

[23:35] this far through mistakes and

[23:37] miscalculations. I'll talk with Foreign

[23:39] Minister Hashiar Zabari in just a

[23:41] moment. But first, more voices from US

[23:44] troops in Iraq on this week at war.

[23:47] >> Well, this is my chosen profession. I

[23:49] knew I knew this was going to be I mean,

[23:51] everybody wants to be home, but this is

[23:52] what I do. It's okay. I mean, I talk to

[23:55] my family a lot. We have email. We have

[23:57] all that stuff. So, it's not as bad as

[23:59] it, you know, could be.

[24:03] >> Your vote, your health. Dr. Sanjay Gupta

[24:05] investigates the medical issues on the

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[24:56] campaign to be bankrolled by big

[24:57] tobacco, the pharmaceutical industry,

[24:59] and liquor companies. Just like his

[25:01] favorite Republican, George W. Bush.

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[26:14] Days till the elections. The latest on

[26:16] the tightest races. Larry King tomorrow.

[26:19] >> Voting is a responsibility for all of

[26:22] us. For families who've lost loved ones

[26:24] in the Iraq war, this election carries

[26:26] with it special weight. We've profiled

[26:28] some of the men and women killed in Iraq

[26:30] and have spoken with their families. We

[26:32] checked back with some this week asking

[26:34] how their loss may affect their vote.

[26:37] One was Julio Tahada of New York. His

[26:39] stepson, Staff Sergeant Ryan Tahada,

[26:41] assigned to the third battalion, Fifth

[26:43] Marine Regiment, was killed in April of

[26:45] 2003 in northeast Baghdad.

[26:49] Tuesday morning when I go to work,

[26:54] I'm going to be thinking a lot about

[26:55] myself.

[26:58] I going to remember him more than ever.

[27:00] It's time to change. It's time to think

[27:02] about it.

[27:04] There's also Yolanda Kuming. Her son

[27:07] Kevin was with the First Squadron,

[27:08] Seventh Cavalry Regiment, First Cavalry

[27:10] Division out of Fort Hood, Texas. He was

[27:13] killed when his patrol came under attack

[27:15] in Baghdad in August of 2004.

[27:18] She says she doesn't like any of the

[27:20] election choices.

[27:22] Losing Kevin

[27:24] left me a different person and I and

[27:28] you'll never be the same anymore. You

[27:30] know, you just lose your child.

[27:33] I am confused about it because although

[27:36] I do believe we should be there but then

[27:39] how many more soldiers would get killed

[27:41] doing this.

[27:43] Um so I I don't know nobody has a really

[27:46] an answer and finish this war and bring

[27:49] the troops home. That's what I want to

[27:51] hear. That's what most Americans want to

[27:54] hear.

[27:56] >> Gold Star families feeling the Iraq

[27:58] effect from the homeront to the

[28:01] warfront. Now, in recent days, Iraq's

[28:03] leadership has repeatedly been at odds

[28:05] with the United States, flexing its

[28:06] muscles, anxious to demonstrate its

[28:08] independence to the Iraqi people. And

[28:10] one Iraqi minister, a true friend of

[28:12] America, has been uncharacteristically

[28:15] critical recently about how the White

[28:17] House and the Pentagon have handled

[28:18] Iraq. On Wednesday, I sat down with

[28:21] Foreign Minister Hashir Zabari occurred

[28:23] to ask him about the ways in which the

[28:25] administration has contributed to the

[28:27] Iraq effect.

[28:29] Mr. Barry, in a recent interview, you

[28:31] said regarding the violence in Iraq that

[28:33] had our friends listened to us, we

[28:36] wouldn't be where we are today.

[28:37] >> We've been warning the administration

[28:39] for quite some times, the easiest part

[28:42] is to get rid of Saddam. We were ready

[28:45] at the time to help to contribute

[28:47] significantly.

[28:49] But uh when the CPI was established, in

[28:52] fact they wanted to run the country

[28:56] and the Iraqi role was uh not a major

[29:00] role.

[29:01] >> Your statement, Mr. Zubari, suggests

[29:03] that mistakes were made. What to you was

[29:06] the biggest mistake?

[29:07] >> The mother of all mistakes was changing

[29:09] that mission from liberation to

[29:12] occupation. We were scheming for God's

[29:14] sake, don't do it. Even we who have been

[29:18] supportive of this effort of regime

[29:20] change really our position would be

[29:24] untenable

[29:25] because the idea of occupation is not

[29:28] acceptable.

[29:29] >> When comes the point when you must ask

[29:31] them to go.

[29:32] >> The point will come definitely whenever

[29:36] the Iraqi forces are ready whenever we

[29:40] have sufficient control.

[29:42] >> And when is that?

[29:43] >> When is that? Well, this is the

[29:45] question. That's the question.

[29:46] >> That is the problem. Look at the last

[29:48] three years.

[29:51] >> Okay. The last three years have been one

[29:54] of error and trials.

[29:57] Okay.

[29:57] >> More errors.

[29:59] >> More errors I believe.

[30:00] >> Let me ask you for a very frank answer

[30:02] on this. The presence of coalition

[30:03] forces in Iraq, is it a security factor

[30:06] or is it an aggravating factor?

[30:09] >> I personally believe uh it's a security

[30:13] factor. is very important. The stakes

[30:16] are too high and the security of the

[30:18] entire region depends on success of

[30:21] Iraq.

[30:24] Iraqi foreign minister Hashir Zabari. Up

[30:27] next, some personal observations on this

[30:29] week at war, the Iraq effect. But first,

[30:31] another voice from US troops in Iraq.

[30:35] >> During the day, everybody's really nice.

[30:38] Um, waves of kids come out and

[30:40] everything. Uh we pass out soccer balls

[30:42] and everything like that to them. It's

[30:44] at night where it kind of gets exciting.

[30:46] Like I said, just down the road, one of

[30:48] my soldiers got killed by an IED.

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[32:26] With the midterm elections almost upon

[32:28] us, there is much for voters to consider

[32:30] in the next couple of days. A few things

[32:33] to consider now from the Iraq

[32:35] perspective.

[32:41] >> On the streets of Baghdad and in the

[32:43] towns and villages that surround it, the

[32:45] overwhelming impact of the Iraq effect

[32:47] on ordinary people is fear. Fear of

[32:51] death squads that roam the streets,

[32:52] killing and kidnapping. Fear of militias

[32:55] engaged in a campaign of ethnic

[32:57] cleansing to drive either Sunnis or

[32:59] Shiites from the neighborhoods. fear of

[33:02] government forces they don't trust to

[33:04] keep them safe.

[33:09] >> This Sunni woman claims national police

[33:11] kidnapped her brother at a checkpoint.

[33:13] She appeals to American troops for help.

[33:17] >> US soldiers attempt to get between the

[33:19] waring sides and restore security. But

[33:22] despite the American efforts, people

[33:24] here feel far less safe now than a year

[33:26] ago.

[33:27] >> Personally, yeah, it's frustrating. You

[33:29] know, I'm US Army officer. We like to

[33:31] think we can leave tall buildings with a

[33:34] single bound, and it's unrealistic.

[33:36] >> More than 2800 US troops have died in

[33:40] that frustrating mission to establish

[33:41] peace here. Soldiers like Sergeant Will

[33:44] Mock, 23 years old, from Harper, Kansas.

[33:47] CNN's Arwa Damon met him two years ago

[33:50] on his first tour of duty here. Mach was

[33:52] a confident leader who genuinely

[33:54] believed in the idea he could help make

[33:56] Iraq a better place.

[33:58] something that

[34:00] when I was a little boy, I had heard my

[34:03] grandfather once say and uh somebody's

[34:07] got to do it.

[34:10] I guess I'm that somebody.

[34:13] >> Sergeant Mock came back to Iraq 3 months

[34:16] ago, assigned to the dangerous

[34:17] neighborhoods of eastern Baghdad. His

[34:20] mission ended on October 22nd when he

[34:23] was killed by a roadside bomb.

[34:28] We sometimes get lost in the numbers,

[34:30] but behind each and every impersonal

[34:32] statistic is a face and a life.

[34:37] Thanks for joining us on our special

[34:38] this week at war, the Iraq effect. I'm

[34:41] John Roberts reporting from Baghdad. Be

[34:43] sure to stay with CNN for the latest on

[34:45] the war in Iraq and our America Votes

[34:47] 2006 election coverage.

[35:13] The past comes full circle to haunt

[35:16] Saddam Hussein as the world awaits a

[35:18] verdict in his trial for crimes against

[35:20] humanity.

[35:23] It's 11:00 a.m. in the Iraqi capital

[35:25] now. I'm Steven Frasier at CNN Center.

[35:28] We'd like to welcome our viewers in the

[35:29] United States and around the world.

[35:38] We are waiting for verdicts in the first

[35:40] trial of Saddam Hussein and seven other

[35:43] people. The former president and his

[35:44] codefendants all charged with crimes

[35:46] against humanity for the D jail

[35:48] crackdown in 1982. Hussein could face

[35:51] the death penalty if he's found guilty

[35:52] in the deaths of 148 villagers. A strict

[35:56] curfew for Baghdad and two neighboring

[35:58] provinces has been placed in effect to

[36:00] prevent any violence. All vehicles, even

[36:03] all pedestrians, are banned from the

[36:05] streets until further notice. back then

[36:07] in