CBS Evening News open - 2004-12-07

Channel: malgent

Transcript

Language: English (original, YouTube automatic captions)

[0:00] News Channel 5 investigates. The

[0:03] difference is in the details.

[0:06] >> American lives.

[0:07] >> Tonight, as President Bush leads a pep

[0:09] rally for US troops, a secret CIA report

[0:12] warns the situation in Iraq is not good

[0:15] and may very well get worse. A new turf

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[0:49] This is the CBS Evening News with Dan

[0:52] Rather reporting from CBS News

[0:54] headquarters in New York.

[0:57] >> Good evening. As another American

[0:59] soldier was killed in Iraq today,

[1:01] President Bush tried to rally support

[1:03] for his policies and rally American

[1:05] troops. Visiting a US base that it's one

[1:08] of the largest casualty rates of the

[1:09] war. While the president was looking to

[1:11] muster support and boost morale, word

[1:14] came of a bleak new assessment of what's

[1:16] happening in Iraq. A previously secret

[1:19] CIA report says the situation is bad,

[1:22] could get worse, and not likely to get

[1:25] better anytime soon. CBS News chief

[1:27] White House correspondent John Roberts

[1:29] begins our coverage.

[1:32] >> It was a presidential pep talk at Camp

[1:34] Pendleton today. The commanderin-chief

[1:36] dropped in to thank Marines he said have

[1:39] helped pave the way for elections in

[1:40] Iraq.

[1:41] >> A free Iraq will be a major victory in

[1:43] the war on terror.

[1:46] Free nations do not export terror. But

[1:49] hanging over the president's sunny

[1:50] assessment, the hard fact that some 200

[1:53] Marines from Camp Pendleton have died in

[1:55] Iraq and a recent CIA memo that the

[1:58] situation there is deteriorating and may

[2:00] not improve for some time.

[2:02] >> I think that memo uh has it about right.

[2:05] I mean, you can quibble with variations,

[2:07] but the bottom line is it's complicated

[2:10] and it's dangerous and it's going to be

[2:12] a long-term effort. The memo from the

[2:14] outgoing CIA station chief in Baghdad

[2:16] often contrasts sharply with the White

[2:18] House view of Iraq. For example, it says

[2:21] Iraqi forces are not effective enough at

[2:23] dealing with an increasingly violent

[2:25] insurgency and that the interim

[2:27] government has fallen short of

[2:29] projecting authority. Those frank

[2:31] assessments were challenged by the US

[2:33] ambassador in Iraq, who believes efforts

[2:35] to battle the insurgency have been more

[2:38] successful than the CIA suggests. I

[2:40] think we feel that the conditions uh

[2:43] will be sufficient and security

[2:45] conditions will be adequate for these

[2:48] elections uh to go forward.

[2:50] >> The memo does site progress in Iraq

[2:52] saying Iraqi security forces are

[2:55] increasing in size and skill and that

[2:57] the political process is unfolding

[2:59] despite increasing violence. For his

[3:02] part, President Bush gives the interimm

[3:04] government high marks and while

[3:06] acknowledging some problems has similar

[3:08] praise for Iraqi troops.

[3:10] >> These brave Iraqis are fighting for

[3:11] their freedom

[3:13] and we are proud to stand by their side.

[3:16] >> US officials were quick to point out

[3:18] that the classified memo was not meant

[3:20] to challenge the president's view of

[3:21] Iraq. They say it was merely a truthful

[3:24] assessment that unless significant gains

[3:26] are made toward improving security,

[3:28] economic opportunity, and strengthening

[3:30] government, the bad news in Iraq will

[3:32] quickly get worse. Dan John Roberts at

[3:35] the White House. Thanks. So, how does

[3:37] all this stack up against evidence on

[3:39] the ground, in the streets of Baghdad,

[3:41] in the countryside, in the camps of the

[3:43] US military? A short time ago, I put the

[3:46] question to CBS's Kimberly Doer in the

[3:48] Iraqi capital.

[3:50] Kimberly, have you been hearing these

[3:51] kind of complaints on the ground?

[3:53] >> Well, US officials have been very frank

[3:55] about their frustrations, especially

[3:56] with the Iraqi security forces. They say

[3:59] they're not all bad, but they're so hit

[4:01] and miss they can't be counted on. US

[4:03] commanders have also often found that

[4:05] when they identify an Iraqi officer they

[4:08] think is performing poorly, they can't

[4:10] get the government to fire him because

[4:11] he's related to someone or he's paid

[4:13] someone off. Are the Americans you're

[4:15] talking to optim?