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American Morning

Fight For Iraq; Iraqi Troop Readiness; Bush's Strategy

Aired November 30, 2005 - 06:28   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

ANNOUNCER: You're watching AMERICAN MORNING with Soledad O'Brien and Miles O'Brien.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning from New York City. We're glad you're with us. A big day as the president of the United States tries to clearly state what his goals for are in Iraq, and what the progress toward victory is.

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Victory, I think, is the critical word here. We're certainly seeing that a lot, but that's going to be something that the White House is going to maybe move away from the word "strategy" and talk about, you know, winning victory in Iraq.

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: As in we're not leaving until we win. That's right.

M. O'BRIEN: Yes.

COSTELLO: There is a new push to bolster support on Iraq. President Bush is getting ready to deliver that major address this morning from a naval base in Maryland. Senior administration officials tell us the president will provide details into what it will take to bring some U.S. troops home. For months now the president had said the withdrawal depends on the ability of the Iraqi troops to battle insurgents. We will bring you live coverage of the speech beginning at 9:50 Eastern.

Also in Iraq today, more deadly violence. Eight construction workers riding in a minibus were killed when gunmen fired upon their vehicle. Iraqi police say it happened just northeast of Baquba.

Pictures now of four western aid workers abducted in Iraq are being shown on the Al-Jazeera Arab TV network. A previously unknown group, the Swords of Justice, says it kidnapped the men on Saturday. The group is accusing them of spying. An American is among those being held.

Antiwar activist Cindy Sheehan is reportedly upset over a picture indicating few people showed up for her book signing in Crawford, Texas, over the weekend. Sheehan says she sold all 100 copies of her book at the signing, and she's accusing right-wing Web sites of dismissing her. She says the pictures were taken before people lined up for her signature. She says she even got writers cramp.

There's a big old spruce tree going up on the grounds of the Capitol, but there is disagreement over what you call it. House Speaker Dennis Hastert says call it what it is. Hastert is asking the Capitol architect to quit calling it a Capitol holiday tree and just call it a Christmas tree. The tree has been called a holiday tree for several years, you know, due to political correctness. We'll see what happens.

Let's head to Atlanta to check in with Jacqui Jeras.

(WEATHER REPORT)

S. O'BRIEN: An important question out of Iraq is this: How strong is the Iraqi military? And are they ready to relieve U.S. forces oh the front lines? The answers to those questions, of course, are going to go a long way in determining when American soldiers can start coming home.

CNN senior Pentagon correspondent Jamie McIntyre has our report today.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN SENIOR PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT (voice over): The Pentagon's exit strategy -- or victory strategy, as the Bush administration prefers to call it -- hinges almost entirely on the fighting ability and political loyalty of Iraq's often maligned security forces. On the eve of the president's Iraq policy speech, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld set the stage with a ringing endorsement of the Iraqi military.

DONALD RUMSFELD, SECRETARY OF DEFENSE: By golly, the people who have been denigrating the Iraqi security forces are flat wrong. They've been wrong from the beginning. They're doing a darn good job, and they're doing an increasingly better job every day, every week, every month. And they have to, because it's their country.

MCINTYRE: Rumsfeld cited a number of milestones, which he said demonstrated the growing capability of Iraq's army and police, including the turnover of some 29 military bases to Iraqi forces, as well as control of the vital Airport Road to Iraqi police. Rumsfeld said last year there were only 96,000 trained and equipped Iraqi security forces. Now he says there are more than 212,000.

Last year, the Pentagon listed just five Iraqi battalions as in the fight. Now it says the number is 95.

The number of Iraqi army divisions grew from zero to seven. The number of special police battalions, including commando units, has jumped from none to 28.

Democratic Senator Joe Lieberman, a supporter of the war in Iraq, says during his recent inspection tour, he did see progress.

SEN. JOE LIEBERMAN (D), CONNECTICUT: Militarily, the Iraqis are beginning to show much more self-sufficiency. They're a long way from being able to take it on their own, and that's why we have to be careful not to withdraw too soon. But progress really is being made.

MCINTYRE: In an interview, Iraq's national security adviser predicted up to 30,000 U.S. troops could leave next year because of the improving Iraqi military. That's not out of line with U.S. projections, which are not being made public.

(on camera): At his Pentagon briefing, Rumsfeld indirectly answered critics who argued the U.S. should pull out or at least pull back. "Quitting is not an exit strategy," he declared. That, he said, would invite more terrorist violence and put the American people at still greater risk.

Jamie McIntyre, CNN, the Pentagon.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

S. O'BRIEN: Ahead this morning, we're going to talk to a reporter who has been embedded in Iraq five times over the last 18 months. He's seen Iraqi troops that work in Falluja up close. He's going to talk to us about whether he thinks they're ready for combat, up next on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

S. O'BRIEN: The White House has just released the unclassified version of a document a report called this: "The National Strategy For Victory in Iraq." It is apparently the plan that the Bush administration has been following as sort of a road map for the war in Iraq. Much of the president's speech later this morning is apparently going to be based on this document. We're going to get more information on exactly what this national strategy is for victory from Dana Bash. She's at the White House. We'll check in with her in just a little bit.

And a reminder: We're going to be carrying the president's remarks live at 9:50 a.m. Eastern Time right here during AMERICAN MORNING.

Of course, Iraqi troop preparedness and troop levels is going to be critical in any victory. Even the people who don't support the war in Iraq believe that.

Here's what the White House has to say on that front:

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NICOLE WALLACE, WHITE HOUSE COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR: Currently, 120 battalions of Iraqi security forces are on the ground in Iraq. Forth of them are leading missions. And once the conditions are met for Iraqis to secure their fledgling democracy, the American troops will come home.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

S. O'BRIEN: Scott Peterson of "The Christian Science Monitor" has been embedded with U.S. troops in Falluja. He's seen Iraqi troops operate. He's a frequent guest of ours. And he's back in Istanbul, Turkey, this morning.

Scott, it's nice to see you. Thanks as always.

You've spent a lot of time in Falluja. So, I want to focus on Falluja this morning.

SCOTT PETERSON, "THE CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR": Thank you.

S. O'BRIEN: The president is going to talk about progress, we expect, this morning in his remarks. Have you seen over the five trips that you've been -- the five times you've been embedded in Iraq progress to report? Good progress to report?

PETERSON: Well, I think that Falluja is a very special case. You'll remember that one year ago U.S. Marines went through that city, cleared it out of insurgents, and only slowly have allowed people to come back in.

So, they have controlled variables there in ways that they don't control other cities in western Iraq, cities that have had serious insurgent activity.

But what I saw during the last week that I was in Falluja was that there is on Iraqi battalion that's actually controlling one entire district of Iraq in the northwest corner. This is the Julan (ph) district, which has always been very, very troublesome. The U.S. Marines who were there were grateful and confident that these Iraqi troops were able to do the job.

There was another battalion that's also working in another section in the northeast quadrant of Falluja. And they haven't done quite as well.

But basically, the plan is to slowly cede more and more territory to those forces in Falluja.

S. O'BRIEN: Well, Falluja may be an unusual circumstance and maybe even be the exception. But certainly one has to imagine they would like it to be the model for bringing Iraqi troops to fully taking over. Is that fair to say?

PETERSON: Well, I think that's right. In fact, I think that U.S. commanders on the ground in Falluja recognize full well that Falluja really is kind of a biosphere in the words of one U.S. colonel who I spoke to. I mean, recognizing that this is kind of the laboratory where we will be -- you know, where U.S. forces will be testing this theory about how Iraqi forces can solely take over the security duties.

On the other hand, though, it's one even if the theory is proven, if you will, that Iraqi forces will be able to control things eventually over time as they get better and better trained. They also recognize that there are logistical things that the Iraqis still rely upon American forces for -- a lot of intelligence assets, a lot of military assets -- that they are simply incapable so far of being able to rely upon on their own in terms of their own steam.

S. O'BRIEN: Success or victory certainly in large part is based on military success, military victory. But sort of quality-of-life success is important, too. What's life like in Falluja for the people who live there?

PETERSON: Well, I think that it is slowly, slowly coming back to normal. And, of course, you must use the word "normal" kind of in quotation marks, because this is a city that as Marines went through one year ago basically every single one of the 50,000 structures in the city was damaged, some of those structures completely damaged, as insurgents were forced out. There were virtually no civilians in the city at the time of the offensive, primarily insurgents. For those of us who were actually embedded during the offensive, we saw very, very few civilians, and really mostly insurgents who were in the city.

So, but for those people, how they rebuild and how they come back -- we've seen so far about two-thirds of the prewar population of 300,000 come back so far. And they've got special identity cards. The city is still sealed off in the sense that only residents can return at the moment.

And in terms of a normal life, there is a city council that is running at the moment. The Marines to their credit, I think, have taken time to think through quite thoughtfully the mechanisms that they want to create on the ground alongside Iraqis and in conjunction with Iraqis to build up business plans and bring in investment in ways that are going to have a lasting effect.

And this I heard again and again from American commanders on the ground the quick fix is not what they're looking for, because what they're really having to do in Falluja, where I think the stakes are probably about the highest in western Iraq as an example, you know, they really feel that they are going to have to take their time and make sure that these improvements stick. Or it's simply not going to have been a worthwhile effort at all.

S. O'BRIEN: Take your time might be the operative words there. Scott Peterson from "The Christian Science Monitor." We always enjoy an opportunity to check in with him. Thanks, Scott.

A reminder that Dana Bash is going to be updating us on this document, "The National Strategy for Victory in Iraq." It's just been released, the unclassified version of it. And many people believe, in fact, what the president is going to be talking about later this morning is going to be very heavily based on this document. We're going to check in with her in just a little bit.

M. O'BRIEN: Yes, we're just getting some other reports. One of the quotes from the report: "No war has ever been won on a timetable." So that "timetable" word is used. But, of course, the administration is not willing to set a timetable because of the concerns that that would be signaling the insurgents.

Look at who has dropped by. Andy Serwer, good morning to you, sir.

ANDY SERWER, "FORTUNE" MAGAZINE: Good to see you. We're going to be talking about a new high-tech plan to help New Orleans get back on its feet. Will it work? We'll find out coming up next on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

S. O'BRIEN: We're waiting to hear from the president this morning at 9:50 a.m. Eastern Time. President Bush will be making remarks, giving remarks about "The National Strategy for Victory in Iraq." And it's based on this unclassified version that's now been released from the White House.

Really, I guess, it's a road map, they say, that the president has been following all along in the war in Iraq. And now, they want to bring the American public and, I guess, all of us in on exactly what the strategy is and has been.

M. O'BRIEN: Dana Bash is at the White House. She is going to it as we speak. And as soon as we can get her to a camera, we'll get her on the air, and we'll share those details with you.

M. O'BRIEN: Meanwhile...

S. O'BRIEN: First, though, let's do some business news, shall we?

M. O'BRIEN: Let's do it. Let's do that.

SERWER: Let's do it. We're going to talk about Crescent City going Wi-Fi. That's right. This morning, Mayor Ray Nagin and other officials down in New Orleans are announcing a new plan they hope will lure businesses and conventions back to the city. It's a free wireless Internet service that would go throughout the city.

Now, it sounds great, but there are a few wrinkles. Number one, it's not that fast. And, of course, speed is a very, very important component of Wi-Fi. And also it doesn't penetrate buildings particularly well.

And, you know, a couple of other cities already have plans like this or are trying to get them up to speed. Oklahoma City, Philadelphia and San Francisco have plans. But they have partnered with private sector companies. Here, New Orleans is trying to do it all on its own. It's kind of a difficult situation, if you ask me.

M. O'BRIEN: Don't they have bigger gumbo to cook here? I mean, people don't have power. They don't have water. There are people who aren't sleeping there. And they're putting in Wi-Fi.

(CROSSTALK)

SERWER: It seems like their missing the point. I think they're trying to -- you know, this would help out relief workers...

M. O'BRIEN: Yes.

SERWER: ... and that sort of thing. And also help businesses get up to speed as well. But you're right. I mean...

S. O'BRIEN: And that might help with the recovery, too.

SERWER: ... maybe not the highest priority.

S. O'BRIEN: Yes.

SERWER: Yes.

S. O'BRIEN: Who knows? All right, thanks.

SERWER: You're welcome.

S. O'BRIEN: We'll see if it has legs, as they say.

SERWER: Yes, indeed.

S. O'BRIEN: Let's get right back to Dana Bash. She's at the White House. And as we mentioned, she's got more on this document just released from the White House, "The National Strategy For Victory in Iraq." It used to be classified. It's no longer.

Dana, good morning.

DANA BASH, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Soledad.

And the reason -- just to sort of take a step back, the reason why the White House is releasing a declassified version of a much longer, much more comprehensive classified strategy for victory, they say has been in place since 2003, is because what they understand here at the White House is that one of the reasons why the American public, their support has dropped is because they don't see that there is actually a plan in place. What they see on their television screens almost on a daily basis are bombings and violence. And they don't have a clear idea of exactly what the president's plan is, despite many speeches he has given.

So that is why they released this particular document that we just got here at the White House. It's about 35 pages.

And the gist of it is to go through and give some of the road map, if you will, for what they call victory, victory in Iraq as defined, as defined politically, defined economically and in terms of security.

And that, as you all have been talking about, is perhaps the most interesting, because one quote that Miles already has talked about, "No war has ever been won on a timetable, and neither will this one." That is something that is laid out in this particular document.

And it does say in terms of security and the goals in terms of U.S. troops, we can expect but cannot guarantee that our force posture will change over the next year as the political process advances and Iraqi security forces grow and gain experience.

So, there it says in black and white really the kinds of things that we've been hearing from administration officials more and more lately, that they do hope that troops can start to come home, but they are very, very clear that it is what they call conditions-based. And those conditions are training the Iraqi security forces, and that is what we're going to likely hear more about from the president later this morning -- Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: All right. Well, again, the president is going to make his remarks at 9:50 a.m. Eastern Time. We're going to talk more about what we can expect to hear from the president. We're, of course, going to carry that live right here AMERICAN MORNING on CNN when it happens.

M. O'BRIEN: Still much more ahead, including another low point for bureaucratic red tape. You know, it's hard to believe it can go any lower, but it does. Katrina victims who died after the storm, many could be identified, bodies returned to their families, but it's not happening. We'll tell you what's going on, and we'll talk to the New Orleans city council president coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

S. O'BRIEN: President Bush making a speech on the war on terror. It's coming to us from the U.S. Naval Academy at 9:50 a.m. Eastern Time. We're going to carry that for you live right here on AMERICAN MORNING.

Now, in advance of that speech, the president has released to the White House reporters a document which is called "Our Strategy for National Victory in Iraq." And many people have written a lot about the victory part, no longer talking about a timetable or talking about a strategy, but really the word "victory" is sort of critical in the message from the White House.

It's the first in a series of speeches that the president is going to make between now and the elections on December 15.

COSTELLO: Well, the most interesting thing is how the president will define "victory." I mean, what does that mean? Does that mean when we get Iraqi troops up to speed, then can we claim victory? When the Iraqi government is in place, then can we claim victory? I mean, what exactly does victory mean?

M. O'BRIEN: I think...

S. O'BRIEN: I think that's the $64,000 question.

M. O'BRIEN: Yes. I don't think we're talking about Jeffersonian democracy anymore, for sure.

COSTELLO: No.

M. O'BRIEN: So, it's somewhere below, once again, where you set the bar on this.

Meanwhile, the military all fronts are having some difficulty keeping recruits, falling short of goals. The Army fell 7,000 short of its goal of sending 80,000 recruits to basic training in 2005. So, now they're calling up 78,000 people who previously served. It said, hey, would you like to come back? You can keep your rank. No basic training. And we might throw in a bonus of up to $19,000 if you'll sign back up.

So, they hope maybe they'll get a couple of thousand new recruits out of that deal.

COSTELLO: Maybe so. They're going to really have to sweeten the pot, though, right?

M. O'BRIEN: Maybe so.

COSTELLO: Even more than you just outlined.

M. O'BRIEN: Maybe so.

COSTELLO: DNA testing in New Orleans, a terrible story. I mean, all of those bodies are sitting there in the morgue. People...

M. O'BRIEN: Our Drew Griffin broke that story, too.

COSTELLO: He did indeed.

M. O'BRIEN: We should tap that, yes.

COSTELLO: He did indeed. Families gave their DNA hoping that they would match them to the victims on the morgue, but it's been, what, months now. And there is some, like, clog in the process between FEMA and the state and the city and...

S. O'BRIEN: Well, of course, they're having arguments over who is going to pay for it. And then eventually FEMA agreed that, in fact, they would underwrite it.

Now, the issue seems to be hiring the company that will do the DNA testing, which FEMA claims is actually the state's responsibility. And the state, we haven't really heard their official response to that claim yet. But the idea...

M. O'BRIEN: It's just...

COSTELLO: Just hire someone. Get it done!

S. O'BRIEN: ... is that somebody would -- you know, it's under 200 bodies. I mean, you know, I guess for me the most concerning thing is it raises big questions about what happens if there is a catastrophe of even greater scale? I mean, you're talking about 200 bodies, and people who are there are giving their DNA.

COSTELLO: Well, let's talk about the bird flu even.

S. O'BRIEN: Right.

COSTELLO: What about that? S. O'BRIEN: Any national disaster, it really, I think, is very concerning about, you know, will there be bickering over who is going to spend money to help treat people, you know, if we have bird flu?

M. O'BRIEN: Meanwhile, the utility there, Entergy, which is in bankruptcy, is sending out bills to people. No one has power in New Orleans...

S. O'BRIEN: They hate that.

M. O'BRIEN: ... except maybe in the French Quarter and a few select places. Upwards of these $900 electric bills for places that have been vacant since Katrina, and certainly without a shred of juice. And they're saying, well, you know, we're working on it. But nobody even really has an answer as to why these bills are coming out.

COSTELLO: You know, that's...

M. O'BRIEN: The outrage gets piled on. And after three months, I think, people are really at the point where they're becoming depressed over the whole situation.

COSTELLO: Well, it does make you wonder if the city of New Orleans is ever going to come back, or whether they should really seriously consider parts of it never coming back.

S. O'BRIEN: I think it's going to come back, because I think the nature -- human nature is that they will settle and push to the bank, and...

COSTELLO: Parts of it may. But...

S. O'BRIEN: Someone will buy the land, maybe not the same demographics that we see today, but someone will buy the land. Someone will build that land. Someone will...

COSTELLO: But someone has to make that tough decision...

M. O'BRIEN: Yes.

COSTELLO: ... of how much money do we pour into the city of New Orleans?

M. O'BRIEN: Well...

COSTELLO: How much money do we pour in?

M. O'BRIEN: ... the most...

S. O'BRIEN: Someone will buy the land, and eventually someone will rebuild on the land. The demographics may completely change. And I think people, homeowners, cannot afford to live in their homes with no jobs, no way to pay for any of the rebuilding that's necessary, no electricity, no power, no running water. But some big company can buy the land, and they will....

COSTELLO: Yes, that would be great, but I'm talking tax dollars. Like, how much do you pour in there? How much do you -- how much?

M. O'BRIEN: How much is -- yes.

S. O'BRIEN: If you're a real estate developer, I think...

M. O'BRIEN: But here's the thing. Somebody really has to do, you know, sort of a triage of these neighborhoods and decide what can be salvaged and what really are neighborhoods that there's not a high enough levee in the world that will protect it from that kind of storm. And I think that once there is a clear-cut plan, a lot of things will start to follow after that.

Meantime, you know, the city of New Orleans is putting up Wi-Fi and saying that's helping things. I mean, that just seems like they've got bigger issues.

COSTELLO: It just seems like a shot in the dark, I know.

M. O'BRIEN: Yes, yes.

COSTELLO: I know.

S. O'BRIEN: Well, we could talk about this until the cows come home, as they say.

M. O'BRIEN: Yes, we could, yes.

S. O'BRIEN: We want to get, though, as we approach the top of the hour a check of the forecast for this Wednesday morning. And Jacqui Jeras is at the CNN center for us.

(WEATHER REPORT)

JACQUI JERAS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: The next hour of AMERICAN MORNING is right now.

M. O'BRIEN: Thanks very much, Jacqui.

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