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The Situation Room
Any Good Options Left in Iraq?; Father of JonBenet Ramsey Speaks Out on John Mark Karr; Former Spy Accuses Russia of Assassination
Aired November 24, 2006 - 19:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JOHN KING, CNN ANCHOR: And, to our viewers, you're in THE SITUATION ROOM, where new pictures and information are arriving all the time -- standing by, CNN reporters across the United States and around the world to bring you tonight's top stories.
Happening now: Blood runs through the streets of Baghdad. This time, Shiites strike at Sunnis, setting fire to mosques and to worshipers. Do U.S. troops have any good options left, as Iraq spins out of control?
Palestinians mourn a suicide bomber who struck at Israeli troops. But this bomber was an elderly woman with dozens of grandchildren. What drove her to do it?
And the father of JonBenet Ramsey speaks out about the man once suspected of killing the child beauty king.
Wolf Blitzer is off today. I'm John King. You're in THE SITUATION ROOM.
Iraq caught up in an orgy of violence -- Sunnis and Shiites slaughter each other in the streets, this a day after hundreds died in an assault on a Shiite slum. Roving death squads, bent on revenge, target mosques and burn some worshipers alive.
The Bush administration is turning to diplomacy in a desperate search for answers to the chaos and the carnage.
We begin tonight with our White House correspondent, Suzanne Malveaux.
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, John, securing Baghdad is really the top priority for President Bush and the Iraqi prime minister, Nouri al-Maliki, in their in just a couple of days.
And, of course, this comes amid growing doubts about Maliki's ability to prevent his country from deteriorating into civil war.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MALVEAUX (voice-over): The Iraqis' bloodiest day Thursday in Sadr City, and today's violent aftermath, is giving the president's talks next week with Iraq's prime minister a new sense of urgency. A deputy White House spokesman condemned the violence, calling it deplorable, "a brazen effort to topple a democratically elected government" that would ultimately fail.
The White House is now engaged in an all-out diplomatic offensive. Vice President Cheney is headed to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, for talks with King Abdullah. Wednesday, following the NATO summit, President Bush will travel to Amman, Jordan, for a face-to-face meeting with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.
Top on the agenda, White House officials say, is Iraqi security. While, publicly, the Bush administration is still expressing confidence in Maliki, privately, there is frustration and concern that Maliki may not have the will or political weight to bring peace to his country.
The White House strategy is to try to bolster the Maliki government on two fronts, from the outside in, by looking to Iraq's neighbors, namely, those friendly with the U.S., to become more directly involved in Iraq's future, countries like Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Turkey, and Kuwait -- on the other front, working from the outside out, by looking at various options that will help Maliki train Iraqi forces, crack down on militias, and reconcile warring groups.
Those options are expected to be presented to the White House in the next couple of weeks by a bipartisan commission, the Pentagon, and the Bush administration's internal review.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MALVEAUX: CNN has learned that the bipartisan commission, the Iraq Study Group, will meet early next week for three days to continue their deliberations to try to come up with some sort of consensus as to what the Bush administration should do next. CNN has also learned, they are far from close -- John.
KING: Suzanne Malveaux at the White House.
And, while President Bush prepares for that summit, his summit partner is struggling just to hold on to power. But who holds the real power now in Iraq? Could it be a militant Shiite leader?
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KING: Correspondent Michael Ware joins us now from Baghdad.
Michael, Muqtada al-Sadr has played his card, essentially warning Prime Minister Maliki, go meet with Mr. Bush, and we will take down your government. Mr. Maliki doesn't have any good choices here, does he?
MICHAEL WARE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely not.
I mean, if ever there was a political leader between a rock and a hard place, it's Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. Now, remember, this is a politician who, on his own, has no popular base, no constituency. And, unlike everyone else involved in this government, he lacks the true currency of political power in this country. And that is an armed militia. So, what's propping him up? He's relying principally on American support to keep him where he is, and try to develop a popular base for him.
In the meantime, in the realpolitik of the Iraqi dynamic, he had to turn to the powerful political faction and the even mightier militia faction loyal to anti-American rebel cleric Muqtada al-Sadr.
At the end of the day, it was Muqtada's support that saw him land in the prime minister's chair. Now we're seeing these two opposing interests that he draws upon, in fact, vehement enemies, coming to a head. I mean, he's due to meet with President George W. Bush next week, yet, we're hearing one of Muqtada's leading politicians warn that, if the Shia population does not see immediate improvement, then, if he meets with what they call the criminal Bush, they will suspend involvement in this parliament.
He's a man left with very few choices -- John.
KING: And -- and, Michael, what's the end goal of al-Sadr's power play? Is there a scenario in Iraq that shows Mr. al-Sadr perhaps wanting to be the next leader?
WARE: For Muqtada to be able to maneuver into a position like that means that a lot of carnage would have had to have taken place to remove other obstacles in his path, primarily, the SCIRI political organization, and its very well-equipped, very well-trained, very experienced and disciplined Badr militia.
So, there's still a lot of obstacles in his way, before we see any kind of development like that. And a lot of blood would have to flow before we come to that -- John.
KING: Michael, you have been there for some time. You have seen the worst. Put the past 24 hours into context for us.
WARE: Well, John, in one sense, this is just another day in Baghdad, as spectacular as it was. The litany of death and attack and agony in this country is a daily occurrence. I mean, this was a stunning and atrocious slaughter.
I mean, this was a Thanksgiving Day massacre. But it was just one moment of punctuation in a long, evolving chapter of what is essentially a civil war. We have seen mass strikes like this before. This is the largest. It is not on its own. It's not in isolation. And, I dare say, there are others to follow.
In the meantime, we see the institutionalization of Shia death squads striking back at the Sunni community, men showing up in legitimate government uniforms, driven by legitimate government vehicles at Sunni homes at night, hauling men off, never to be seen again.
So, this is just separate faces of a long, ugly continuum of civil war.
KING: Michael Ware for us in Baghdad -- Michael, thank you very much.
WARE: Thank you, John.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KING: And more now on the desperate Bush administration diplomacy flowing from this bloody chaos Iraq.
In addition to the president's own meeting next week with Iraq's prime minister, Vice President Cheney is to meet tomorrow in Saudi Arabia with King Abdullah, a trip the White House is keeping largely under wraps.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KING: Our senior international correspondent, Nic Robertson, is in the Saudi capital of Riyadh -- Nic.
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, John (AUDIO GAP) we only know very few details from Vice President Dick Cheney's office.
We know he will leave the United States this afternoon, that he will come to Riyadh tomorrow. That's today, Riyadh time, already. He will meet with King Abdullah. And then he will leave shortly after, be back in the United States on Sunday. He's only going for one place. That's Saudi Arabia, now, from Saudi sources, coming to discuss, we understand, a broad-based Middle East initiative that has been two to three months in the planning.
We're told, a lot of National Security Council members will be coming along with Vice President Dick Cheney. We're told that the points to be discussed are Iraq and a growing Iranian influence, Lebanon backing and helping prop up the government of Fouad Siniora -- Fouad Siniora, the pro-Western, anti-Syrian government of Fouad Siniora.
Also, they will be talking about Syria's role in Iraq, isolating Syria from their role in Iraq -- that according to the Saudi source -- and also looking at Hamas, and trying to limit and moderate Hamas at this time as well -- John.
KING: Nic, any great optimism in Saudi Arabia that the administration will stay committed to it? You know full well the criticism in the region of this administration. The -- government in Saudi Arabia, in Jordan, in Egypt says they're so focused on Iraq, they have let the rest of the neighborhood, if you will, deteriorate.
ROBERTSON: And the rest of the neighborhood is incredibly concerned about what the United States is going to do in Iraq. And, no doubt, this will be something that King Abdullah will want to outline. His foreign minister and his ambassador to the United States have both recently talked about how it will be wrong for the United States to pull out of Iraq at this time. They weren't invited in, that they should -- that they should not pull out, without an invitation to pull out.
The concern is, if they pull out, there is more regional violence that could overflow into Saudi Arabia. And the real concern here, the real concern in Saudi Arabia, is that growing, what they see, Iranian influence into Iraq, and potentially, how they see it, other Arab lands -- John.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KING: Coming up: a Cold War-style killing. A poisoned spy blames Russian President Vladimir Putin for his death.
Also: A grandmother turns suicide bomber. Find out how a senior citizen became a terrorist.
And a 10-year-old murder mystery -- the father of JonBenet Ramsey speaks out for the first time about John Mark Karr, the man who had once confessed to killing the child beauty queen.
Stay with us. You're in THE SITUATION ROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KING: There are new developments tonight in a story tinged with Cold War intrigue. British officials now say a former Russian spy was poisoned with a heavy dose of radiation. On his deathbed, the former spy blamed Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Now Russia is responding with rare candor.
CNN's Ryan Chilcote is in Moscow with the latest.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RYAN CHILCOTE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This fall, Russia's president was forced to deny accusations that he ordered the assassination of a critic.
VLADIMIR PUTIN, RUSSIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): I hope the British authorities won't fuel any groundless political scandals that have nothing to do with reality.
CHILCOTE: The Kremlin freely admits to killing its opponents abroad in Soviet days.
One of the more notable hits: Leon Trotsky, who broke with Stalin, got a pickax in the head in Mexico in 1940 -- the last one acknowledged by the Kremlin, Stepan Bandera, a Ukrainian nationalist sprayed with poisoned in Germany in 1959.
A spokesman for Russia's spy agency, granting a rare interview, tells me, the Kremlin's agents abandoned that practice half-a-century ago, and wouldn't even consider such a move for someone as insignificant as Alexander Litvinenko.
SERGEI IVANOV, RUSSIAN FOREIGN INTELLIGENCE: We had nothing to do, because we have no reason to do it. That's simple.
CHILCOTE (on camera): And no reason because he was a nobody?
IVANOV: He was a nobody.
CHILCOTE (voice-over): Litvinenko was among a growing number of Kremlin critics to wind up dead, disfigured, or otherwise disposed of.
Anna Politkovskaya, a journalist and fierce Putin critic, was shot dead in Moscow last month. Russian agents were convicted of blowing up Chechen separatist leader Zelimkhan Yandarbiyev in the Persian Gulf nation of Qatar three years ago, and claimed responsibility for the recent poisoning death of an Arab militant in the breakaway Russian republic of Chechnya.
Add to these a long list of Kremlin opponents who have ended up behind bars or fled the country, and the mysterious poisoning of disfigured Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko, all of this has given Russia an image problem.
And this, says former long-time KGB spy Stanislav Lekarev, makes the Kremlin an unlikely suspect in this latest killing. Lekarev says it's more likely Russia is being set up.
STANISLAV LEKAREV, KGB VETERAN: I'm, first, 80 percent sure that this was planned by the people who don't like Russia, who hate Russia, who want to change the regime in Russia.
CHILCOTE: When Litvinenko fled Moscow six years ago, people here simply stopped talking about him and his fierce criticism of the Russian president.
Now, perhaps ironically, with these allegations that the Kremlin may be behind his death, Russian government officials fully expect to hear a lot more talk about him -- John.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KING: Ryan Chilcote in Moscow.
And the death of this former Soviet spy is just the latest chapter in a long and complex Russian saga.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KING: Want to bring in CNN's resident Kremlinologist, correspondent Jill Dougherty. Jill spent eight years as our Moscow bureau chief and has unique insight into this spy drama.
Jill, it is great to see you. I want to begin with the deathbed statement of Mr. Litvinenko. He said this: "You may succeed in silencing one man, but the howl of protest from around the world will reverberate, Mr. Putin, in your ears for the rest of your life. May God forgive you for what you have done, not only to me, but to the beloved Russia and its people."
He clearly blamed President Putin. President Putin says, not him.
Jill Dougherty, what do you think?
(LAUGHTER)
JILL DOUGHERTY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, I will tell you, this has more layers than a John LeCarre novel, so trying to penetrate those is pretty difficult.
But let's begin with that sensational accusation of President Putin. Now, obviously, Mr. Litvinenko believed that, or wanted to believe it, and is attacking the president. And you could say, on some level, that's his view. It might be the viewpoint of other people.
But it's much more complicated, as well, because you have, with Litvinenko, a long history of involvement of anti-Kremlin action. I mean, he was -- back in 1998 -- just to begin the story -- he said that he was told by the Kremlin -- by, I should say, the KGB, which is now called the FSB, to murder the tycoon Boris Berezovsky. But he didn't do it. But he blew the plot wide open.
And then fast forward. In 1999 -- and I was there in Moscow, covering these buildings being blown up, apartment buildings, if you remember, where innocent people were asleep, blown up. They were killed, 300 people in Russia.
And Litvinenko said the Kremlin -- actually, the KGB -- had been behind that, too. And to what purpose? To get Russia into a second Chechen war, that the government would blow up its own people to get into a war.
And, then, the most recent allegation is Politkovskaya, the journalist, and Litvinenko, at this point, now investigating that from his home -- he's living -- he was living in London -- and also surmising that there was some type of perhaps KGB/FSB involvement.
Now, I have to say, this has all been denied. And, actually, as you can see from the tone of the Kremlin, they're saying, this is so ridiculous, it doesn't even really merit comment. So, they're denying it. But there's no question that it's very sensational and very, very complex to come to the bottom of all of this, John.
KING: Well, so, Jill, it is possible -- Mr. Putin is a former KGB man. He certainly has clamped down on press and other democratic freedoms within Russia. It is possible that some of those in what is now the FSB, the former KGB, think that they have a green light to go after his critics... DOUGHERTY: Well...
KING: ... even though Mr. Putin himself may have nothing to do with this?
DOUGHERTY: That also probably entirely possible, but look at some of the former KGB, the FSB officers.
You know, when the Soviet Union broke up, they went a lot of different places. Many of them are very smart people. Many of them had the goods, black information, as it's called, on a lot of people. They had a lot of nasty information on a lot of people. That can be very, very valuable.
So, some of them went off into business. Some of them went off into government. But some of them went into the Russian mafia. And that's where the plot thickens, so to speak, because you don't know. I mean, there could be people, former KGB -- this is complete surmisal, John -- but could be people like that who were uncomfortable, didn't like, hated Litvinenko for getting some information on this, and wanted to get him for another reason.
And, then, if you want to flip the whole thing on its head -- I was just listening to Russian radio on the Internet -- and they're saying, this is an attempt -- the Russian government saying: This is an attempt just to blacken the image of -- of Russia.
So, who's doing this? We don't know. But it is an amazing thing. And to -- to get into the substance that was used, it's very rare -- polonium 210, very rare substance. And you have to wonder where somebody could get that in London.
KING: Jill Dougherty -- why we love Jill Dougherty, because she's listening to Russian radio on the Internet.
Jill Dougherty, thanks for sharing your thoughts. And maybe you could write a spy novel of your own.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KING: Still to come: surging sectarian violence in Iraq, with U.S. forces caught in the middle. What are their options? I will ask our military analyst, retired Army General "Spider" Marks.
Plus: It's difficult and dangerous and could take up to seven months. Will man eventually land on Mars? We will hear from the experts in our "Welcome to the Future" report.
Stay with us. You're in THE SITUATION ROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KING: Every day in Iraq, U.S. troops are under threat and under fire, even while on base. Tonight, we salute these everyday heroes, who may not have won medals, but who are serving their country with bravery and distinction in dangerous conditions. CNN correspondent Alex Quade was the U.S. army in Ramadi, and witnessed this bravery firsthand.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ALEX QUADE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The sirens mean incoming mortars or rockets. It's become routine at this forward operating base in the insurgent stronghold of Ramadi.
When it's over, I find out, U.S. soldiers, like PFC Corey Brett, face this every day.
PFC COREY BRETT, U.S. ARMY: I was lucky. I was taking a shower. And I was just about to get out. So, I turned sideways to open the curtain here.
And, as I opened it, it just came right past me. There was a loud crash, like a loud bang of like -- like something punching through metal real hard as it came through, and a hissing sound as it passed, because the rocket was still burning. And it was hitting the water. Got a little singed, like, took some hair off my arm. But that's about it.
QUADE: Brett says, it was a dud, but, like others here, does not become complacent.
SGT. JAMES COOMBS, U.S. ARMY: You always got to look for places to hide. You know, if it -- if a mortar attacks were to happen right now, we would -- we would try to run into this little bunker here, this little concrete bunker right here. And, if we can't make it there, we will just lay down where we at.
QUADE: Sergeant James Coombs provides security for the commanders. He boxes to stay alert.
COOMBS: When you box, your sense is that much more aware of what's going on around you.
You never know when something may happen where you need to go.
QUADE: When it happens again.
COOMBS: That's incoming. That's the horn. You hear it? When that horn goes off, I got to make sure that the command group is -- is accounted for.
QUADE: On this evening, four rockets and one mortar make it in.
COOMBS: See the smoke right there?
QUADE: Sergeant James Coombs and private Corey Brett.
BRETT: Got real lucky.
QUADE: ... just two everyday heroes serving under threat in Iraq. COOMBS: If you relax here, it -- it could cost you your life.
QUADE: Alex Quade, CNN, Ramadi, Iraq.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KING: Nice to pay tributes to those troops.
Just ahead: more slaughter in the streets of Iraq today. We will look at what choices are left for the U.S. military.
And it's been a long time since the father of murdered child beauty queen JonBenet Ramsey has spoken publicly. Guess what he has to say now?
Stay with us. You're in THE SITUATION ROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KING: To our viewers, you're in THE SITUATION ROOM, where new pictures and information are arriving all the time
Happening now: a boycott threat concerning Iraq's warring Shiites and Sunnis. Some followers of Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr who hold government posts are threatening to boycott the government if Iraq's prime minister meets with President Bush next week. The White House says the meeting will go on.
In Miami, a gunman who was on the loose surrenders. Police say the freelance cartoonist entered the building of the "Miami Herald" newspaper with a machine gun, demanding to see an editor. No one was hurt.
And an important story, if you ate company's ham or turkey for Thanksgiving. The HoneyBaked Foods company is recalling 47,000 pounds of its ham and turkey products. They could contain Listeria, a bacteria that can cause serious illness.
Wolf Blitzer is off today. I'm John King. You're in THE SITUATION ROOM.
Death, revenge and mourning in Iraq. One day after a massacre that left hundreds of Shiites dead, some launch revenge attacks as others lay the victims to rest.
CNN Arwa Damon has more from Baghdad.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ARWA DAMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Like Iraq's immeasurable grief, the funeral procession seemed endless. Hundreds of mourners packed the streets of Sadr City escorting over 200 coffins, victims of the bloodiest attack since the war started in 2003.
The dead were casualties of at least five car bombs that exploded on Thursday in the Shia slum of Sadr City, a Mahdi militia stronghold loyal to anti-American cleric Muqtada al Sadr.
Addressing crowds in Sadr City after Friday's prayers, a deputy of al-Sadr raised both the political and military stakes ahead of a scheduled meeting between the U.S. president and Iraqi prime minister.
SALIH AL-AKEILI, SADR SPOKESMAN (through translator): If the prime minister goes ahead and meets with the criminal Bush in Amman we will suspend our membership in the Iraqi government. All of the people know we have enough power to react and to respond, but for the sake of Iraqi unity, and for the interests of the Iraqi people, we will follow our leaders.
DAMON: Now the prime minister finds himself in a precarious situation. Nouri al-Maliki largely owes his job to the support of Sadr's bloc, but he cannot afford to alienate the United States. The political turmoil and violence comes at the end of a week with increasingly brazen attacks against government institutions and a surge in sectarian bloodshed.
On the streets of Baghdad, despite a government lockdown to curb retaliation, the violence continued. Pleas for help from Sunni residents broadcast on Sunni TV after a number of their mosques were attacked and reports of more people killed. One resident summed up the chaos. "At the end of the day, we are all losers," Hassan said. "This is our home, our country."
Most U.S. and Iraqi officials will not say Iraq is in a civil war. But many Iraqis look at the growing numbers of bodies filling morgues, the ethnic cleansing in neighborhoods, and the escalating violence and say the civil war started long ago.
(on camera): The Iraqi prime minister's next move, whether he bows to radical Shia cleric Muqtada al-Sadr's requests, or goes ahead with his meeting with U.S. President Bush, will highlight who the real power brokers are.
Arwa Damon, CNN, Baghdad.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KING: And so as Iraq slips in to chaos what choices are left for the U.S. military?
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KING: We're joined now in THE SITUATION ROOM by CNN military analyst General James "Spider" Marks.
I'm sure there's a definition in the military manual somewhere. The Pentagon says this is not a civil war. The White House says this is not a civil war. You can see these pictures, sir. You hear the threats. You see the recriminations between the Sunni and the Shia. If it's not a civil war, what is it?
BRIG. GEN. JAMES MARKS (RET.), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Well, I need to tell you, you know, we could get into definitions and semantics. And I don't mean to minimize any of that, but civil war clearly is an attack on the governing body that exists. That's not what we see directly. But, that aside, what you see is incredible violence.
And, John, what you really see is the loss of the center in the Iraqi population, the flight of the middle class. And what you end up with is neighborhoods going against neighborhoods. This is tribal warfare at its worst.
KING: Tribal warfare at its worst.
If you are General Casey, or if you're another commander on the ground in Baghdad, and you have Muqtada al-Sadr saying that if the prime minister goes and meets with the president of the United States, he will cause the government to collapse, that's a political debate. But he has the -- his militia. His militia is obviously part of this violence.
What is the role of the U.S. military in the middle of something like that?
MARKS: Several things that they can do, and I would guarantee you that they're doing them right now.
Number one is, Iraqi forces on the ground, both those that are police forces, Ministry of the Interior, and the military forces out of the Ministry of Defense, have got to be able to work hand in hand, much like some of the U.S. experiences that we have had, where you have to define who owns what aspect of this fight.
So, there has to be exchange of local intelligence. The only way, John, that you get ahead of this is that these are very local fights. Who is willing to talk to the U.S. forces? Who is willing to talk to the Iraqis? And, then, what can you do about that intelligence and that information that you have? So, that has to take place. And the U.S. has a very large role to play in that.
The next aspect is, Sadr is not going anywhere. He's not expendable. Unfortunately, Maliki may be politically expendable. So, how do these two very powerful men work hand in hand? Sadr has got the upper hand. And in order to minimize his influence -- and I don't think he's leaving the scene -- but, in order to minimize his influence, you have got to eliminate the Mahdi army.
He's got to be able to step in, condemn their activities, and to eliminate them at the very lowest levels.
KING: But it's clear the prime minister either can't or won't eliminate them. It is clear that Sadr won't dial back, isn't willing to do that.
You have heard Senator McCain and others say, the only solution here is to take out Muqtada al-Sadr and deal with the consequences, that that at least would get you on the stepping-stone to stability.
As someone on the ground -- if you, General "Spider" Marks, were on the ground in Baghdad right now, would you be recommending that?
MARKS: I don't think you would recommend that. You know, the sad thing is, you don't know what the alternative is going to be. Better the devil you know than the devil you don't know.
KING: Better the devil you know, even when this happens, even when you have them going -- Sunni, Shia going into mosques, killing each other, recriminations? That's better?
MARKS: No, of course it's not. No, of course it's not better.
What I'm saying is, as bad as it is, I could see where a scenario might be even worse, is what I'm saying, John. And, so, how do you get your arms around that? You get around that by trying to establish -- without walking away from it. There is no cut-and-run option. There can't be.
How do you get your arms around that? How do you establish security locally, very, very locally? And you do that through the use of the Iraqis. They're the ones that have to step up.
So, the next question, then, inevitably, is, how long can the United States afford to do that? How do you measure the success of the Iraqi forces, both the military and the police forces, in order to establish security? And how do you measure that?
Based on the activities of the last two days, I would say they get an absolutely F-minus, in terms of their abilities to do that. Can they ramp it up and do better? We have got to be able to stand side by side those guys and that's not trite.
But that's being able to train better, train faster, get more Iraqis forces on the ground, and don't allow a standard that is lower than what we can afford to see on the ground, in terms of providing results.
KING: General James "Spider" Marks, thanks for your time today in THE SITUATION ROOM.
MARKS: Thanks, John.
KING: Thank you.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KING: One side effect of the escalating violence in Iraq? The closure of the Baghdad's airport. That's keeping Iraq's president, Jalal Talabani, from attending tomorrow's summit organized by Iran. But President Talabani says he'll try to attend even though officials say the airport likely won't reopen before Sunday.
Meanwhile, actions from Iran's president might help him earn a coveted distinction.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ROMESH RATNESAR, WORLD EDITOR, "TIME": Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who is the president of Iran, this year emerged as a dominant player on the world stage.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (voice-over): Iran's president also emerges as a candidate for "Time" magazine's person of the year.
PRISCILLA PAINTON, EXECUTIVE EDITOR, "TIME": We saw Ahmadinejad essentially defy many of the wishes of negotiators from the West in terms of refusing to stop the development of possible nuclear weapons. That's number one.
And number two, we saw the role that his country played indirectly in the Lebanese-Israeli conflict.
And number three, we saw the degree to which he has been effective, for better or for worse, at using major international platforms to essentially make his case.
ADI IGNATIUS, EXECUTIVE EDITOR, "TIME": He continually has talked about wiping out Israel, has talked about denying the Holocaust. I mean, these are outrageous statements that make him no friends internationally.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KING: Still ahead tonight, a grandmother turned terrorist. A new suicide bombing and a troubling first in a troubled it part of the world.
Plus, the father of JonBenet Ramsey reacts to the false confession of the man who claimed he killed her. Ramsey is expressing some sentiments you might find surprising. Stay with us. You're in THE SITUATION ROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KING: Israelis and Palestinians today backed off from talk of a possible truce. Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Hanieyeh from Hamas had suggested a halt to rocket fire into Israel if Israel would halt all military activity in the West Bank and Gaza. An Israeli spokeswoman called that ludicrous.
This is Palestinians burying an elderly woman who blew herself up in an attack on Israeli troops. CNN's Paula Hancocks has that story from Jerusalem.
PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, John, there have been numerous Palestinian suicide bombings against Israeli military and civilians over the years. A small number have been carried out by women. But the most recent suicide bombing is by far one of the most unusual.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) HANCOCKS (voice-over): A 57-year-old grandmother and a Palestinian suicide bomber, shown in a Hamas video that CNN is unable to independently authenticate. The Hamas background, the green headband and the gun across the shoulder, trademarks of taped video messages released after an attack, all too familiar in this region.
But Al-Najar is the first known Palestinian grandmother to attempt a suicide bombing against Israelis. Al-Najar had nine children and more than 40 grandchildren. Five of her sons and her husband had served time in an Israeli jail.
One of her sons says he accepts a suicide attack as a natural thing for her to do. According to the family, Al-Najar called her children to see her Thursday morning without explaining why. Then she left home in the sprawling Jabalia refugee camp around mid-day, telling no one where she was going.
Later Thursday, according to the Israeli military, soldiers near the refugee camp spotted the woman approaching in what the IDF described as a suspicious manner. The soldiers threw a stun grenade at her, and she detonated her device, killing herself and likely wounding three Israeli soldiers.
At the family home, there is grief, but also pride. This woman says, God willing, we will all become martyrs.
Thousands of Palestinians join the funeral of Al-Najar Friday. She was described by her family as very politically involved before her husband died a year ago, saying she had participated in many Hamas activities.
Her sons were at pains to explain there is no shame in a woman, no matter how old, carrying out a suicide bombing, saying a martyr's death is permitted for all.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HANCOCKS: Fatima Al-Najar said in her taped video message she wanted to dedicate her death to the Palestinian prisoners being held in Israeli jails, and also dedicate it to the Palestinian prime minister, Ismail Hanieyh, also of Hamas -- John.
KING: Paula Hancocks in Jerusalem.
Many say the future of military defense lies in space. U.S. efforts to develop a missile shield go back decades, to Ronald Reagan's so-called Star Wars plan. Now, NATO is weighing a similar space defense system for Europe. CNN European political editor Robin Oakley has more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ROBIN OAKLEY, CNN EUROPEAN POLITICAL EDITOR (voice-over): An oil rig blazes after a terrorist assault. A plane dives to extinguish the fire. Air/sea rescue teams pluck victims from the sea.
Scenes from the next James Bond movie? No. This was Exercise Kaliningrad, a joint NATO-Russia rescue exercise maneuver.
In an age of global terrorism, such cooperative projects are increasing, but will they continue if NATO goes ahead with the latest plan being suggested, for a Europe-wide missile defense system? The U.S. has for some time been fashioning a missile shield, dubbed Son of Star Wars, which would shoot out of the sky any nuclear armed missiles bound for America.
Now, after a 10,000-page feasibility study, NATO's chief wants Europe to have similar protection.
JAAP DE HOOP SCHEFFER, NATO SECRETARY-GENERAL: I think personally that in the times we are living in, missile defense should have a more prominent place on the NATO agenda, and I hope that the Riga summit will address this.
OAKLEY: But Russia was angered by the initial U.S. plans, which involved radar stations on the continent like the Menwith Hill complex in Britain.
"We wouldn't want anybody to get the impression this is something we fear, but this will require changes in our plan for military construction."
(on camera): A European missile shield is clearly moving up the agenda. Experts say it can be done. The question is, whether those European nations who've been reluctant to fund big enough defense budgets to meet theirs and NATO's current needs will stomp up the money to pay for it.
Robin Oakley, CNN, at NATO headquarters, Brussels.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KING: Up ahead, the father of JonBenet Ramsey speaks out with a surprising sentiment for the man who falsely confessed to killing the child beauty queen. We'll have the details of what John Ramsey is saying.
Plus, a manned mission to Mars. Experts are predicting it will happen sooner than you might think. Stay with us. You're in THE SITUATION ROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KING: The father of murdered child beauty queen JonBenet Ramsey is speaking out publicly for the first time about the man who falsely confessed to the crime. And you might be surprised what John Ramsey has to say.
CNN's Mary Snow is live for us in New York with that story -- Mary.
MARY SNOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well John, at one point John Ramsey actually felt sorry for John Mark Karr, the 41-year-old former suspect in his daughter's murder. Ramsey spoke to "48 Hour's Mystery" of CBS News.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SNOW (voice-over): It was back in August when the bizarre story of John Mark Karr made headlines around the world. After nine years, it appeared that one of the most notorious unsolved murder cases in recent history might be solved.
JOHN MARK KARR: I loved JonBenet, and she died accidentally.
SNOW: Karr was arrested in Thailand and extradited to the U.S. on suspicion of murdering 6-year-old JonBenet Ramsey, but the evidence never materialized and Karr was eventually released. Now come words you might not expect from the father of murder victim JonBenet. John Ramsey spoke to "48 Hours Mystery" about the man once suspected of killing his daughter.
JOHN RAMSEY, FATHER OF JONBENET RAMSEY: After a while he was so abused and vilified and convicted in the media that I started to feel story for the guy, which is a bizarre feeling. Having been through what we went through, you know, I was, could be the last guy that leaked out, this is the guy.
SNOW: Ramsey and his late wife Patsy were themselves under a cloud of suspicion after their daughter was found beaten and strangled in the basement of their Colorado home in 1996. They're no longer considered suspects.
Patsy Ramsey died in June. Her husband said she had been aware that police were on Karr's trail, a man described as being obsessed not only with JonBenet but with Patsy.
As for Karr, "48 Hours Mystery" quotes an agent with the Department of Homeland Security in Thailand is saying Karr is not off the hook with authorities just yet. But they didn't spell out what they're looking at.
Department of Homeland Security officials in the U.S. declined comment.
Last month in an interview with CNN's Larry King, Karr had this to say about any pending charges.
KARR: I'm being told by my attorney and advised that I shouldn't discuss this matter, because in all honesty, at this point I'm possibly a target for law enforcement to just keep their eye on me.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SNOW: In that interview, Karr also said he wasn't facing any charges. His arrest and release only seemed to add more questions than answers about a murder that will mark its tenth anniversary on December 26th -- John.
KING: Mary Snow for us in New York. Mary, thank you very much. And copies of O.J. Simpson's now infamous book "If I Did It" have starting to show up on the popular auction site eBay. But how easy is it to actually get a copy of the recalled book online?
Our Internet reporter Abbi Tatton has been investigating -- Abbi.
ABBI TATTON, CNN INTERNET CORRESPONDENT: John, a couple of copies have seem to have shown up. But actually getting your hands on them is a different issue. What looks like a copy, you click through and it turns out to be a fake listing -- this one for an O.J. Simpson e-mail address.
When you see an actually copy, we click through to this one. A couple minutes later and it's been removed, whether by eBay or by the seller, that's unclear.
A couple seem to have slipped through the cracks. This one put online by a seller in Texas with the message "I was given this as a gift. Please don't judge me for selling it."
The winning bid on that one, from what we see online was $8,300.
But it's not just buyers who are trolling the site looking for copies of this, an attorney for the family of Nicole Brown Simpson tells CNN that she herself is looking around on this site and contacting the buyers and the sellers demanding that they take these books off-line and return them to the publisher HarperCollins so that they can be destroyed.
eBay didn't return our calls today, but from our last look around online, no copies currently seem to be available -- John.
KING: Abbi Tatton. Abbi, thank you very much.
And still ahead, where will mankind be in 30 years? Some say Mars. Details next in our welcome to the future report. You're in THE SITUATION ROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KING: A manned mission to Mars? Many scientists say it's not a matter of if but rather when. CNN's Richard Quest now with our welcome to the future report.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RICHARD QUEST, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's a tiny, shiny red dot in the night sky. Mars has always been a subject of fascination. Yet it wasn't until the Viking probe landed in 1976 that we first got a close-up look at the surface of the red planet. When will we set foot there ourselves?
REX GEVEDEN, NASA ASSOCIATE ADMINISTRATOR: It takes at least six or seven months to get to mars. And six or seven months to get back. You would be on the surface for weeks or months at a time. QUEST (on camera): The surface of mars may look pretty but it's not a nice place. Its cold and you can't breathe the air. And if you left something behind on earth, forget it. You're out of luck.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (Inaudible) every kilo from Europe, it would cost a lot.
QUEST: Despite the cost and the challenges, for many experts, it's not a case of if, but when.
GEVEDEN: Our next steps are to return to the moon by 2020 and then on to mars.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I look downstream 30 years, clearly I would envision that we'll have permanent station on the moon and possibly having, or already, humans arriving to mars.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: In a 30-year time period, we'll probably have the first bases on mars.
QUEST: And if you asked, why go at all?
GEVEDEN: From a human point of view, there's a compulsion to explore.
GREGORY BENFORD, THE MARS SOCIETY: The point is to not just to live on mars, but to find out if something else lives on mars.
IAN PEARSON, B.T. FUTURIST: It might be dangerous, very risky. People might get killed. But in spite of that risk, people really, really, really want to do an exploration.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: But I think, if you recall the picture of earth, taken from the moon by the astronauts, and showing that blue dot, or the pictures that we took from Voyager of Earth, or recently taking it from Cassini or from the Mars Rover of Earth, it kind of -- it makes you think, you know, after all, we are just a small dot and there are no boundaries. Really, this is exploration on behalf of all of humanity.
QUEST: There is so much more on space exploration with "CNN's Future Summit, World in Motion."
In Singapore, I'm Richard Quest.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KING: Thanks for joining us. And have a great weekend. Up next, "PAULA ZAHN NOW."
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