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Your World Today

Mounting Casualty Figures From Ongoing Violence in Iraq; Cultural Confrontation Playing Out in Britain; Heartland Issues

Aired October 18, 2006 - 12:00   ET

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

JIM CLANCY, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: The rising cost of war. U.S. troops enduring a bloody October in Iraq, with 10 deaths this day alone.
HALA GORANI, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Political correctness run amuck. Critics say authorities are using a double standard when it comes to religious protests in Britain.

CLANCY: Plus, the U.S. Senate's top Democrat getting hammered over potential ethics violations just three weeks before midterm elections.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SATINDER BINDRA, CNN NEW DELHI BUREAU CHIEF: Compared to the United States, where it can cost up to $50,000 to find a surrogate, the going rate in this western Indian town of Anan (ph) is $5,000.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GORANI: Prospective parents search for a surrogate in India. Our New Delhi bureau chief, Satinder Bindra, follows one couple on their journey to have a child.

CLANCY: Hello, everyone. And welcome to our report broadcast around the globe.

I'm Jim Clancy.

GORANI: I'm Hala Gorani.

From Britain to India, or wherever you're watching, this is YOUR WORLD TODAY.

CLANCY: The bombings, shootings and other attacks that claim so many Iraqi lives each day are also taking an increasingly heavy toll on U.S. forces.

GORANI: Now, 10 American troops in Iraq were killed in the past 24 hours alone, putting this month on track to be one of the deadliest for U.S. forces since last year.

CLANCY: Now, the U.S. military says 67 troops have been killed in October of this year. That's an average of almost four a day. A total of 2,782 U.S. troops have been killed since the war began. GORANI: Many of the recent deaths have come in the Baghdad area as U.S. forces step up patrols to flush out insurgents and try to destroy weapons stockpiles.

CLANCY: Now, Arwa Damon traveled with one regiment and discovered just how dangerous the mission is.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ARWA DAMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): This is the type of terrain that really makes you feel like each step could be your last. It has been for four American soldiers killed on this mission in the past two weeks. The tall reeds make it easy for insurgents to hide. The thick mud so slick it's like walking on ice. And somewhere beneath the tumbleweeds and brush along the canals less than an hour outside of Baghdad in an area known as the "Triangle of Death," lies what these men call a Wal-Mart of weapons.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm seeing a lot of these directional charges (INAUDIBLE).

DAMON: These soldiers are about to discover they arrived just in time.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's not a good day when you get hit with one of those. That's just a (INAUDIBLE).

DAMON: To the untrained eye, it seems like there is nothing lurking here, but Captain Shawn Finn (ph) and his company have quickly learned the little things to look for.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This berm right before we get to the (INAUDIBLE), there's footprints in the mud. It shows that they've been walking in here to provide concealment. When they get to the road they'll lay the IEDs in.

DAMON: The intent, to tighten the noose on an insurgency that has literally dug itself in.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What we'll notice a lot is there will be, like, fresh green shrubbery like that. That's some of the larger berms, lots of green stuff. Then we'll find this stuff, you know, piled up like tumbleweeds. Kick it out of the way, you dig in about six inches, that's where we're finding the barrels.

DAMON: Captain Finn (ph) says it's been on-the-job training.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's hanging off the reed here. It broke off. We found one about 50 meters away, so these are the types of things we look for.

DAMON: Soon, as the men continue to move forward, the insurgents' methods reveal themselves. First they find the spotter's position.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Like an observation post, you know. A one- man element who's going to come pull security, or over -- watch -- full security for a guy that's putting an IED on that main road.

DAMON: Farther down, they pull up wiring. Another short distance away, they dig up plastic explosives. Mortar rounds are buried under the tumbleweed. All the parts in place to assemble IEDs at any moment right in this field.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They've got the explosives in. They got the wire in, and probably within the next 12 hours undercover of darkness they'd recede the road with the IEDs.

DAMON: The final component hidden across the street.

(on camera): These are all IED roadside bomb trigger devises. They are quite primitive yet highly effective.

This, for example, is the timer off of a washing machine. Once the timer has been set, the IED is ready to detonate.

(voice over): Since this operation began two weeks ago, the U.S. has found enough material for at least 1,000 roadside bombs.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I can't wait to do it again, find some more stuff. It's like an Easter egg hunt.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I was thinking that.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We found other mortars.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You roll the dice every time you do it.

DAMON: Arwa Damon, CNN, near Yusufiya, Iraq.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CLANCY: This month also on track to be one of the deadliest for Iraqis in more than a year. Roadside bombings, gun battles, sectarian attacks, and revenge killings all contributing to nearly 770 Iraqi deaths so far in October. That averages about 45 people every day, and it's considered a low estimate, as numerous killings in Iraq are still going unreported.

The private group IraqBodyCount.org puts the overall Iraqi civilian death toll from this war between 44,000 and 49,000.

GORANI: All right. Let's get more on the rising casualty count in Iraq, the efforts to weaken the insurgency. Let's bring in live Arwa Damon again. She's in Baghdad.

Arwa, before we get into what civilians are saying to you while you report there on your embeds, why have the U.S. casualty numbers among the military remained so high and even risen in the last month?

DAMON: Well, Hala, it could be for any number of reasons. First of all, we are nearing the end of the holy month of Ramadan, and the trend that we have seen over the last three years is an increase in attacks during this time period. Another reason, too, especially for the high casualty count we're seeing in Baghdad, is, first of all, there is an increased number of U.S. troops in Baghdad itself. Plus, the sophistication of the weaponry that the insurgents are using is only increasing.

The IEDs that they are making, the roadside bombs, are just becoming deadlier. Plus, the small arms fire, the sniper shots, too, are becoming more and more accurate. So there are a number of reasons that go into why that casualty count has increased so much -- Hala.

GORANI: All right. And the casualty account, of course, among Iraqis still very high and rising. And there in your reporting, in the so-called "Triangle of Death," what are civilians telling you?

Are there civilians left? Are they leaving? And those who stay, what do they tell you about the situation there?

DAMON: Well, Hala, in the area of Yusufiya and in the fields and farmlands that you just saw in that story, that area is largely deserted. The U.S. military that is operating down there, those are soldiers from the 2nd Brigade of the 10th Mountain Division. They say that when they first arrived into that area about two months ago, they barely came into any civilian contact.

What they're seeing right now is a slow trickle of civilians. And what they're trying to do down there is establish a permanent presence.

The insurgency, plus sectarian violence have essentially paralyzed life there. This is a farming community. And the few farmers that we found as we were going through these areas with the troops said that they never left their fields.

They essentially were too afraid of being the victims of sectarian violence or too afraid of falling victim to any number of roadside bombs, or the insurgency that is there. They did, though -- and this is interesting -- express a certain amount of relief that U.S. forces had showed up. But at the same time, they expressed fear that U.S. forces might leave, allowing the insurgency and the militias to reenter that area -- Hala.

GORANI: All right. Arwa Damon live in the Iraqi capital.

"The New York Times" reports Iraqi officials have removed the country's two most senior police commanders. It's seen as a first major step against special police forces suspected of being heavy infiltrated by Shiite militias in some cases. The fighting between Shiites and Sunnis is blamed for much of the violence we see in Iraq.

Later this hour we'll look at whether the growing bloodshed there actually constitutes a civil war -- Jim.

CLANCY: Well, some say it's a sign that investors are increasingly optimistic about the U.S. economy. The Dow Jones industrial average just breaking through this day into uncharted territory. The index stormed past the 12,000 mark just seconds after Wednesday's opening.

Maggie Lake has been watching this and waiting for this in New York City.

(STOCK MARKET REPORT)

GORANI: A short break here on YOUR WORLD TODAY.

America's top diplomat is calling for a swift, robust effort to clamp down on North Korea.

CLANCY: Condoleezza's Rice into Asia right now comes amid concern the regime there could be preparing for a second nuclear test. That tops our look at other news right now.

The U.S. secretary of state saying the U.S. has no desire to escalate the crisis over North Korea's nuclear test. Secretary Rice is in Japan on the first leg of a quick sweep through Asia. She says the U.S. remains committed to defending Tokyo, its top ally in the region.

GORANI: Also in other news, in Russia, new rules by President Vladimir Putin's government on how foreign non-governmental organizations operate go in to effect today. The several hundred NGOs in the country must now submit new paperwork or stop their activities. Many NGOs say the documents are unnecessary and inexplicable.

CLANCY: A curfew now in place in the tourist city of Galian (ph), Sri Lanka, after clashes between government forces and Tamil Tiger rebels there. At least two sailors were killed. Navy officials say five boats filled with rebel suicide teams launched a brazen attack on a naval base in that city.

GORANI: All right. Now we are taking a break.

The British prime minister makes some controversial comments about Islamic head scarves.

CLANCY: Coming up on YOUR WORLD TODAY, we're going to take a look at the issue that right now is dividing Britain and the wider cultural debate between the Muslim community and society in general.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Call it outsourcing, call it whatever you want, but it's not a negative aspect, as far as I'm concerned.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GORANI: On the search for a surrogate in India, the desire for children sends prospective parents to a continent far away.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

GORANI: Former president Juan Peron casts a shadow over Argentina three decades after his death. A long-planned ceremony to transfer his remains to a new mausoleum was marred -- you can see it there -- by violence and gunfire, even. At least 40 people were injured as members of two rival unions fought over the invitation list.

They battled each other with sticks, stones and bottles. Police fired rubber bullets and tear gas. The remains were finally moved from the crowded urban cemetery into the million-dollar mausoleum. Peron, along with his glamorous wife, Evita Peron, dominated Argentine politics for decades.

CLANCY: Amazing response there.

GORANI: All right. Welcome back. You're watching YOUR WORLD TODAY.

CLANCY: We're bringing our viewers around the globe up to speed on some of the most important stories of the day.

All right.

British Prime Minister Tony Blair adding fuel to an emotional debate over the wearing of Islamic head scarves in Britain. Mr. Blair says the veil is a mark of separation, in his words, that makes people living outside the Muslim community uncomfortable. The prime minister also argues people who integrate more deeply into British society achieve more.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TONY BLAIR, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: There's a whole question to do with integration. And my view is that we try and deal with this debate sensitively, but we have to deal with the debate.

This is an issue for the British people now. People want to know that the Muslim community, in particular, but actually all minority communities, have got the balance right between integration and multiculturalism. And people want to see that that balance has got (ph) right. Now, we need to conduct this debate in a sensitive way, but it needs to be conducted.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GORANI: Well, that issue, the head scarf issue, is part of a much larger debate about free speech playing out in Britain these days. Critics say political correctness and fears about upsetting the Muslim community have resulted in a double standard.

Paula Newton explains.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PAULA NEWTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): It was loud, provocative, and Muslims here felt completely justified, the raw anger in front of Westminster Cathedral in London last month after a quote cited by the pope about Islam and the Prophet Mohammed. The rage was laced with not-so-subtle threats against all who insult Islam. ANJEM CHOUDARY, MUSLIM ACTIVIST: They must also understand that there may be serious consequences if you insult Islam and the prophet.

NEWTON: The tone here infuriated some bystanders, who even got into a verbal slug match with the protesters. At issue, a perceived double standard about free speech and religion.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE). You go ahead in front of a mosque in London and see if you can do that. Oh, big deal.

NEWTON: Scotland Yard was documenting every minute of it, and after an investigation the police commissioner, Sir Ian Blair, said, "There were no offenses committed by anybody, and if there were no offenses committed by anybody, then there's little that can be done."

DAVID DAVIES, BRITISH PARLIAMENT MEMBER: I'm disgusted by it.

NEWTON: Conservative MP David Davies calls the police and his government cowardly, insisting some of the protesters broke the law by uttering threats.

DAVIES: Extremists can look -- can point to the British state and say, look, they're afraid of us, they don't even dare arrest us when we break the rules.

NEWTON: As proof, he points to Christian evangelist Stephen Green, arrested last month after handing out leaflets criticizing homosexuality at a gay festival in Wales.

STEPHEN GREEN, CHRISTIAN EVANGELIST: Of course there's a double standard, because it's political correctness, and there's fear of upsetting the Muslims, or fear of appearing Islamophobic.

NEWTON: But Muslim voices inside Britain, even moderate ones, say stifling free speech will only backfire.

AZZAM TAMINI, INST. OF ISLAMIC POLITICAL THOUGHT: If we muzzle them, if we don't allow them the freedom to speak, then we would be catalyzing terrorism. We would be pushing them toward extreme ways of responding.

NEWTON (on camera): The incident here at Westminster Cathedral has become a cultural touchstone for many, adding to an already divisive debate about accommodating free speech but avoiding the language of hate.

Paula Newton, CNN, London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CLANCY: Well, there's much more to come on YOUR WORLD TODAY.

GORANI: Well, straight ahead, more political scandal from the U.S., only this time not it's not a Republican in hot water.

CLANCY: And a different sort of baby boom hitting India right now. We're going to explain that story in just a moment.

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Hi, everybody. I'm Heidi Collins at the CNN Center in Atlanta.

More of YOUR WORLD TODAY in just a few minutes. But first, a check on stories making headlines in the United States.

This is the first one. Look at it.

Just inches from the 12,000 mark, history already made today for an intraday high. It went beyond that 12,000 mark.

We'll keep watching that throughout the day. It's an exciting one, for sure.

Meanwhile, missing since Monday, a Kentucky mother wanted for kidnapping her own baby. She's also a suspect in the killing of a social worker.

This surveillance video from an Illinois gas station was taken hours after police found the body of the social worker in the mother's home. The video shows a man believed to be the mother's boyfriend getting gas. The credit card receipt was traced to the wanted couple.

The mother does not have custody of the developmentally disabled baby. The boy has been in foster care.

Want to get to Reynolds Wolf with the latest on the weather situation.

(WEATHER REPORT)

COLLINS: Election Day now less than three weeks away. Today we're going outside the Washington beltway to talk politics in the heartland.

Senior Political Analyst Bill Schneider looks at middle class issues facing middle America.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WILLIAM SCHNEIDER, CNN SR. POLITICAL ANALYST (voice over): Many Americans feel like the man who is about to drown crossing a stream that on the average is three feet deep. On the average, the economy is doing well.

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The budget numbers are proof that pro-growth economic policies work.

SCHNEIDER: But not for people who feel themselves slipping under water. MARIO CUOMO, FMR. NEW YORK GOVERNOR: The people who are doing well in this country now are the very wealthy people and not the working middle class. That's slipping.

SCHNEIDER: In a new CNN poll conducted by the Opinion Research Corporation, a majority of Americans say the American dream has become the impossible dream for most people. Those with no college degree have lost faith in the American dream. College graduates still believe, but only about 30 percent of Americans have finished college.

There's a lot of middle class frustration out there, and it's focused on Washington. Even Republicans are running against Washington.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I know what you're feeling.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Washington has no clue what's going on in your life.

SCHNEIDER: About three-quarters of the public sees Congress as out of touch with average Americans. About the same as in 1994, the last time voters overthrew the majority in Congress.

But it's not just Congress. Nearly 80 percent of Americans feel big business has too much influence over the Bush administration.

Democrats are nearly unanimous in that sentiment.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: In Washington, we have a White House that has rolled over for the oil companies.

SCHNEIDER: As it happens, most Republicans also feel that way. A rare instance of bipartisan agreement.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COLLINS: Housing, health care, education, and out-of-touch politicians. Lou Dobbs tackles those issues and more in a live one- hour special. You can watch "War on the Middle Class" -- it's a town hall meeting -- tonight at 7:00 Eastern right here on CNN.

Who owns the Christian vote, and what values are you voting on this election? Just some of the hot topics today in the "NEWSROOM". You can join Kyra Phillips and Don Lemon at the top of the hour only here on CNN.

YOUR WORLD TODAY continues after a quick break.

I'm Heidi Collins.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CLANCY: Hello, everyone. And welcome back to YOUR WORLD TODAY.

I'm Jim Clancy.

GORANI: I'm Hala Gorani.

Here are some of the top stories we're following.

Security has been tightened in the Iraq city of Balad. Almost 100 people have been killed there in the last five days due to sectarian violence.

Meanwhile, 10 U.S. servicemen were killed in Iraq on Tuesday. The death toll now stands at 67 killed this month alone and 602 killed in all of 2006.

CLANCY: The U.S. secretary of state telling officials in Tokyo Washington stands by its quote, "full range of security commitments to Japan," but that it wants U.S. sanctions to do the job of persuading North Korea to abandon its nuclear weapons program. Condoleezza Rice touring Asia right now to urge strict enforcement of those sanctions.

GORANI: The Dow Jones industrial average has hit a milestone. The index of 30 big name stocks marched past the 12,000 mark. You see it there, 11,997, going up just seconds after Wednesday's opening. It took the Dow more than seven years to make the trip from 11,000. It was pummeled during that time by the dot-com bust recession and the aftermath of the 9/11 terror attacks.

CLANCY: All right, just dipping below the 12,000 mark right now.

Pop icon Madonna says she acted within the law in adopting a 1- year-old boy from Malawi. That child, who spent most of his life in an orphanage, was flown to London on Tuesday. Madonna says she began this adoption process months before her trip to the African country. The mother of two says she wanted to help one child escape from poverty in a country with more than a million orphans.

GORANI: A wave of wealthy western, mainly Western, couples are flying to India, but not for babies. They're searching for surrogate mothers.

CLANCY: And cynics are just standing up and speaking out. They say it's the latest example of outsourcing. But supporters say it's a win-win situation.

GORANI: Senior international correspondent Satinder Bindra has more on India's surrogate baby boom.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Whoa, check it out, dude.

SATINDER BINDRA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Mark and D'arcy Cornwall have come all the way from California to this dusty Western Indian city of Anand, best known for a milk factory because they couldn't afford not to. They've been trying to have a baby for five years, and their last attempt ended in a miscarriage. Now, after years of frustration, the Cornwalls have found hope 8,000 miles or 13,000 kilometers from home.

D'ARCY CORNWALL, PATIENT: We appreciate everything she's done.

BINDRA: On their first trip to India, they found the woman who has agreed to carry their baby, a surrogate mother who prefers not to be identified. Thirty three years old and with three grown children, she knows the joys of motherhood. She also understands the pain of poverty. Both she and her husband are unemployed. For her attempt to carry the Cornwalls' baby to maturity, she'll be paid $5,000.

Just like her, there are so many women lining up to be surrogate mothers in Anand that some describe it as the latest trend in outsourcing. The Cornwalls don't see it that way.

D. CORNWALL: Call it outsourcing, call it whatever you want, but it's not a negative aspect, as far as I'm concerned, as far as we're concerned, that we don't have an opportunity to have a child. And this is our opportunity right here in India, and what greater gift can you have?

BINDRA: The Cornwalls' surrogate tells me she sees this as a way to look after her family. It would take her husband ten years to make that much money here. That, she says, if his luck held .

"My husband used to ferry passengers in a small taxi. He then sold that and bought a small shop, but that business also failed."

And for the Cornwalls, who make a good living in America -- he's a lawyer, she a real estate agent -- the price of surrogacy in America was just too great.

(on camera): Compared to the United States, where it can cost up to $50,000 to find a surrogate, the going rate in this Western Indian town of Anand is $5,000. Surrogates here are paid in increments over a period of nine months. In turn, they sign contracts promising to hand over babies as soon as they're born.

(voice-over): The numbers don't tell the whole story. The Cornwalls say their relationship with their surrogate is not simply a hard, cold, business transaction.

MARK CORNWALL, HUSBAND: Then I noticed that Freda (ph) was holding my wife's other hand very tightly, and there was this bond that was happening at that moment. And when I saw that, then I got drawn in.

BINDRA: In every match like this, there must be a matchmaker. Here in Anand, the matchmaker Dr. Nayna Patel. She's the pioneer of commercial surrogacy in Anand. She says only recommends surrogates to women who cannot have a successful pregnancy themselves. And she says she follows guidelines that surrogates have to be young, healthy, and married with children. Even so, the word is spreading that Dr. Patel has some of the best paying jobs this town. She says she gets at least two calls a week from potential surrogates.

DR. NAYNA PATEL, FERTILITY DOCTOR: There is one such family, they're all -- three sisters and a sister-in-law, have become surrogates. Three of them already delivered. And there's another family where there are two sisters-in-law and one sister, that is three of them, two of then are pregnant and one has already delivered and going to become a surrogate for the second time.

BINDRA: For the Cornwalls, the match is made. The moment has arrived. These pictures show D'arcy's eggs being fertilized with Mark's sperm in the test tube. The result? Two healthy embryos which are temporarily stored in a lab. The next step is an intensely private moment.

In a simple procedure requiring no anesthetic, both the embryos are inserted into the surrogate's womb. Doctors here say the chances of pregnancy are anywhere from 15 to 40 percent.

Hours after her simple surgical procedure, the Cornwalls' surrogate follows medical advice to take it easy. She's even hired someone for $30 a month to help her with her chores so she can focus on the fetus.

"I'll only do light chores like cooking," she says, "And someone else will do the washing, cleaning and sweeping."

There are now dozens of such women in this city. Women once too shy to be surrogates or afraid of being shunned by others are shedding their fears.

Twenty-seven-year-old mother of two Pushpa Bonya (ph) has already been a surrogate once, and says she's ready to do it again. She invited us home, where she showed us how she's invested the money from her last surrogacy to build a more modern kitchen and living space. Now she dreams of using the money she'll get from carrying another baby, about $500 a month, to help send her own children to university. Bonya says her husband, a painter who makes $45 a month, supports her decision.

"The joy of giving someone a child is a very different feeling. It's more than money. I'll always remember the child and think how happy the real parents must be."

Bonya says she has no regrets about giving up the boy she reared in her womb. Still, she cares deeply about him and stays in close touch with his family.

"I'll always remember that child," she says, "and the joy of his parents. I can't forget I gave birth to him. He would be six months old now."

As Anand becomes the epicenter for what could be a surrogate baby boom, some doctors are concerned. These doctors describe what's happening at Dr. Patel's clinic as a womb renting industry. Some even say it's poor, uneducated surrogates who could end up being exploited.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Leaving a woman carrying your child and then being so far away and just coming back to take the baby when it's born, I think it brings about a whole lot of emotional questions and ethical questions that it's almost like a pregnancy in absentia or a delivery in absentia. BINDRA: D'arcy Cornwall bristles at any such suggestion.

D. CORNWALL: What's happening is she's giving us the opportunity to have a child, we're giving her an opportunity to provide for her family moreso than she would have been able to. It's not cheap, womb for rent. It's a blessing, is the way I see it.

BINDRA: For infertile couples like Mark and D'Arcy Cornwall, India offers many benefits. Should their surrogate become pregnant, the Cornwalls will be recognized as the baby's genetic parents. More importantly, unlike some states in the U.S., Indian surrogates have no rights over the child. For that alone, Mark says any criticism of what's going on in Anand is insensitive and unwarranted.

M. CORNWALL: I suppose the naysayers are saying, well, you know, sometimes it's -- you're just not meant to have children.

D. CORNWALL: That's what we were saying.

BINDRA: The Cornwalls say Anand might be the answer to a lot of infertile couple's dreams, so they're planning to write a book to help millions who spent years trying to conceive.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's this alternative. And I would imagine that would give them great hope and a way that they hadn't contemplated. They just hadn't thought about it.

BINDRA: As D'arcy soaks up some of India's local culture, all she dreams of is that the surrogate gets pregnant so she can return to India and pick up a healthy baby for the long trip home.

Satinder Bindra, CNN, Anand, Western India.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CLANCY: Politicians, analysts and ordinary Iraqis all asking the same question.

GORANI: Is Iraq in the midst of a civil war? As the death toll of Iraqis and U.S. troops rises, we'll explore that question.

CLANCY: Also, an animated life. The Vatican releasing a cartoon feature about the life of Pope John Paul II.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

GORANI: Welcome back. We're seen live in more 200 countries across the globe. This is YOUR WORLD TODAY on CNN International, and you're very welcome.

Let's return now to the news out of Iraq. The casualty figures are climbing ever higher, and a growing number of analysts are now saying that the debate over whether that country has descended into civil war should be over.

Tom Foreman explains. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): As coalition forces have handed more control to the Iraqi military, insurgents have tested their strength. Violence has spiked. And so have the voices of international affair analysts, saying, now, a civil war is under way.

The Shia, the largest group of Iraqis, control the east and south. And they are fighting with the minority Sunnis, who control the west, and used to run everything under Saddam. And the Kurds are holding on in the north.

MAJOR GENERAL DONALD SHEPPERD (RET.), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Just, some of it is ethnic hatred, if you will. But it's clearly, in my mind, some type of civil war. We're just afraid to say it.

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: You know, the -- I hear a lot of talk about civil war. I -- I'm concerned about that, of course.

FOREMAN: The administration hesitates to call it civil war, because coalition troops, while under constant fire, are keeping the Iraqi factions from massing soldiers, from gathering large quantities of arms, and launching broad offensives against each other, hallmarks of a classic civil war.

And, of course, there are political and security considerations.

(on camera): If full-scale, open civil war erupts, and fractures this fledgling democracy, it will certainly be seen a major defeat for the United States. And Iraq could well turn into a prime, long-term staging ground for terrorism.

(voice-over): So, why do some Iraqis seem hell-bent on rushing towards civil war? Besides centuries of conflict, there is a modern cause: oil.

If Iraq can ever stabilize and start pumping its oil at full capacity, it could become a wealthy nation. And no faction wants to see another one grab too much control of that asset.

SHEPPERD: The problem is, you have got oil in the north. You have got oil in the south. You have no oil in the west, where the Sunnis are.

FOREMAN: So, as coalition countries seem to be growing weary of the fighting, many Iraqis seem increasingly poised for a showdown on their country's future, whether that's called a civil war or not.

Tom Foreman, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CLANCY: A lot of people wondering this day, with the death toll rising in Iraq, what has gone wrong and why, and what, if anything, can be done about it. Let's get some analysis on that. CNN military analyst David Grange, the former commanding general of the Big Red One, the First Division of the U.S. Army, joins us.

Should some of the generals be fired? Have they mishandled this war? Is it their fault?

BRIG. GEN. DAVID GRANGE, (RET.) CNN MILITARY ANALYST: I think that question should have been asked maybe a couple of years ago and even maybe up to last year. The problems that are going on in Iraq right now, many of them, are probably due to ineffectiveness by leaders in charge and planning of the invasion of Iraq and then the initial execution of the coalition forces in Iraq. But the current leadership in Iraq, at least on the U.S. side, I think is very effective.

CLANCY: When you look at the situation, though, how the country is breaking down, people leaving their traditional mixed neighborhoods, retreating into sectarian cantons, one has to ask yourself, does this one look winnable anymore?

GRANGE: It's hard to look at it in a positive light, there's no doubt about it. Being an optimist myself, having been in some very tough situations, I think it is winnable, but it depends really on what we define as victory as the endstate of this involvement in Iraq. And it's very tough with what's going on, what you just described in the segment prior to this one, and it's going to be hard to do. So what the strategy definitely has to change somewhat in order to be successful, and I know they're working on that strategy right now.

CLANCY: Are the various factions depending too much on the United States? Maybe another way of saying that, would the threat of a U.S. pullout or some action reducing the number of troops and putting a timeline on this really bring some of the Iraqis up to their own responsibilities?

GRANGE: Well, many have told me that, many Iraqis that live in this country, that you really ought to just let them have at it, and as the chips fall that's how it's going to look like in the end, because that's what's going to end up happening, just historically how they've worked together in the past, the tribal system, the different groups, et cetera.

But some -- the coalition forces do keep the lid on some of the escalation, there's no doubt about it, and gives some time for the fledgling Iraqi government to get some kind of grip on the country with the different institutions like the military and police.

One of the issues, though, also is that the coalition forces are used by the different entities in their favor. In other words, they're manipulated for what they want to get accomplished, which may not be for the benefit of the country as a whole.

GRANGE: You know, everyone that looks at this conflict says, is there a way out? What's the plan? When you sit down and talk to your colleagues, former generals, current generals, does anyone have a coherent plan at that people can look at and say, wow, that will work? CLANCY: A coherent strategy, a strategy for Iraq, as we know, has not really been articulated very well to, I think, the people, internationally or to the United States of America, and I'm not sure all the military leaders know what the endstate is supposed to look like. That's probably an accurate statement. But I know that's being worked on hard, and what's it going to be?

I mean, if you totally ignore the situation, I know what Iran is going to be up to, and they're already manipulating Iraq very hard. They're deep into Baghdad, they're deep into fueling a lot of the issues that are ongoing right now. And if you have a coalition pullout completely, Iran is going to take advantage of that vacuum right away, and so are some of the others. The Kurds in the north have agenda items obviously, and so do the countries that support the Sunnis. So do we want that to happen? If you just leave, it will definitely happen. So how do you keep a lid on it? How do you try to get some kind of prosperity for the Iraqi people, which means you've got to have security, and the only way you're going to have security is if you have unity of effort, and the only unity of effort you're going to get is from the government and from the institutions, and so it's a very tough nut to crack.

CLANCY: Everybody watching it day by day in the headlines sees the same thing. CNN military analyst David Grange, as always, thank you for being with us, as always.

GRANGE: My pleasure.

GORANI: A lot more ahead here on YOUR WORLD TODAY.

GRANGE: A unique take on the holy father, the Vatican releasing a cartoon about pope John Paul II. Stay with us.

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GORANI: The Vatican has unveiled a new movie about the late Pope John Paul II. As Alessio Vinci reports, the film uses a special cast of characters to bring the pope's humanity to life.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ALESSIO VINCI, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The story begins the night John Paul II died ...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It looks like the Holy Father hasn't moved from his private apartment and hasn't come to write anything at all in his personal diaries he used to.

VINCI: ...his talking diary and pen wondering what's happened to him. And two doves explain.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hi, guys. We're Piccolo and Fiona, John Paul II's bosom pigeons.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The Holy Father died in peace last night at 9:37 p.m. in his private apartment. VINCI: Doves, the symbol of peace, were ever-present while John Paul II was pope, and they, together with the talking pen and diary, narrate the story of John Paul II's life, his young days in Poland, World War II, Communism, his election and his 27 years as pope.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He was, in fact, Polish.

VINCI: "We wanted it to be done in a style that was respectful and sincere," says the producer. "It was hard because I had to create the whole design and style in a way that was different to what was out there in the marketplace." The cartoon, called "John Paul II: The Friend of Humanity," was made with the cooperation of the Vatican and is available in eight different languages.

The producers hope it will be a big Christmas hit, a happy marriage of animation and religion in sharp contrast to other recent cartoons, like these first published in a Danish newspaper which caused outrage and riots in the Muslim world for depicting the Prophet Muhammad.

And after the current pope made controversial remarks on Muslim, this animated cartoon showed in the Middle East showed the pope actually killing doves. No such fate befalls Piccolo and Fiona, John Paul's friends, whose story is a more positive reflection of faith.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Certainly it's a reminder for everyone, not just for children. It's a reminder that we were witnesses to an extraordinary life, a life that made history in the last century, a life that was full of prayer and dynamism and energy.

VINCI: Alessio Vinci, CNN, Rome.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CLANCY: Would you like to put a little bit of your life in a time capsule? You actually can. I don't know how, but Femi Oke does -- Femi.

FEMI OKE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello there to you, Jim. Hello to you there, watching on CNN.

Yahoo! wants to hear from you. The company has launched a Web site where you can download pictures, videos, sounds and drawings and put them in a time capsule, basically a little snapshot of 2006. The time capsule closes on November 8th, so you have got a little bit of time, and before that time elapses, we'll talk to Bennett Porter.

Hi there, Bennett. Tell us about the idea about this time capsule. How did it come about?

BENNETT PORTER, SENIOR DIRECTOR, YAHOO!: Hi, Femi.

What we were trying to do at Yahoo! was to document this moment in the Internet's history. You know, we're trying to get out there and capture the stories of the global online community right now before it changes. OKE: And how much data can this time capsule handle, because I believe you had something like 30,000 entries just in one week?

BENNETT: Yes, we're up to about 36,000, 6,000 since you logged on this morning. And the time capsule can actually handle about five terabytes of data, which is about 50 of todays, you know, power PCs.

OKE: The time capsule isn't closed yet so we can have a little sneak preview of what's actually going to be in there. And it closes in 25 -- it opens again in 25 year's time. So this really is a little bit of 2006. One of your favorite ones is from Tehran. Tell me about that one. It's a picture of a little boy called Badyah (ph).

BENNETT: Yes, no, this is one of my favorite entries because you can see we have over 158 countries that have sent in submissions. And it really does show that, regardless of where you are in the world, the hopes for the future are really universal. So this is somebody from Tehran, Iran, that has sent in a picture of his son hoping for a happy life and a better world.

OKE: Actually, there's the little picture of Badyah there. Another picture that -- and a lot of photographs are going into the time capsule, I have to say. This one is from "A Hand in the Sand" in Egypt. Good picture.

BENNETT: This is a great picture. This is what somebody put in to describe their world right now, and it really talks about the way that time moves and we remember the distant past. I think it's a beautiful -- when you think these are just regular people taking these amazing photos, it's a pretty tremendous experience to capture.

OKE: Great. Bennett Porter from Yahoo!, thank you very much. If you want to put your little bit of you into the time capsule, www.timecapsule.yahoo.com. You have until November the 8th to get your entries in.

Jim, Hala, back to you.

CLANCY: All right, all in a life in a time capsule.

GORANI: Thank you, Femi.

That's it for this hour. I'm Hala Gorani.

CLANCY: I'm Jim Clancy, and this is CNN.

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