TRANSCRIPTS: Reality checks from Michael Ware of CNN about what is really happening in Iraq!

I really like and I have a lot of respect for Michael Ware, the CNN correspondent in Baghdad.  He is a very credible straight shooter who tells things like how they really are in my opinion.  I wish that CNN made videos of his segments just like how MSNBC does of much of their prime time programming!
Right below is the CNN Situation Room transcript from Friday, Aug. 24 where Michael Ware talks about what is going on in Iraq right now.  Here is the "Big picture" of "what's going on" regarding the political situation in Iraq from Michael Ware in that transcript where he says "there is no government here and anyone who says there is either delusional or trying to spin a line. There's nothing here for America to work with:" 

BLITZER: "More bad news for the government of Nuri al-Maliki, the prime minister in Iraq. More members of a major political bloc are simply pulling out of his cabinet. This bloc will keep its seats in parliament, but wants nothing -- nothing to do with this cabinet of Nuri al-Maliki.

Joining us now from Baghdad, our correspondent, Michael Ware -- Michael, at least from this vantage point, it looks like this Iraqi government of Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki slowly but surely is falling apart. Some Shia coalition partners are leaving. Sunni partners are leaving.

Big picture -- what's going on?

WARE: Well, Wolf, I mean, really, there's never been an Iraqi government. I mean it's only ever been a so-called entity. It's been an apparition from the beginning, a loose coalition of militias, most of them, according to Western intelligence, backed by Iran, jammed together. So, really, there has never been a functioning government here.

It's certainly not delivering services to its people. I mean it can't even guarantee running water in its capital. It can't provide electricity.

Of Maliki's 37 cabinet ministers, 17 just don't show up for cabinet meetings or are actually boycotting the government. And we now see yet another political bloc, that represented by former Prime Minister Ayad Allawi, today announcing it, too, has withdrawn.

So, effectively, there's four more ministers gone. Wolf, there is no government here and anyone who says there is either delusional or trying to spin a line. There's nothing here for America to work with..."

Below that transcript is the CNN Late Edition transcript from Sunday, Aug. 26 where Michael Ware comments on the roles of Ayad Allawi, Nuri al-Maliki, and makes these further comments about the alarming political situation in Iraq:

BLITZER: "What did you think of what we heard from General Odierno, suggesting that some progress, in fact, is being achieved on the battlefield against Al Qaida in Iraq and other elements there?

Because the critics, a lot of critics, are suggesting, yes, there may be some progress, but it won't make much difference in the long run, as long as that sectarian rift that exists between the Sunni, the Shia and the Kurds continues to exist.

WARE: Yes, well, General Ray Odierno very much has his finger on the pulse of this war, and his assessment is entirely correct.

Yes, there has been some stabilization, some spectacular examples, like in al-Anbar province. Yes, it's forced changes in the type of violence that we're seeing here.

But Iraqi innocents are still dying in their hundreds and thousands every month. And what we're failing to address is how we achieving these successes in bringing down the violence is by cutting a deal with the tribes, the Baathists and the Sunni insurgents. It's by creating Sunni militias to counteract the government's own militias and the Iranian-backed militias. That's bound to have long-term consequences.

In many ways, part of what's being achieved is because America is turning somewhat, despite its rhetoric, against this government, fostering Sunni militias, questioning the role of this government, questioning whether it can actually perform.

And we Ambassador Crocker, just the other day, say that if Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki does not deliver, then American support is not at the end of a blank check. So he's threatening the prime minister.

BLITZER: Michael Ware, reporting for us from Baghdad.

Michael, stay safe over there. Thanks very much..."

Michael Ware is someone who I like to quote from on a regular basis in order for people to get an accurate picture of what is really going on in Iraq:

http://securingameri...

Michael Ware: al Qaeda we face in Iraq & "fight them over there than over here"

Submitted by Mitch Dworkin on July 18, 2007 - 4:01am.

Michael Ware in my opinion is credibly reporting the kind of important information about the status of both military progress and the lack of political progress in Iraq that all people in the country need to understand before Gen. Petraeus gives his progress report about Iraq in the middle of September!

This is also cross-posted on Gen. Wes Clark's blog with comments:

http://securingameri... 

Mitch Dworkin

http://www.securinga...

http://securingameri...
StopIranWar.com: "War is not the answer"
Submitted by Wes Clark on February 21, 2007 - 11:40am.

http://www.securinga...
Listen to Gen. Wes Clark fight for Dems on Sean Hannity's radio program: An excellent example for all of us to follow and what we all need to be doing to help fight back against extreme right wing Neocon smear propaganda! 

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http://transcripts.c...

THE SITUATION ROOM

Aired August 24, 2007 - 17:00  ET

BLITZER: More bad news for the government of Nuri al-Maliki, the prime minister in Iraq. More members of a major political bloc are simply pulling out of his cabinet. This bloc will keep its seats in parliament, but wants nothing -- nothing to do with this cabinet of Nuri al-Maliki.

Joining us now from Baghdad, our correspondent, Michael Ware -- Michael, at least from this vantage point, it looks like this Iraqi government of Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki slowly but surely is falling apart. Some Shia coalition partners are leaving. Sunni partners are leaving.

Big picture -- what's going on?

WARE: Well, Wolf, I mean, really, there's never been an Iraqi government. I mean it's only ever been a so-called entity. It's been an apparition from the beginning, a loose coalition of militias, most of them, according to Western intelligence, backed by Iran, jammed together. So, really, there has never been a functioning government here.

It's certainly not delivering services to its people. I mean it can't even guarantee running water in its capital. It can't provide electricity.

Of Maliki's 37 cabinet ministers, 17 just don't show up for cabinet meetings or are actually boycotting the government. And we now see yet another political bloc, that represented by former Prime Minister Ayad Allawi, today announcing it, too, has withdrawn.

So, effectively, there's four more ministers gone. Wolf, there is no government here and anyone who says there is either delusional or trying to spin a line. There's nothing here for America to work with.

BLITZER: Yesterday John Warner, the Republican Senator from Virginia, the ranking member of the Armed Services Committee, said the U.S. has to send a powerful signal to the Iraqi government and announce its starting to withdraw troops, get some of them home by Christmas, maybe only 5,000.

But on a practical level -- and you've been there four years plus now, Michael -- what happens when U.S. forces move out of an area and say to the Iraqis, you guys take over, you're in charge now?

Practically speaking, what happens?

WARE: Well, that sends a strong signal to the militia factions who own this country in whichever region we're particularly talking about where U.S. forces withdraw that it's game on -- power is yours. I mean that's what's holding this country together are militias. I mean comparisons to Lebanon in the '80s are not that far off base. So, I'm sorry, but with all respect to Senator Warner, he is absolutely kidding himself if, A, withdrawing 5,000 troops is going to send any kind of a message or, B, that American withdrawal without serious penalty -- the strongest message withdrawal like that sends is American defeat. And if you want a clear cut example of both the power of that message and what happens on the ground, just look at Basra in the South. The Brits have all been but forced to abandon Basra.

And what's happened?

Rival, sparring, brawling Iranian-backed militias have taken over and it's turning into an absolute disaster. That's a glimmer of Iraq's future without American forces.

BLITZER: Pretty depressing information.

Michael Ware, thanks very much for joining us.

WARE: Thanks, Wolf.

BLITZER: And I'll speak exclusively with the man Michael just mentioned, the political leader Ayad Allawi, the man who runs that political bloc in Iraq that's leaving the cabinet. Right now, Ayad Allawi will join us, the former interim prime minister of Iraq, exclusively on LATE EDITION. That airs Sunday, 11:00 am Eastern...

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http://transcripts.c...

CNN LATE EDITION WITH WOLF BLITZER

Interview With Ayad Allawi; Interview With Bill Richardson

Aired August 26, 2007 - 11:00  ET

BLITZER: Welcome back. We'll get to my interviews with two presidential candidates, Bill Richardson and Sam Brownback, in just a moment. First, though, let's go to Baghdad.

Our correspondent, Michael Ware, is standing by for some special insight into what's going on in Iraq right now and what we've just heard during the first hour of "Late Edition."

Michael, we heard the former interim prime minister of Iraq, Ayad Allawi, in an exclusive Sunday interview here, suggest that it's over with for Nouri al-Maliki, the prime minister; he's simply not up to the job.

Listen to this little clip of what Ayad Allawi told us.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) ALLAWI: I am not doubting whether he's a good guy or not a good guy. But I am doubting the system of militias, of sectarianism, of trying to avoid the benchmarks which President Bush and the Congress have laid down for the government in Iraq. And I cannot see that this government will implement the benchmarks.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: All right, Michael, what do you think? You've been there for four years-plus. No one knows the situation better on the ground on a day-to-day basis. What do you think of what we're hearing from Ayad Allawi right now about Nouri al-Maliki?

MICHAEL WARE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, I think the former prime minister's assessment is right.

Now, remember, Wolf, Ayad Allawi has been a stalwart for American support all through the '90s and since the invasion. Indeed, he's arguably America's closest political ally.

And if you listen to what the former prime minister says, he's not condemning Maliki personally, but the whole process. He's saying that the system, the government, the institutions that have been implanted here are not working.

Now, that's an assessment that we now know is shared by some very senior generals here on the ground in Iraq -- that's American generals.

And let's have a look at Dr. Allawi's past. In the mid-1990s, he and the CIA attempted a coup d'etat against Saddam Hussein. Then last year, in the summer, I interviewed Dr. Allawi, and at that time he told me Iraq did not have a real democracy and perhaps it had come too quickly for Iraq to digest. He was saying the system was failing.

Then, in February this year, he told me he'd just returned from Washington, D.C., where he told American policy-makers that, if the surge does not work, you need to consider installing an emergency government.

Now, Dr. Allawi told me that the response from the administration was not a yes, but it was not a no. And now we're hearing generals saying that maybe democracy is not working, and the embassy saying we're pursuing less lofty and ambitious democratic goals.

BLITZER: Well, is Dr. Allawi, Michael, the so-called strongman that the Iraqis might need to pick up the pieces right now?

WARE: Well, Dr. Allawi certainly is shaping himself as one of the key candidates. But I've known Dr. Allawi for years; he's been shaping himself that way since I've known him. And certainly, he's been close to certain American security agencies. They've certainly bet on him in the past.

And indeed, during the attempted coup d'etat in the 1990s, he did that with another Iraqi who had left Saddam Hussein's regime, General Muhammad Abdullah al-Shahwani. General Shahwani is currently the head of the Iraqi intelligence service, an intelligence service run and funded by the CIA, over which the Iraqi government has no control whatsoever.

Dr. Allawi has appealed to the Baathists and to the Sunnis and to secular moderates within the country and some Shia, all of whom were essentially abandoned by American support during elections, while Iranian-backed parties were flooded with money and Iranian support.

BLITZER: What did you think of what we heard from General Odierno, suggesting that some progress, in fact, is being achieved on the battlefield against Al Qaida in Iraq and other elements there?

Because the critics, a lot of critics, are suggesting, yes, there may be some progress, but it won't make much difference in the long run, as long as that sectarian rift that exists between the Sunni, the Shia and the Kurds continues to exist.

WARE: Yes, well, General Ray Odierno very much has his finger on the pulse of this war, and his assessment is entirely correct.

Yes, there has been some stabilization, some spectacular examples, like in al-Anbar province. Yes, it's forced changes in the type of violence that we're seeing here.

But Iraqi innocents are still dying in their hundreds and thousands every month. And what we're failing to address is how we achieving these successes in bringing down the violence is by cutting a deal with the tribes, the Baathists and the Sunni insurgents. It's by creating Sunni militias to counteract the government's own militias and the Iranian-backed militias. That's bound to have long-term consequences.

In many ways, part of what's being achieved is because America is turning somewhat, despite its rhetoric, against this government, fostering Sunni militias, questioning the role of this government, questioning whether it can actually perform.

And we Ambassador Crocker, just the other day, say that if Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki does not deliver, then American support is not at the end of a blank check. So he's threatening the prime minister.

BLITZER: Michael Ware, reporting for us from Baghdad.

Michael, stay safe over there. Thanks very much...

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