Disagreeable
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My emphasis. Transcript:
COOPER: You know this is not one of the shows where we take sides. I really try to just look at facts on the ground, and the President in his speech talked about the battle of Tal Afar. And in his speech today, he said that it was led primarily by Iraqi security forces, eleven Iraqi battalions, backed by five coalition battalions providing support. He used this as compared to the battle of Fallujah as an example of how much better the Iraqis are doing. Earlier, I talked to Time Magazine's Michael Ware, the Baghdad bureau chief who was embedded during the entire battle. I want to play you what he said about the Iraqi units he saw.
WARE: I was in that battle from the very beginning to the very end. I was with Iraqi units right there on the front line as they were battling with al Qaeda. They were not leading. They were being led by the U.S. green beret special forces with them. Green berets who were following an American plan of attack who were advancing with these Iraqi units as and when they were told to do so by the American battle planners. The Iraqis led nothing.
COOPER: Do you think the president was correct in saying that this was an Iraqi victory, that the Iraqis were leading the way?
WARNER: Well, I'll let the commanders sort that out but I - first I respect those journalists that embed themselves and I accept as a credible description what you've just put forward. But you didn't hear him say they cut and run like they did in Fallujah. You didn't hear him say that the Iraqis dropped the arms. He said they were fighting. Now it may well have been that the battle plan was drawn up by the coalition forces, probably the U.S. leading.
(By the way, do you think George would have told us if the Iraqis had dropped their arms and run away? I doubt it.)
You can see the video at this site: http://thinkprogress.org/2005/12/01/embedded-time-reporter/
COOPER: You know this is not one of the shows where we take sides. I really try to just look at facts on the ground, and the President in his speech talked about the battle of Tal Afar. And in his speech today, he said that it was led primarily by Iraqi security forces, eleven Iraqi battalions, backed by five coalition battalions providing support. He used this as compared to the battle of Fallujah as an example of how much better the Iraqis are doing. Earlier, I talked to Time Magazine's Michael Ware, the Baghdad bureau chief who was embedded during the entire battle. I want to play you what he said about the Iraqi units he saw.
WARE: I was in that battle from the very beginning to the very end. I was with Iraqi units right there on the front line as they were battling with al Qaeda. They were not leading. They were being led by the U.S. green beret special forces with them. Green berets who were following an American plan of attack who were advancing with these Iraqi units as and when they were told to do so by the American battle planners. The Iraqis led nothing.
COOPER: Do you think the president was correct in saying that this was an Iraqi victory, that the Iraqis were leading the way?
WARNER: Well, I'll let the commanders sort that out but I - first I respect those journalists that embed themselves and I accept as a credible description what you've just put forward. But you didn't hear him say they cut and run like they did in Fallujah. You didn't hear him say that the Iraqis dropped the arms. He said they were fighting. Now it may well have been that the battle plan was drawn up by the coalition forces, probably the U.S. leading.
(By the way, do you think George would have told us if the Iraqis had dropped their arms and run away? I doubt it.)
You can see the video at this site: http://thinkprogress.org/2005/12/01/embedded-time-reporter/
