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Length: 3:21
WOLF BLITZER: The time to act is now. The Secretary
of State delivered that message today to the top
Iraqi leaders who seem not to be able to settle their
differences. But are her words getting through?
Joining us now our correspondent in Baghdad, Michael
Ware. The Secretary of State, Michael, Condoleezza
Rice. She flies into Baghdad. Her flight was a little
bit delayed. Indirect fire, they are saying, as she
was coming into Baghdad. She immediately goes to the
green zone, meets with this prime minister.
I assume she's reading him the riot act, saying, "You
know what? You Iraqis got to get your act together."
MICHAEL WARE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, it certainly
seems that way. It appears to be implied from what
scraps of public statement have been made. We heard
Secretary Rice coming in saying that the Iraqi
political forces need to understand that there's no
longer time for endless debate about the problems
confronting that country.
She also said that the security situation is not one
that can be tolerated. So that's firmer language than
we heard back in April when Secretary Rice was saying
she was coming in to nudge this government into
formation. Back then when there was so much of the
political bargaining going on. So there seems to be a
change in tone.
And remember, Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki is vital
to the U.S. mission. In some ways, he could be seen
to be the last gasp for this democratic model that
American is trying to implant here. So they've
invested a lot in him hoping that he can create a
popular base with U.S. support that will give a wedge
against the militias and the Iranian-backed political
parties that actually hold power.
So she may have been asking him very firmly to step
up to the plate and start delivering, when quite
frankly, it's hard to see how he can, Wolf.
BLITZER: At this point, she comes in for a few hours,
a day, or whatever, into Iraq. She immediately goes
to the very secure green zone. Does she really see
what's happening inside Iraq? Does she leave there
with a better appreciation of either the sectarian
violence or the insurgency?
WARE: Of course not, Wolf. I mean you can just
imagine the umbrella of security that encases someone
like the Secretary of State. But I mean, going from
the airport, which is its own self-contained little
bubble, to the green zone which is the ultimate
bubble here in Iraq, I mean, U.S. officials and
contractors, and all manner of people will come and
do six to 12 months in Iraq, but never leave the
green zone.
They don't know even what it's like to walk an Iraqi
street. Certainly not without the shroud of heavily
armed American soldiers about them. They don't know
what it's like to go to someone's home and sit and
talk with them, to shop in the markets, to have
blackouts, to not have water, to have to queue for
benzene. Secretary Rice is so far divorced from that
reality that she couldn't possibly hope to understand
it. Certainly not from fleeting visits to an
artificial bubble like the green zone, Wolf?
BLITZER: And I know that's something that Michael
Ware is not in; in any bubble. You are one of our
courageous correspondents. Michael, thanks very much.
WARE: Thank you, Wolf.