Thursday’s clips

Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to get Michael’s two pieces from last night posted yet, but I did get the panel discussion from Campbell Brown’s program uploaded this morning before I ran out the door. (I must confess… I have not even had time to WATCH it yet!!! My life is a bit insane these days, and not in a good way!)

Here are the links if you want to watch it ASAP, and I will get it and the AC360 interview posted on the site tonight. I hope. (!!!)

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Analysis: Iraq not ready to face al Qaeda

Michael has an article on CNN.com. I’ll add it to the site when I get home tonight.

Analysis: Iraq not ready to face al Qaeda
By Michael Ware
CNN
October 28, 2009 — Updated 1752 GMT (0152 HKT)

NEW YORK (CNN) — The bombs that ripped through Baghdad on Sunday immediately brought more bloodshed — and bode only of the promise of more to come.

The attacks have been claimed by the Islamic State of Iraq — a group affiliated with al Qaeda in Iraq — and there’s nothing to suggest the attacks will come to an end.

It’s part of a long-running campaign to destabilize the U.S. mission, the Iraqi government and to reignite sectarian civil war.

The slaughter is not new but the extent of the killings in these bombings — 160 dead and more than 500 injured — do punctuate a seemingly never ending campaign.

While al Qaeda in Iraq has been gutted from within, principally by Sunni insurgents turning on them and assassinating them over recent years, the network still exists.

Al Qaeda, an organization built with the expectation of loss, has endured and will continue to do so until Iraq’s slated January election and beyond.

Under the international agreement between Washington, D.C. and Baghdad signed by the then-outgoing Bush administration, America’s war in Iraq has all but ended with command of the war shifting permanently to the Iraqi government.

Al Qaeda attacks took place during the U.S. command and now persist under Iraqi command.

While many are thwarted, while car bombs are found and defused, it’s an ugly matter of fact that in war some bombs will always get through.

And Iraqi security forces in no way can be said to be ready to face the threat posed by al Qaeda or any insurgent group.

The devastation of the bombings has had the effect al Qaeda desired — chipping away at Iraqi public confidence in government, even prompting the governor of Baghdad to call for the resignation of the security officials in charge of the capital’s safety.

Al Qaeda in Iraq is not the network it once was, it’s not able to deliver multiple suicide bombings on an almost daily basis.

When I was last in Baghdad nationalist insurgents told me there were but a handful of operational al Qaeda cells in the city. Nonetheless, they warned five committed al Qaeda members can “wreak havoc.”

The weekend bombings are testament to that. While the tempo of al Qaeda’s suicidal strikes — largely targeting Iraq’s Shia community — have slowed, they have not stopped. While al Qaeda in Iraq maintains its capacity to kill it will keep striking.

This is the environment that the U.S. is likely to leave in Iraq — a fragile state plagued with an ever present al Qaeda threat.

The question is how that state counters the threat and maintains its credibility with its own people. And that, ultimately, will be the final measure of the American mission — how well the Iraqis stand up.

The Future of Iraq

Michael has been on International three times this afternoon to talk about yesterday’s bombings in Baghdad and what it means for the future of the country. Thanks to Delie I will be able to post those clips once I get home from work! (It would be nice if Domestic had him on today, too… if they have their priorities straight!)

Twitter updates

I’ve set up a Twitter account that will automatically tweet whenever I add a new post here on the blog. (I am working on programming it to also show new posts on the website. Bear with me!)

A link to @MickWareDotCom is on the sidebar, or you can type it in from your Twitter page.

Nice…

Photos of Michael Ware taken September 19, 2009
by Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images.

Thanks to Sharon for digging out these photos, taken at an event in LA last month. Very nice. (There are a couple more on the site and I also added the info about Mr. Evans’ EQ coverage to his page.)

And Michael was on 360 again tonight; doesn’t look like I will be able to get the clip posted until tomorrow, but it will be there eventually, I promise!

Tommy Evans reports on an earthquake in Kabul

October 22nd, 2009
Strong earthquake rocks Afghanistan
Posted: 04:56 PM ET

KABUL, Afghanistan (CNN) – A strong earthquake rumbled deep beneath mountainous regions northeast of Kabul early Friday, waking residents and sending some into the streets.

But no serious damage has been reported from the magnitude 6.2 quake, which struck about 12:30 a.m. about 50 miles southeast of Feyzabad, Afghanistan, in a sparsely populated area.

Centered nearly 170 miles down, the earthquake’s power was muted on the surface, although was felt lightly as far away as northern India.

CNN’s Thomas Evans and Chris Lawrence, both in Kabul, said the quake lasted for nearly 30 seconds and seemed to increase in intensity.

“I had gone to bed about an hour ago and had fallen asleep,” Lawrence said. “Woke up instantly to the shaking, which was considerable. I could feel our whole house here in Kabul moving.”

“I went out on the roof very soon after,” Evans related. “I could hear people gathering outside of their homes but no obvious signs of damage, no smoke or sirens, at least not in the Sherpur district of Kabul.”

CNN’s Tommy Groves – currently on military reserve duty as Navy Lt. Groves, the U.S. military spokesman in Kabul – said he had received no reports of damage from military posts around the country and had seen none walking around his base in Kabul.

(Thanks to Lynda for the speedy reporting!)

Afghan recount

Michael was on AC360 tonight to discuss the latest developments in the still-ongoing Afghan election. Clips are posted.

Fight or flight

Michael was on Campbell Brown’s program tonight, discussing Obama’s Afghanistan options along with James Carville and Gloria Borger. Clip is up on the site.