I work nights so watch the news and blog in the morning. This morning just before I went to bed, I was watching American Morning on CNN and Jomentum was being interviewed by John Roberts.
Leiberman talked about how things were getting better in Iraq and how he felt (I kid you not) safe walking in a market in Bagdad. I don't usually speak kindly of mainstream journalists, but John Roberts spoke truth to power to Liberman today! He called him out on the fact that American deaths and sectarian violence are up, and when Liberman talked about the soldiers he had spoken to, John Roberts referenced a McClatchey interview that had been done with one of the soldiers who dined at Libermans table before Liberman arrived in which he (the soldier)said that he didn't see any improvement since the beginning of the surge but that he would never say so to the senator. He (John Roberts) then questioned whether the feedback and input that Liberman had gotten from the troops had been forthright, or if they told him what he expected to hear. I am not quoting the interview, this is a paraphrase as the transcript is not yet up. Here is the transcript:
ROBERTS: The number of Americans killed in Iraq has topped the 3,500 mark. Twenty-six soldiers have been killed this month alone.
But where some see a bad situation getting worse, Connecticut Senator Joe Lieberman sees significant progress in Iraq. He has just returned from a trip to Baghdad. And Senator Lieberman joins us now from Capitol Hill.
Good to see you, Senator. Thanks for being with us.
SEN. JOE LIEBERMAN (I), CONNECTICUT: Thanks, John. Good to be with you.
ROBERTS: What is the progress that you saw?
LIEBERMAN: I want to be real clear about this. This is a tough situation. We're in a war against al Qaeda and agents of Iran in Iraq today. And it's hell. And the losses of American lives, the casualties, are tragic and heartbreaking.
But what was the progress I saw? I was last there six months ago. I couldn't walk outside the Green Zone in Baghdad. This time I went out there, walked through a market. There's a lot of activity.
Sectarian deaths are down in Baghdad by 50 percent.
I was over in Anbar province to the west. Last time I was there, they wouldn't let John McCain and me go into Ramadi. This time I went in and met with people again, walked through a market feeling very safe.
The fact is that we are making progress in a difficult war. And all I would say to my colleagues is let's give our military -- which is doing extraordinary work, not just militarily but in reconstructing Iraq -- let's give them the time to see if this can make this work because we have so much on the line there.
ROBERTS: But Senator Lieberman, how do you square your claim of significant progress with the fact that May was the deadliest month in at least a couple of years? Twenty-six U.S. service members have died so far this month, just the month of June alone. And the fact that sectarian deaths apparently are on the increase again?
LIEBERMAN: Well, two parts. One, the sectarian -- here's the point. We're in a war. The surge strategy, which is just beginning to be fully implemented, has worked. It has reduced sectarian deaths, particularly in Baghdad where we're focused.
They ticked back up in the last month. Why did they do that? Because our enemies, the insurgents and al Qaeda, insurgents particularly supported by Iran, see us winning, and they're doing desperate things. More of them are prepared to blow themselves up to kill Iraqis or American soldiers.
Second, the heartbreaking tragedy for all of us as Americans is that the number of American casualties in Iraq has gone up in the last month. Part of that is because of the enemy desperately striking out.
Part of it is because our soldiers courageously are now living and working side by side with the Iraqis in cities like Baghdad. You cannot do that without increasing the peril.
Is it worth it? I say yes, because the alternative, which many are arguing for, is to pull out. And to me that means a tremendous victory for al Qaeda, which is our No. 1 enemy there now, and Iran, our second enemy there. And if they win there, watch out throughout the rest of the Middle East and right here at home in the USA.
ROBERTS: As part of your trip, you met with some soldiers and Marines. One of the people you met with was Specialist Will Hedin. Leila Fadel of McClatchy News Service spoke with Hedin just before he talked to you, and she wrote this in a recent article.
She says, "'We're not making any progress,' according to Hedin, as he recalled a comrade who was shot by a sniper last week. 'It just seems like we drive around and wait to get shot at.' But as he waited two chairs down from where Lieberman would sit, Hedin said he would never voice his true feelings to the senator."
Senator Lieberman, are you getting the real picture there?
LIEBERMAN: You know, I tell you, I saw that article, John, and I was really upset about it. Because I sat at a table with a bunch of our soldiers there. I did it four or five times during the week. And I was asking them to speak to me from their heart.
As a matter of fact, one of them spoke very directly about the fact that he wondered whether we were succeeding there. He said, nonetheless, that he believed -- he actually wondered whether we should have gone into Iraq. But nonetheless, he told me how much he was committed to service in the Army and he wanted to re-enlist and stay there for the rest of his career.
I also spoke to a couple of soldiers at that table. These are folks from -- soldiers from Connecticut. One of them said to me, when they hear the criticism of -- and the calls for us to withdraw, it says to them that what they're doing is not worth it.
ROBERTS: Right.
LIEBERMAN: And they believe it is worth it. Another one says, "If we pull out of here, the Iraqi police that I'm working side by side with every day are going to get killed. And so are their families. And who would ever trust the United States again in the world? Certainly not in the Middle East."
So I'm sorry he didn't say that to me directly, and I certainly would have respected that. It's a tough, tough haul for our soldiers there. But I tell you, they're the best in the world. And they're working their hearts out to make this work for us in Iraq.
ROBERTS: Well, the one thing that I find every time I go to Iraq is that, despite the challenges, all the U.S. service members have their head totally in the game.
Anyway, since I am one of the first and loudest to bitch when MSM gets it wrong, I like to extend kudos to those who do it right. I'd tip my hat to you this morning John Roberts, but I'm blogging in my jammies! Thanks for speaking truth to power. That takes guts.
I hope I'm not transgressing by re-posting this diary. I have updated it with a transcript, and I am sincerely interested in opinions on what might be the motivation for Joe Lieberman to embarass himself on national television in this manner. Please let me now if I should delete this! Thanks!