CNN The Situation Room - Transcript
CNN The Situation Room - Transcript
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BLITZER: The vote count continues in Iraq a day after millions of people turned out for the parliamentary election. No results have been released, but Iraqi officials say some numbers could be made public next week.
The top U.S. military commander in Iraq says he expects U.S. troop levels to drop by early February to the pre-election baseline of about 138,000 troops. The deployment was beefed up to about 155,000, 156,000 troops in the run-up to the election. General Casey says he'll make recommendations on troop strength in the coming weeks.
Let's get a firsthand account now of the Iraqi voting. Earlier today, I spoke with Senator Maria Cantwell. The Washington State Democrat is just back from Baghdad where she served as an election observer. She also had a firsthand experience with the violence in Iraq. I began by asking Senator Cantwell about that.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) SEN. MARIA CANTWELL (D), WASHINGTON: The military told us to maybe expect on election day some activity. But, yes, about 7:10 that morning, a mortar hit the Green Zone. So, for all of us who were visiting to observe the election, it was a reminder of the violence that can happen in that region. But the rest of the day went very smoothly, and we're very excited about the Iraqi people stepping up and securing their own election day.
BLITZER: Was there ever a moment that you were really scared?
CANTWELL: You know, the people there do such a good job in making sure that you are secure and the plans that you have, of course, in visiting the polling site and the Al-Hillah area of the country. We wore proper military gear and were well-protected. So we're glad -- I'm personally glad that I was able to witness the elections, because they went off very smoothly.
BLITZER: Did you return more encouraged or less encouraged about the long-term prospects of Iraq?
CANTWELL: It's obviously a very uplifting day. And you see that in the eyes of the Iraqi people. You see their excitement about being able to cast a vote instead of living under the regime of Saddam Hussein. You see them excited about the fact that they were securing their own election and not having the U.S. forces be out front.
And you see those who are running for office. We had a chance to visit with the prime minister. And you get the sense of people's impending expectancy of getting into a legislative body and actually making decisions about a permanent four-year government.
So you see all of that excitement. But then you have to step back and realize that this is an important milestone, but it is just the start of a legislative process where Kurds, Sunni and Shiite have to get together in a legislative body and elect a president and get a cabinet and start making some very tough decisions.
And we know what that challenge is already like, because it's been the lead-up to this election in forming the temporary -- this constitution. Now, they're going to have to go back to the table with this new 275-person government and figure out how to accommodate these various regions in a new constitution. So that's a very tough challenge.
BLITZER: You voted for the resolution giving the president the authority to go to war. Was that the right vote, looking back with hindsight?
CANTWELL: I think it is the right vote. Now, we can get into a debate looking backwards about where we would have been with different intelligence information, but, to me, we had had a cease-fire agreement with Iraq.
And I thought it was important to say to the U.N., "Let's do something about the fact that this cease-fire has been violated for about 10 years." So I think for -- this is a process here that we're in now. And it's very important, I think, to look at the milestones that the United States has to stay focused on moving forward.
BLITZER: Let's talk about the Patriot Act while I have you. It's stuck in limbo right now. Listen to what the White House press secretary, Scott McClellan, said earlier today.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SCOTT MCCLELLAN, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: We urge them to get this done now and pass that legislation. The president's made it very clear that he is not interested in signing any short-term renewal. The terrorist threats will not expire at the end of this year. They won't expire in three months. We need to move for it and pass this critical legislation.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLITZER: You agree with him?
CANTWELL: Well, I think I would have added a couple of other words. That would have been, "And the House should just accept the Senate provision which was worked out in a bipartisan fashion."
I this what the Senate did in coming up with a change to the Patriot Act that protects the civil liberties of U.S. citizens to make sure that their financial, medical and business records aren't being investigated without due cause or due process is an important part of protecting the civil liberties.
So I think Republicans and Democrats in the Senate have worked out language that should be acceptable. So I'm hoping that they will adhere to that language and that we can just get this done and go home.
BLITZER: One final question on this story that surfaced today, that the president authorized this extraordinary measure to let the national security agency, in effect, spy on Americans in the United States to deal with this terror threat. What do you make of it?
CANTWELL: Well, I think people in the Senate have always been concerned about who's watching the watchers. I mean, if there is this activity by our government of watching U.S. citizens, who is the oversight entity that is watching that activity and making sure that it's not being abused?
And that's what I think led to the Senate on a bipartisan measure change to the Patriot Act. When you get people like Larry Craig and Dick Durbin working together on a provision to make sure that library records are protected, it's because people see that maybe a provision that's so open-ended could be abused and go too far.
And so, to me, I think this morning's article is a reminder of how you need to have checks and balances here and to make sure that, if they're a broad authority, that someone has to have oversight to make sure there's not abuse.
BLITZER: Senator Cantwell, thanks very much for joining us. And welcome back, once again, safe and sound from Iraq.
CANTWELL: Thank you.
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