CBS "Face the Nation" - Transcript

Interview

Mr. SCHIEFFER: Precarious and urgent -- that's how he described the situation in Afghanistan. Senator Reed, you of course have been for beginning a draw down of troops in Iraq for some time. What is your sense of it now after making this last trip?

SEN. REED: I think we have to do it. We have to provide more flexibility to provide forces for Afghanistan as Admiral Mullen of the joint chiefs indicated. We have put more forces on the ground, those forces will likely come from Iraq. We also have to begin to transition so that the Iraqis can stand up and assume more of the burden. It's been a tremendous burden on American forces and also on the American taxpayer.

And also, we're seeing on the ground in Iraq, the government of Iraq saying we want to have a time arisen, time line, deadline, whatever you call it. So their view is converging with the view that I've held and Senator Obama has held for many, many months now that we have to begin a redeployment, careful redeployment. We have to focus on missions of counterterrorism, forced protection and training Iraqi security forces but if we don't provide more forces in Afghanistan, we're going to see a very, very serious situation get worse -- that's were al Qaeda is in the tribal areas of Pakistan. Our intelligence officials have told us they're invigorated, reconstituting themselves and we're learned to our dismay -- if we give them operational space, they can cause harm. We don't want to see that.

MR. SCHIEFFER: Well, I mean, are we in danger of losing in Afghanistan? I mean, how bad is it?

SEN. REED: We're seeing in uptake in violence, a significant increase in violence. We're also seeing, and it's hard to draw a definitive conclusions, but we saw a very coordinated attack against American forces involving 200 plus soldiers, not soldiers, Taliban forces who attacked and tragically killed several of our soldiers. That is an indication that they are rearming, training, are better fighters -- that's a very discouraging and very, I think, significant sign. General McKiernan, on the ground, told us point-blank he needs more forces. We've got to get those forces to our troops in the field.

SEN. HAGEL: Well, I think in addition to what Jack has said, and I agree with his comments, we have got to focus more directly with the Afghan government, as well as the other governments in that area, on counter-insurgency efforts, coordinating those with counter-narcotics efforts as well as corruption. Building institutions to govern Afghanistan is one of the most specific objectives that we have. That doesn't occur overnight. But that has to come with some strategic context, not just base on security. That helps -- that helps us get there, but this is a wider scope of what has to happen there. And it's difficult, it's time-consuming, and that's why I have said for a number of years, and I've been to Afghanistan, I think, four times. Doesn't mean I'm an expert. And Pakistan as well -- that those countries have to be included in this, because we will never be able to put enough troops in there to stop that, and we've got to get to the root here. Counter-narcotics, counter-insurgency -- all framed in integrated strategies, as well as the neighbors and building institutions to govern.

MR. SCHIEFFER: Let me go back to Iraq. Senator Reed, has the surge worked? Putting more troops into Iraq, did that work?

SEN. REED: There's been a demonstrable reduction in violence, and one of the facts is a contributor of that was the increase of our forces. But also contributing to that was the Sunni awakening, which preceded our force increase. The tribal leaders, the sheiks in Anbar province, decided they'd had enough of al Qaeda. Also contributing to that was a cease-fire initiated by, Sadr and his Jam, his Mahdi army. Those factors have, I think, contributed to a lessening of violence. That is a good thing.

MR. SCHIEFFER: Why is it that Barack Obama can't say just what you've said. He seems to say, well, he didn't think the surge was a good idea, he didn't particularly think it was effective, but he says things are better. Why doesn't he come out with a clearer answer on that, as a Democrat?

SEN. REED: Well, I don't think his answer is much different than mine. He recognizes these political factors. I think he also recognizes that recently, particularly, the prime minister, Maliki, has taken some very decisive action on his own. The operations in Basra were initiated by the prime minister. So we're seeing some traction politically as well as militarily, and I think that's something that he's recognized. But one of the issues I think that's significant to note about the surge -- it's a tactical and operational innovation that's been productive, very productive.

MR. SCHIEFFER: What do you -- what do you think?

SEN. REED: But it's not tied to a strategy. And he is insisting upon a strategic view that has to be linked to going forward, not looking back. It has to be linked to redeploying our forces out, concentrating on Afghanistan and I think going after the real threats to the United States, those al Qaeda elements in the tribal areas.

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MR. SCHIEFFER: Well, let me, just in line with what you said, the McCain campaign came out with a new ad, because Senator Obama chose not to visit those troops in the hospital in Germany. Let's take a look at this.

MCCAIN AD (From videotape.): Barack Obama never held a single Senate hearing on Afghanistan. He hadn't been to Iraq in years. He voted against funding our troops. And now, he made time to go to the gym but cancelled a visit with wounded troops. Seems like the Pentagon wouldn't allow him to bring cameras. John McCain is always there for our troops. McCain -- country first. I'm John McCain and I approved this message.

MR. SCHIEFFER: Senator Reed, now, you've done a lot of these trips. They call them CODELs, congressional delegations. Are you ever allowed to take cameras when you go in to visit to wounded troops? I thought that was sort of the general rule that everybody knew about.

SEN. REED: I don't think Senator Obama would have done that. Senator Hagel, Senator Obama and I visited the combat support hospital in Baghdad to thank those nurses, those doctors, to see patients that were there, to bring a bit of greetings from home and profound thanks. That should be in the ad that Senator McCain is running. I think Senator Obama made a very wise choice. If it's any suggestion that a visit to a military hospital would be political, he made the wise choice not to go. But when we were in Baghdad we made a point, at the end of a very exhausting day, to go in, see these magnificent young Americans and those doctors and nurses that give such tremendous care without a lot of fanfare, just to say thanks. He's did it, the same thing. We went, we didn't stay in Kabul, we went to Jalalabad to see the soldiers of the 173rd. We stopped in Basra to see our soldiers down there. We went into Anbar province to see soldiers there. Now, that is a completely distorted and I think inappropriate advertisement.

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MR. SCHIEFFER: The other part of that is other people are mentioning you, Senator Reed, because of your military background. You're a West Point graduate, you've been on the Armed Services Committee for a long time now. A lot of people are saying that might balance out what some people see as Barack Obama's inexperience in those areas. Are you interested?

SEN. REED: I think I can best serve the nation, my state of Rhode Island and I hope President Obama by being a member of the United States Senate. And I hope the people of Rhode Island return me to the United States Senate. Again, I've thought about this and I am very committed, very dedicated to pursuing a career in the United States Senate.

MR. SCHIEFFER: Let's just talk about the politics of this. I said at the top here, it looks like things are going to get pretty dirty from here on in. There've been some really harsh stuff going back and forth. Do you like the turn that this campaign has taken?

SEN. REED: No, I don't. I mean, I think the ads that you just showed on the TV are not worthy of the kind of campaign that should be waged and, frankly, are surprising given the caliber of Senator McCain and the caliber of Senator Obama.

And I think we have huge problems, and Chuck talked about these issues confronting the president -- our economy that's in distress, housing crisis, energy problems. There's enough to talk about without, I think, baseless insinuations about patriotism, baseless insinuations about one's respect for American troops. There's much more to talk about and as Chuck suggested, too, the next president is going to have to lead the nation, not just their electorate. They're going to have to lead the nation.

I think Senator Obama understands that. I was particularly impressed with not only what he said, but the tone of his remarks throughout our trip to the Middle East. And I think he also understands that this is about building not only support within the United States, the American people, but also indicating to the world that America's ready to lead positively based on principle, based on approaching problems not alone, but with the world community.

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