Michael Ware On Iraq Hearings: I Just See A Lot Of Oxygen Being Wasted Here

Speaking to CNN's Wolf Blitzer on Tuesday, the cable news outlet's Baghdad Bureau Chief Michael Ware expressed his disappointment with the way in which lawmakers were questioning General David Petraeus and Ambassador Ryan Crocker. Ware said that it seemed like the hearings were more about political grandstanding than solving the Iraq crisis. "I just see a lot of oxygen being wasted here," Ware said. He also took the members of the committees to task for their lack of knowledge about the Iraq situation. Watch the exchanges below:

Click here for updated coverage of the Petraeus hearings.

Comments

[SaintN]

Plain and simple,you just can't exist or last as a reporter in Iraq if you're not a willing "Puppet" for the Bush Regime and the US Military as Michael most certainly is - otherwise he would have been killed off years ago!!!

[CarlyCorday]

Anyone with a loved one in the military or simply opposed to this evil war-for-profit being waged by corporate sociopaths who looks soulfully toward the sainted Michael Ware for "an assessment of how things really are" is a G"damn sucker. Ware is a scud stud to whom our exhausted troops mean NOTHING. His last word on the matter is STILL what it always was: "America, you cannot leave Iraq." To hell with you, Michael. I wish I could respond to you, but there you are, always on my TV, far removed from realtime comebacks, getting the ultimate Free Ride From the Press.

Ware is hand-in-glove with Cheney and "100 years" McCain. I hate the guy and wish I could tell him so. He"s quoted incessantly by the chicken-hawk right as their celebrity "Real Dude" proxy boots on the ground. Ware is an Authority, and Ware says we STAY.

Michael Ware oughta be horse-whipped, along with anyone calling him cool, a badass, sexy, and a god, while our sons and daughters (including the first black woman to graduate from west Point) die. Sexeeee!! Long live Michael Ware.

Get the stars out of your eyes. Stop with the auto-response to his theatrical, changeless, unshaven face on your TV. He ISN'T one of us, he is one of them. Try to listen to what he's saying. Michael Ware is a GDMF DECIDER! Not only getting away with it, but being lauded every G"damn day!

[EFC]

This whole show is absurd and meaningless. In spite of all the double talk and disclaimers, the chaos that consumed Iraq at the onset of the war persists in the present. The details of the chaos change, but the overall morass persists. The cat and mouse games that Bush is playing are nothing more than a lame diversion that allows him to further dig his heels in until he can escape permanently to Crawford and his chain saw.

Petraeus and Crocker are the perfect messengers to deflect the wrath of congressional skeptics away from the Administration. They are sympathetic players. Neither displays the innate arrogance of a Bush, a Cheney or a Rumsfeld. They are facing the impossible task of not only dealing directly with, but trying to make sense of five plus years of bloody nonsense and incompetence cooked-up by Bush-Cheney and civilian members of the DOD. At this point, directing any kind of blame or abuse at Petraeus and Crocker is akin to kicking a puppy.

[RIPHRC]

When is he going to get his nose fixed. I can't even pay attention to him. He's a smart guy, but what is the deal?

[PKSSK]

Michael Ware is a mouthpiece for the Corp media elite he works for and the government they support, otherwise he would not be allowed to speak publicly about the war. The only reliable authorities on the status of the Iraq war are the soldiers and veterans who are lucky enough to return alive and those they trust and rely on to get the truth to the public, like Jon Soltz and Paul Reicker (sp). Both have started organizations to benefit the serving military and the veterans who have be injured.

America needs to wake up.

[CarlyCorday]

THANK YOU, PKSSK, and not to embarrass you, but YOU (for that) are "a smart guy" and a "badass" and "sexy" and "a hero." Sorry (especially if you're female, lol, ouch), but I am sick to my soul over this silly, humiliating, shocking, empty-headed pure celeb worship of Michael Ware. Other blogs are doing the same thing. It is horrifying.

One commenter adoringly likens "studly" Ware to Martin Sheen's character in Apacolypse Now, "getting drunk in his hotel every night."

[HopeandChange]

What a lush.

[kardwell]

Michael Ware is the ONLY reported broadcast on American MSM who has had the guts to tell the truth about this occupation. He doesn't mince words, he doesn't pander to the right-wing media and their political interests, he just tells it like it is.
Bravo!

[CarlyCorday]

I know! Bravo!!! Michael Ware has the GUTS to stay in Iraq, and the GUTS to demand that our troops never leave! More guts than our cowardly troops, 80% of whom (the sissies!) are asking to please come home now.

Long live You, Michael!

And I have NO doubt you will.

And publish, too, and make a bloody KILLING.

Hurray for everyone who says Bravo about Michael ware! YAY! YAAAAY!!!

Whew, I'm tired. Feel like I just fought a war. I did! Yay ME!

[kardwell]

Interesting. Maybe I haven't watched enough CNN but each time I have seen Ware report, he has made strong comments on our lack of understanding of the internal conflict, the groups and their motivations, the undue wear and stress to which we are subjecting our troops, and the improbability of this conflict every being resolved by American troops.

Perhaps I missed something....

[DRaymond]

of course a lot of oxygen is being wasted here. Everybody knows that the decider is going to do whatever he wants no matter what congress says, That particularly goes because all of the Republicans in congress have bought into 'Lets all pretend that everything is going fine because that will give us the best chances of keeping the presidency'.

[ron071]

Michael Ware has proven to be one of the best if you review his work in Iraq. His reports have given us the best possible view of this Iraq debacle.

[JanetE]

It's pretty obvious that since Iran is part of Bush's "axis of evil" that Iran is part of the reason we're in Iraq instead of focusing on Afghanistan. Bush doesn't want Iran to control Iraqi oil. But the funny thing is that if Bush hadn't toppled Saddam Hussein, this tug of war with Iran would not be taking place. So in infinite ways, Bush has created more problems than we had before. Why in the world was he re-elected? Could it be because his friend Osama bin Laden appeared on TV right before the elections and scared us all to death?

There is so much corruption and evil in the Bush administration, it is sickening.
Anyone but McCain would be a breath of fresh air. Personally, I feel the Republicans are partially behind Obama's current success. Look back and you will see that Republicans pumped tons of money into his pre-Senate and Senatorial campaigns. They want Obama to get the nomination so that they can come up with all the crap we haven't heard yet ... so that McCain can win.

[JanetE]

Michael Ware sounds very frustrated in those video clips. But he offers nothing in the way of exactly how the hearing questions should be different. EXACTLY which questions would YOU be asking, Michael?

How come in both TV interviews I've watched on CNN, neither of the hosts asked the obvious question: "And, Michael Ware, what would YOU ask General Patraeus given the opportunity?"

Instead of just complaining, help us out here, Michael! Or send a list of questions to the House of Representatives and perhaps they might be asked today.

[Hufffan]

There are essentially no "military questions" according to Michael Ware. It is Iraqi political questions that will begin to solve the violence, corruption, and occupation. Sunni, Shiite ethnic cleansing and battles for political control and dominance is what propels the fighting. Our military is stuck in the middle as a police.
Michael Ware believes and has said that If we leave, a bloodbath will ensue. He has said that the only way to solve it is to somehow include both Sunni and Shiite equally in the political process but there are hardcore theocrats like Moqtada al-sadr who want to rule and they battle against the democracy we hope for.
There is no clear uncomplicated solution unless Iran, Syria, Jordan help us. But we don't want Iran to have any control because they threaten Israel. That's how I understand it in an oversimplified way.
We broke the Middle East. Our military can't fix it. If we leave we lose. If we stay we lose. We own it.
Meanwhile, Al Qaeda builds up in Pakistan and Afghanistan.

[CarlyCorday]

Are you questioning MICHAEL WARE!? This has not been done before. Are you sure you don't want to back up a step or two???? Where might this lead?!


(OK, per this thread I am stopping now, point made and over-made. But this was waaaaay overdue.)

[CarlyCorday]

Michael Ware has answered your question repeatedly over the past five years. His view is simple, can be summed up in a short phrase, and he does so, OFTEN:

"I'm sorry, America, but you CAN'T LEAVE." (Best read before shaving, with a sneer on your mouth and in your TONE.)

YAY! Bravo! Michael Ware is the only bright spot in the whole war!

Bravo! Yay!!

Look at his body of work, if u r smort enouhg. U will C he is the only real othoritay on Irack.

OHM.

[Witchitalineman]

Michael Ware has been one of the bright spots in reporting. In my opinion, he's been pretty straight forward. The fact is that politicians have allowed this war to continue, and we are in a rock and a hard place. But we do need to leave Iraq. It seems to me it makes Obama's argument of dialog with our adversaries even more relevant so that we can engage in a responsible withdrawal. Thank you Mr. Ware for your reporting.

[nickeldimed]

Sorry dude, but Michael Ware came off as a pompous ass who's just blowing off steam. He seemed to be pursuing his own agenda, which is not based on facts but seemed driven by some internal demons. He needs to head to the shrink

[samuraijack]

Agree with this. He has been in-country too long. Trying to prove a point. Writing his memoirs and manuscript, no doubt.

[NotMyPrez]

Don't you mean "between Iraq and a hard place"

whatever you do this November DO NOT vote for a bible-thumping, war-mongering Fellowship cult member into the White House!

[CarlyCorday]

In other words, when they designed Michael Ware, they did a bloody bang up fine damn job of it. Bravo! He can go hand-in-glove with Cheney and McCain all day long for years on end, and you will NEVER spot it! Hell, you'll LOVE him for it. No KIA infantryman is a FRACTION as "studly" as this guy. Michael Ware! He tells it LIKE IT IS! You can TELL by his broken nose, his accent, his sweat, and his always-the-same unshaven face, that he is the ONLY one telling it straight!

[josephjsalas]

Good luck trying to get these policy-followers to dig into the true nature of the Iraq cause.

[JanetE]

After watching the hearings yesterday and reading these posts today, here's what I think:

1- The people being questioned should ALSO include President Bush, VP Cheney & Condi Rice.
Too many of the questions are really policy questions that Pataeus & Crocker cannot answer.

2- Michael Ware and (I forget his name but he's an American who's been there all along as well, anyone recall his name?) should ALSO be allowed to ask questions.
But since this doesn't seem to be allowed, wouldn't it have been smart for Joe Biden, Obama, Clinton, etc to have at least consulted with these feet on the ground??? They could have then asked better questions.

3- Clinton brought to light that although the Iraqi Parliament gets to decide about the Bush proposed agreement that we maintain a presence there ad infinitum, our American Congress does not get a say in this. Others were incensed and Joe Biden insisted on Patreaus providing an immediate copy of this "agreement". I hope this blows up in Bush's face and that Congress WILL be able to vote on it.

[NotGuilty]

AWOL BUSH.............. AGAIN.

[Hufffan]

Richard Engel.
Engel published a book about his experiences as a reporter in Iraq, "A Fist in the Hornet's Nest: On the Ground in Baghdad Before, During, and After the War."
Currently an NBC Baghdad journalist.

[NotMyPrez]

Congressman Wexler was the only one who sent out an email blast to the people to get feedback on what kind of questions to ask.

[floydSmoot]

Who cares about the war in Iraq?
I want to know where every potential vice presidential candidate went to church.
If the war were on YouTube, maybe we would give a shit.

[joja]

floyd --

LMFAO! Nailed it!!

[NotMyPrez]

actually, you have to go to liveleak.com to see what's going on over there- you know important stuff like soldiers daring each other to lick frozen poles, and tasing each other etc....but hey it's probably boring as hell over there- no AI or CSI episodes to watch.

[skibum49]

I know you were making a joke but actually as someone who has been to Iraq and Afghanistan many times there is no shortage of AFN Sat outlets where American Idol and CSI are readily available for viewing.

[skibum49]

I forgot to mention that in case one tires of watching AI and CSI on AFN the hearings were on yesterday on AFN TV on the "Pentagon Channel" no less!