Transcript: Gen. Petraeus on Samarra Mosque Attack

June 13, 2007 — -- Following today's insurgent bombing of the Shiite holy site, the Al-Askariya mosque in Samarra, Charles Gibson spoke with Gen. David Petraeus, the top U.S. commander in Iraq, about the repercussions of the attack. Here is a transcript of the conversation.

Charles Gibson: General, how major a blow is this attack on the Samarra mosque?

Gen. Petraeus:Well, this is a serious blow, Charlie, but frankly, it is our hope that this can galvanize the Iraqi leaders to unite against this form of extremism. As you'll recall, this is a continuation of some attacks that took place a couple of weeks ago as well against some Sunni mosques. And, in fact, so far, all Iraqi leaders have united, have joined, linked arms in condemning this action, and Prime Minister Malaki and the ministers of interior and defense are in Samarra right now with Lieutenant General Ray Odierno looking at the site, assuring themselves of the security from this moment forward and doing an assessment, overall, the way ahead in Samarra, as we did earlier when the ambassador and I met with the Prime Minister.

Gibson:Well, you say Iraqi leaders have linked arms to condemn violence, but Muqtada al-Sadr immediately said, the only real enemy here is the United States, pulls his people out of the legislature. Does it appear that there are some who will use this for their own personal agendas?

Petraeus:That may be, Charlie. Actually, there have been different messages that have come out of Muqtada al-Sadr in the past week or so. Interestingly, some of those have been a bit more pragmatic and accommodating. I think, frankly, that his movement is still recentering itself, if you will, since his return from his stay in Iran, and I think we really need to, to see where it is going to go in the weeks and months ahead.

Gibson:But the President has repeatedly cited the February 2006 attack on this same mosque as the trigger for the widespread sectarian violence that, that so bedevils you. Aren't you worried that this is going to do the same, that this is going to touch off another round?

Petraeus:Well, we are concerned, and certainly the Iraqi leaders share that concern. And, in fact, when we met earlier today, a number of provisions were immediately ordered my Prime Minister Malaki. Our forces have helped Iraqi forces put those in place. We're helping to move reinforcements to Samarra from the Iraqi national police. And so there are a variety of measures that are already in force and more that will be taken in the days ahead. And I should point out, you know, Charlie, that the real surge is actually about to begin. We have been waiting for some time to have all of our surge forces on the ground, and the final Army brigade, the Marine expeditionary unit, and the combat aviation brigade are now here on the ground, and will swing into operation, along with some other forces here in the days and weeks ahead.

Gibson:Why are you of the belief that this is al Qaeda?