[Condoleezza Rice, Secretary Of State:] I suspect that the American forces are not going to be needed in the numbers that they are there for all that much longer.
[Michael Holmes, Cnn International Ancor:] Working on a timetable. How much longer will U.S. troops remain in Iraq?
[Zain Verjee, Cnn International Anchor:] The U.S. image in the Middle East, its credibility, and the democracy debate.
[Holmes:] And winter weather, high fuel costs hit millions in the U.S. as they head home for the Thanksgiving holiday.
[Verjee:] It's noon in New York, 8:00 p.m. in Baghdad. I'm Zain Verjee.
[Holmes:] And I'm Michael Holmes. Welcome to our viewers throughout the world. This is CNN International. You're watching YOUR WORLD TODAY. Well, welcome to everyone. A Sunni sheik is gunned down in the latest violence in Baghdad just at the same time as the debate intensifies over when and how U.S. forces should leave Iraq.
[Verjee:] The U.S. secretary of state weighing in on the timetable while some of the soldiers are just concerned about making it home alive.
[Holmes:] Well, a Sunni tribal leader and four of his relatives are the latest casualties in Iraq. Witnesses tell police it was gunmen in Iraqi army uniforms that stormed the Baghdad home of Kadhim Sarheed Ali al-Dulami, killing him, three of his sons, also his son- in-law. Al-Dulami was the leader of the Sunni Batta tribe. Neighbors say there were at least 10 Iraqi army vehicles parked outside the man's home when the attack happened. The eldest son of al-Dulami was killed just last month.
[Verjee:] The debate over when U.S. troops should be pulled out of Iraq rages on. On Tuesday, the U.S. secretary of state, Condoleezza Rice, added her voice to the debate.
[Rice:] I think what the president will want to assess is when can we safely bring down our level of forces so that Iraqis are really capable of achieving the results and the effects that you want, rather than having some artificial timetable. I suspect that the that American forces are not going to be needed in the numbers that they are there for all that much longer because Iraqis are continuing to make progress in function. Not just in numbers, but in their capabilities to do certain functions.
[Holmes:] Well, the debate over troop pullout is prevalent throughout the United States. You see it even on car bumper stickers. But some U.S. troops themselves are more worried, of course, if nearby cars will explode, not what political views their owners subscribe to. Aneesh Raman filed this report. He is embedded with U.S. forces in central Iraq.
[Aneesh Raman, Cnn Correspondent:] The best days in Iraq are the slow ones when there's no engagement with the enemy, when there's a chance to get some downtime. Killing time, killing flies.
[Unidentified Male:] He ain't flying.
[Raman:] And for us, it's a chance to talk to soldiers about the war raging here and the debate about it raging back home.
[Cpl. James Parsley, U.s. Army:] Whatever they are fighting for over there, this is our fight. You know, we are trying our best. And pretty much soldiers, whether they want to be here or not, this is our focus.
[Cpl. Charles Johnson, U.s. Army:] I think it's right for people to argue. In college and regular office days, argue about what we're doing over here. Hey, it might help our benefits get higher or something, you know? I don't know. They just they just don't understand what it's like over here, what it's like driving down a road full of BB IEDs or IEDs, or something.
[Raman:] The fight in this part of Iraq just south of the capital remains a tough one. Roadside bombs found on a near daily basis. Car bombs detonated, insurgent groups operating among the civilian population. The soldiers are trained, though, to confront these dangers. But not the risks they can face back in the
[U.s. Johnson:] When I went home, you'd mention you were from Iraq and stuff, it's not the greatest thing to mention to a girl when you are at the club. It doesn't work. Someone asks me what I do, I'm like, "I'm in the Army, in Iraq." You know? But something I try to avoid from saying just because it starts a whole conflict.
[Raman:] When you are out on patrols like this and you talk to the soldiers about the fight here, it's less about the war on terror or building a democracy in Iraq. It's much more about getting home. [voice over]: Over the past nine months, this squadron has lost 18 men. They know that number may rise every time they go out.
[Unidentified Male:] You don't know when you are going to get shot at. It's very unexpected. Firefights coming from across canals, across open city areas and stuff where you can't get to.
[Raman:] But on slow days, it's rarely politics and strategy that pass the time. Sometimes a conversation turns to the worst of Army rations.
[Unidentified Male:] I don't like the chicken breasts. I love the jambalaya because I'm from Texas.
[Raman:] While in Washington, the arguments rage over whether America's soldiers are risking their lives for a noble goal or a hopeless cause, the distinction means little on the front line.
[Unidentified Male:] Most people out here probably wouldn't even want to say anything.
[Raman:] Why?
[Unidentified Male:] You want to just do your job. The true story is not what happens behind a desk. It's out here every day.
[Raman:] Aneesh Raman, CNN, northern Babel province, Iraq.
[Verjee:] New clashes have broken out between Hezbollah and Israeli forces in southern Lebanon. It happened after an Israeli paraglider crash-landed just inside Lebanon. There are conflicting reports about whether Israeli troops crossed the border to help him. Hours earlier, Israeli planes dropped thousands of leaflets denouncing Hezbollah over Beirut and the southern province. The Lebanese government condemned the drop saying that Israeli violations of Lebanese territory were a threat to peace.
[Holmes:] Hezbollah has enjoyed wide support among the Lebanese people for its role in leading the guerrilla war against Israeli troops in southern Lebanon. That 18-year occupation ended, of course, with Israel's withdrawal five years ago. But the group's popularity has fallen off in recent months. Our Brent Sadler has more on Hezbollah, branded as a terrorist group by the U.S. and Israel.
[Brent Sadler, Cnn Sr. International Correspondent:] An international call to disarm Hezbollah, Lebanon's radical Shiite Muslim party of god. Defying a United Nations demand to lay down weapons, obeying the orders of one man, Sayid Hassan Nasrallah, Hezbollah's chief. "Let's start a dialogue on how to protect Lebanon," he entreats this mass of die-hard loyalistists. "And judge," he says, "if Hezbollah's weapons are needed." Weapons Hezbollah used to deadly effect against Israeli troops once occupying the southern tip of Lebanon. Weapons Hezbollah still retains five and a half years after Israel withdrew its forces under Hezbollah fire.
[Rami Khoury, Lebanese Political Analyst:] They will not unilaterally disarm according to an edict by the United States or the U.N. or the European Union. Nor will they disarm in a vacuum in which the security of Lebanon is not guaranteed.
[Sadler:] Nor will groups of Palestinian fighters living in a dozen Lebanese refugee camps agree to lay down their arms. Another part of the U.N. demand.
[Souheil Nator, Dem. Front For Palestine:] We have these light arms in accordance with the Lebanese authorities in the order to protect ourselves.
[Sadler:] A decade's-old agreement that's now wearing thin. Palestinian fighters from rival groups have turned those weapons on themselves in bloody turf battles. And some Lebanese officials condemn Palestinian militants as traitors in terror, or guns for hire. Hezbollah claims its weapons must fight Israeli occupation and protect Lebanon from Israeli threats. But protecting Lebanon, says the U.N., should not be in the hands of Hezbollah, labeled a terrorist group by America and Israel. Instead, security should be left to the Lebanese army, they say, recently deployed with tanks and infantry to a new position close to a now tense Syrian border. Exacerbated by the recent killing of a Lebanese contractor, shot, claim these distraught villagers, by militant Palestinians firing from Syria. But it is the party of god fashioned by hard-line Iranian ideology that faces most of the U.S.-led international pressure. [on camera]: Hezbollah's heavy weapons are not on show here today. But behind this demonstration, they have a formidable arsenal of weapons, including rockets capable of hitting targets in northern Israel. [voice over]: So it would be an act of madness, says Hezbollah, to present its arch enemy Israel with a victory by disarming these fighters now.
[Unidentified Male:] They are very aware that they must engage in a process of reformulating their military and their political role in the country. And they are willing to do that when the time is right.
[Sadler:] Holding out a vague and uncertain prospect for possible disarmament as Hezbollah sticks to its guns. Brent Sadler, CNN, Beirut.
[Verjee:] Coming up next, we'll take a closer look at the Middle East, its people and its special challenges.
[Holmes:] Indeed. It's all part of our special "Eye on the Middle East" coverage this week. Today we're going to focus on the U.S. image in the region. Critics say American credibility is at an all-time low. Live pictures there from Amman. And a live report coming up.