Deadly Iraq; Pushing Democracy; EU Constitution Rejected
KITTY PILGRIM, CNN ANCHOR: Well, good evening, everybody. Tonight, drug companies and the FDA are accused of a conspiracy of silence over drug safety. The congressman who makes that charge is our guest. Public high schools are facing unprecedented criticism. I'll be talking to a leading educator who says politicians, businesses and the schools are to blame. And a shocking security breach along our southern border. The citizens of a country that sponsors terrorism smuggled into the United States. Our top story tonight is the war in Iraq. The chairman of the Joint Chiefs, General Richard Myers, today conceded that insurgent attacks are becoming more lethal. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld says democracy in Iraq is "tough stuff." More American troops were killed in Iraq in May that any month since January. Jamie McIntyre has our report -- Jamie.</s>JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN SR. PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kitty,</s>GEN. RICHARD MYERS, JOINT CHIEFS OF STAFF CHAIRMAN: I think you should be encouraged, though, by the number of independent Iraqi operations that are going on. There were -- are I think -- or some of them may have ended. But over the last couple of weeks, five operations that were independent Iraqi operations, 30 that were combined with coalition forces, which is a much different mixture than we had just several months ago.</s>MCINTYRE: Now, Myers says that political progress remains the key to success in Iraq. And he insisted that the Iraqi people, by and large, were not buying the insurgents' line, something he called violence, murder and mayhem. At the same briefing, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said that democracy is hard. "It's tough stuff," he said. "It takes time," but he says the closer Iraq gets to developing a new constitution, the more loss of it is -- it is for the insurgents.</s>DONALD RUMSFELD, DEFENSE SECRETARY: The Shias are reaching out to the Sunnis and allowing them to come into the constitutional drafting process in a very constructive and healthy way. So there's an awful lot good that's happening in that country, as well as the periodic attacks that take place and the regrettable deaths that occur.</s>MCINTYRE: Now, today in Iraq, a senior Shiite Muslim cleric said that the Iraqi government has opened indirect talks with Sunni members who are believed to be allied with the insurgents. The idea there, again, is to try to convince them to come into the government process and lay down their arms. And ultimately, that's how the U.S. hopes that this insurgency will be defeated, not through military means, because if it was military alone it would take years and years to accomplish -- Kitty.</s>PILGRIM: Thanks very much. Jamie McIntyre. Well, General Richard Myers also praised Operation Lightning. This is the huge Iraqi security operation in Baghdad. The Iraqis say 40,000 police and troops are taking part in the offensive. Jane Arraf has our report from Baghdad.</s>JANE ARRAF, CNN BAGHDAD BUREAU CHIEF: Day three of Operation Lightning, the biggest Iraqi operation so far in Baghdad and Iraq. The streets are relatively normal. Just outside of this military base, as we went out earlier today, a suicide car bomb, though. According to military officials here, 15 people were injured. No one killed but the suicide bomber. Despite that, as we drove down that road, that Airport Road, and other streets in Baghdad, life was relatively normal. The shops are open despite warnings from the interior and defense minister that they were going flood the city with 40,000 Iraqi soldiers and police. It doesn't look as if there are 40,000. That number may have been slightly overestimated. But there are considerably more police apparent, more army. We went out on a raid last night, overnight, with Iraqi army troops who were going house to house, searching entire neighborhoods as they cordoned them off with the help of U.S. forces. People there were cooperative. Iraqi forces say they rounded up 100 people in that area and others overnight. All of them suspected insurgents. Some of them they believe who may have been involved in cells that are planting roadside bombs and launching kidnappings. Jane Arraf, CNN, reporting from Baghdad.</s>PILGRIM: Iraq's push towards democracy was the focus of a top- level meeting in Washington today. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice met with the Iraqi foreign minister tonight. Andrea Koppel at the State Department has our report -- Andrea.</s>ANDREA KOPPEL, CNN STATE DEPT. CORRESPONDENT: Kitty, Secretary Rice's meeting today with Iraq's foreign minister, Hoshyar Zebari, comes just two weeks after Secretary Rice herself made a surprise visit to Iraq for the first time since she came into office and just a couple of weeks after her deputy, Bob Zoellick, himself made two visits to Iraq. It's part of an intensified effort by the Bush administration to be much more hands on now that we have a new democratically elected, albeit interim, Iraqi government that is in place. Among the priorities of this administration, another deadline that is looming not far on the horizon. In fact, just two weeks from now, and that is a new -- this is going to be another conference on Iraq that's going to be co-hosted by the U.S., the European Union, and the Iraqis on what? Well, on trying to get international support for Iraq, trying to kind of match up what Iraq needs on the ground with various donors. They've invited about 80 countries and other international organizations to try to come to Brussels later this month to meet up and really just meet hands on and try to pair up the resources with the needs. You also know that Secretary Rice has another looming -- looming date on her horizon, and that is August 15. That's when Iraq is supposed to have its new constitution written. She was asked about that at today's press conference.</s>CONDOLEEZZA RICE, SECRETARY OF STATE: I am very comfortable with the commitment of the Iraqi government to a process that is inclusive. As the foreign minister has just said, this is a constitution that will be for the future of Iraq. And that means all Iraqis need to be included. I just need to say that the Iraqis have met every political challenge that has been put before them. The transfer of sovereignty, the elections that were held on January 30, of course the writing of the transitional administrative law, and they now are meeting the challenge of the development of a constitutional process that will be inclusive and create a constitution of which all Iraqis can be proud. I'm then quite certain that the elections will be held. That will then bring a permanent government into power.</s>KOPPEL: The key here is inclusiveness. As everyone knows by now, Iraq is a multiethnic, multicultural society. The Shia are the majority power there. And what is written between the lines in Secretary Rice's comment there, Kitty, is the fact that the Sunnis need to be -- the minority Sunnis need to be included in writing this constitution. There is a committee in place, 55 members. Only one of them are Sunnis -- Kitty.</s>PILGRIM: Thanks very much. Andrea Koppel. Well, there's also been a sharp escalation of violence in Afghanistan. Today, a suicide bomber killed at least 20 people inside a mosque in the city of Kandahar. More than 40 other people were wounded. Now, the bomb exploded as mourners attended the funeral of a pro- government cleric. The cleric was assassinated on Sunday. The dead in today's bombing include the police chief of Kabul. The war in Afghanistan was one of the top issues today at a meeting between President Bush and the NATO secretary-general. NATO troops are playing a bigger role in security and reconstruction in Afghanistan. President Bush and the secretary-general also discussed NATO missions in Iraq and Africa. Suzanne Malveax has our report -- Suzanne.</s>SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kitty, it was a brief meeting between President Bush and the NATO secretary- general, Jaap de Hoop Scheffer. Of course President Bush acknowledging the lead role that NATO plays in the peacekeeping effort in Afghanistan. The hope, of course, is that U.S. military would be freed up to look for Taliban and al Qaeda in that country. Now, earlier, the secretary-general said, however, that NATO would not be taking the lead role when it comes to eradicating poppy or heroin production in that country. It has become quite a problem for the peacekeeping effort there. As for Iraq, the secretary-general reiterated NATO's role in training Iraqi troops, forces there. Said there was no immediate plan for combat forces. Certainly sensitive to the needs of NATO members. Both President Bush and the secretary-general said that that was satisfactory.</s>GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: NATO is a place where not only do we work to -- work on defensive measures to protect our respective people, but it's a place where we are proud to strategize as to how to promote values of -- universal values of democracy and freedom and human rights and human dignity.</s>JAAP DE HOOP SCHEFFER, NATO SECRETARY-GENERAL: I'm sure that NATO will also in the coming -- in the coming time will be an important political military organization, enhancing political dialogue within -- within NATO. That's what it's -- that's what it's all about.</s>MALVEAUX: Now, the focus of both men is what they were actually talking about, President Bush and South Africa's president, Thabo Mbeki, who met earlier today, and that, of course, is NATO'S role when it comes to the Darfur region of Sudan, where people have suffered genocide, the enhanced role that NATO will be taking. They talked about a logistical role. They will be providing transportation, as well as lodging, saying that this would be in addition to the African Union, the peacekeeping troops that are already there. The hope is, of course, to triple that force that is there. And, of course, they also talked about the sensitivity, Mbeki saying that it would be an African role, primarily, that that would be the most appropriate way for NATO to help out in that region -- Kitty.</s>PILGRIM: Thanks very much. Suzanne Malveaux. Well, there are new developments tonight at the United Nations. The U.N. has fired the first employee over the multibillion-dollar oil-for-food scandal. U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan fired the employee, Joseph Stephanides, for steering a lucrative contract to a British firm. Stephanides most recently served as an administrator for the U.N. Security Council. Still to come, smuggling bust, how the citizens of a country that supports terrorism have been smuggled into the United States. And hero or villain? Deep Throat divides the nation more than 30 years after Watergate.