SCHIEFFER CALLS FOUL ON BUSH

Imus and Bob Schieffer of CBS News
talk about how the war in Iraq is going.

Bob Schieffer: "Well the problem now, we're at a point where the more troops you put in, it just makes us look more like an occupying force and that's not the answer either. I think it's whatever we can do to prepare these people to do it for themselves. And it's not a great answer..."

Imus: "Well they don't want to do it for themselves."

Bob Schieffer: "...But I think that's about all that's left. You know for the last week they've been telling us, the administration, that the Iraqis are taking over more of the fight, and I suppose they are taking somewhat more of the fight over. But you know Don Rumsfeld was talking the day before the President spoke and he said you know, the Iraqis, he cited as an example, are now in control of the highway from Baghdad to the Baghdad airport. Well Lara Logan who's there for us, she was out on that highway during the first part of September and the last part of August. She went back out there the day before yesterday and she said it's just not true. That it's the Americans who have the helicopters, that have the heavy artillery and stuff is guarding that highway and it's still not safe. It's still not entirely safe to go from the airport into Baghdad. This thing is just not going very well."

Imus: "Do you have any CBS reporters who tell you that they run into any Iraqis who are willing to fight and die for their country?"

Bob Schieffer: "Well there are some, yes. Lara yesterday was out with what they think is one of their best trained units, the Wolf Battalion and yet they're having to buy their own uniforms. They're having to buy their own armor. What they're so afraid of is they go home at night, a lot of them still live in their home and they have no pistols to take with them and they train all day and then they'll go home and they're targeted for assassination and they have no way to fight back. I mean this is just a long way from being anywhere close to some sort of a successful resolution of this. It's a dreadful situation."