Pope Benedict Meets With Muslim Leaders; Tour of Duty Extended for Some U.S. Soldiers; Classified Report: Iraq War Fuels Islamic Extremism
JIM CLANCY, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Building bridges of friendship. The pope meeting Muslim envoys. His latest effort to reach out after his controversial remarks on Islam.</s>ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Fueling more debate. A leaked intelligence report says the Iraq war is inciting a new generation of terrorists. The White House says that's not the whole picture.</s>CLANCY: Child slavery in Nepal. Poverty causes some parents to do the unthinkable.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's really a very proud moment I think for all of us. And I'm very proud to be a New Orleanian.</s>CHURCH: And a super-sized milestone. New Orleans' Superdome makes its post-Hurricane Katrina debut, cleaned up and ready for some football. Hello and welcome to our report broadcast around the globe. I'm Rosemary Church.</s>CLANCY: I'm Jim Clancy. From New Orleans to Kathmandu, Rome to Baghdad, wherever you are watching, this is</s>YOUR WORLD TODAY. CHURCH: Well, we begin at the Vatican, where the pope is seeking to rebuild the bridges to Islam that were burned by remarks he cited about the prophet. Envoys from Muslim countries accepted an invitation to an interfaith dialogue. Our Rome bureau chief, Alessio Vinci, joins us live now. And Alessio, what all was said at this unprecedented meeting?</s>ALESSIO VINCI, CNN ROME BUREAU CHIEF: That's correct, Rosemary. The pope had a clear message to Muslim leaders not just here in Rome, but throughout the Middle East who were able to follow the pope's remarks live on Arabic news channels. And he said, "I respect you, and together we can work to eliminate the violence in the name of god."</s>VINCI (voice over): It was not the full apology some Muslim leaders in the Middle East had asked for, but the pope mentioned what many moderate Muslim leaders wanted to hear, the need for reciprocal respect, mutual understanding, and the necessity to work together in order to reject violence in the name of god. "Christians and Muslims must learn to work together, as indeed they already do in many common undertakings," the pope said, speaking in French, the official diplomatic language of the Vatican, "in order to guard against all forms of intolerance and to oppose all manifestations of violence." In his brief address, which lasted five minutes, the pope outlined his platform on which he intends to continue his dialogue with Muslims.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There is no great clarity among the Muslims as to what Benedict intends to do as pope. If he goes -- deviates from that, then they can point to him and say, you said you were going to do this. Now you're not doing it.</s>VINCI: But the pope's message to Muslim leaders wasn't entirely sweetness in light. He quoted his predecessor, John Paul II, a pope who made gigantic steps in bridging the two faiths, saying, "Respect and dialogue require reciprocity in all spheres, in particular religious freedom."</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What Benedict is saying, in countries where there is not such religious freedom, there should be. It should be possible for Christians to build churches, just as it is possible for Muslim immigrants when they move to Europe or other parts of the world to build their mosques and pray.</s>VINCI: And speaking of dialogue, this encounter wasn't exactly an opportunity to exchange views, since only the pope and the top Vatican officials in charge of inter-religious dialogue spoke. But at the end of the audience, the pope did greet every participant individually, briefing exchanging views, telling the Iraqi ambassador, for example, "I pray for your country."</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He again emphasizes profound respect to the religion of Islam, and to all other major religions. So I think this is what we were expecting, and this is what he had. And I think we have to build bridges.</s>VINCI: Vatican officials point out this meeting was just a first step towards reconciliation, and participants appeared to be satisfied.</s>VINCI: And Rosemary, it will take some time to see the result of this newly restored dialogue between Muslims and Catholics, and the Vatican clearly will make sure the door remains wide open. And the pope will have plenty of opportunities to readdress these issues when he travels to Turkey in late November, the first predominantly Muslim country he's e expected to visit as pope -- Rosemary.</s>CHURCH: Alessio, you mentioned that trip to Turkey in late November still on the agenda. Just how concerned, though, is the Vatican for his security on that trip and, indeed, just overall?</s>VINCI: Well, first of all, any time the pope travels outside of the Vatican, there are, of course, security concerns. And, of course, this latest crisis has somewhat raised the concern. But, for example, the last time the pope was seen in public, on Wednesday, during the general audience here in Rome, he did take a tour of St. Peter's Square in an open-deck car. He does have a bulletproof pope mobile. He did not use that one. So there is clearly an attempt here by the Vatican to show that while, of course, there are some security concerns, they are also making every effort to make sure that the pope is not separated from the pilgrims. As far as the trip is concerned to Turkey, of course there are some concerns there. There were some reports earlier last week that the Turkish man who tried to kill the pope's predecessor, John Paul II, had some information that there was another attempt to kill this pope. But these reports are obviously taken with a grain of salt, considering the fact that this is a man that has considered -- that has compared himself to Jesus once before. So, there are concerns, there is concern, of course. And Vatican officials are not lowering the guard, if you want. But the trip to Turkey is going ahead as planned, at least for the time being.</s>CHURCH: Indeed. All right. Our Rome bureau chief, Alessio Vinci. Thanks so much -- Jim.</s>CLANCY: One of the other major topics of news in the U.S. this day is a leaked intelligence report on the Iraq war. It is predictably sparking some intense debate with the Democrats up on Capitol Hill.</s>CHURCH: It is. Now, the document concludes that the Iraq war has become the main recruiting tool for terrorists.</s>CLANCY: And we watched over the weekend. The White House shot right back. A spokesman there saying these accounts, at least being read in the newspapers about the report, really don't paint the whole picture. All right. We'll have that story just in a moment, but another indication of serious divisions over U.S. policy in Iraq. This time inside the Pentagon. The Army's chief of staff making an extraordinary gesture of protest. It's all about the funding for the Iraq war. Pentagon Correspondent Barbara Starr joins us with more on that -- Barbara.</s>BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, Jim, the Army says it's not meant to be too argumentative, but, in fact, the chief of staff of the U.S. Army, General Peter Schoomaker, has taken an extraordinary step. He was supposed to submit the 2008 Army budget to Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld last month. He has not done that. General Schoomaker making it very clear, one of the most principled generals in the Army, he will not put his name to that document because he feels it does not provide enough money for the Army. General Schoomaker wanting an additional $25 billion in the 2008 Army budget, bringing it up to about $138 billion. So, what's going on now? Well, the Army and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld are said to be in negotiation about what to do about this funding crisis. Now, you know, here in Washington, the military often complains that it just doesn't have enough money in the budget to do the job. But what's going on here does appear to be something different, because usually that wave of complaining goes to Capitol Hill. This time, you have the chief of the Army saying directly to the defense secretary, you're not giving me enough money, and I'm not going to put my name on a document that I don't believe in -- Jim.</s>CLANCY: At the same time, the military is being asked by the administration to do more than what was originally expected in terms of its troops.</s>STARR: That's right. All of this comes as Army families are getting some pretty unpleasant word yet again. The families of the 1st Armored Division that is in Iraq, that is on duty in Ramadi, being told today that that brigade, about 3,000 to 5,000 troops, will spend several extra weeks in Iraq. Their tour of duty being extended. All of this, again, because of the extent to which the Army is stretched thin, according to senior officials. Last week, you'll recall that we were told the Army has now decided -- the Central Command has now decided to keep about 145,000 troops in Iraq through the spring of '07, so that's what's causing all of this. The 1st AD -- Armored Division -- will spend extra time in Iraq, so their replacements coming out of Georgia will at least be able to spend 12 months back at home with their families before they have to go back to Iraq -- Jim.</s>CLANCY: Now, certainly you have heard and they've got to be talking about it there at the Pentagon, and in Washington, this huge flap over the national security assessment that would indicate that this war is a recruiting tool for terrorists. But really, is this any different from what you have been hearing from the combat soldiers on the ground and there at the Pentagon for the last two years?</s>STARR: Well, Jim, I don't think that report actually is substantially different. Perhaps one of the reasons it's getting attention is because it is a national intelligence estimate. That's a very formal document by the U.S. intelligence community, approved by director of National Intelligence, John Negroponte. So the document itself carries some considerable weight within the intelligence community and within the administration. But reality on the ground is this is what it has been for some months now. Iraq, certainly by all accounts, a breeding ground for terrorism -- Jim.</s>CLANCY: All right. Barbara Starr reporting to us there from Washington. Meantime, at the Pentagon -- you're looking at live pictures now -- Donald Rumsfeld, the U.S. defense secretary, walking alongside Hamid Karzai there, a security-cordoned area, reviewing some of the troops. Hamid Karzai, of course, one of the most important allies in the war on terror, and certainly a situation there where NATO and the U.S. see a growing need for more boots on the ground. NATO making a plea, really, to combat what has been a resurgence of the Taliban. Some well-planned attacks coming five years after September 11th and the overthrow of the Taliban. We'll watch that.</s>CHURCH: All right. Well, back to Iraq now, British troops say they have killed a senior al Qaeda figure there. They say Omar Faruq escaped from a U.S. prison in Afghanistan in 2005. A British military spokesman says Faruq was shot while resisting arrest in a raid in Basra, in southern Iraq. He has been described as a key link between Osama bin Laden's followers and Indonesia's Jemaah Islamiya militants.</s>CLANCY: Now, Faruq, of course, just one among a number of foreign insurgents believed to be operating in Iraq today. A leaked intelligence report says the Iraq war is giving birth to a new generation of terrorists. The White House, though, says what's been reported about the document doesn't present the entire picture. Let's get some more now from Elaine Quijano.</s>ELAINE QUIJANO, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The stories appeared on the front pages of "The New York Times" and "The Washington Post," outlining conclusions selectively leaked from a classified National Intelligence Estimate dealing partly with Iraq. The estimate, completed in April, cites the Iraq war and insurgents as the main recruiting vehicle for new Islamic extremists. Yet former deputy CIA director John McLaughlin, who has not seen the estimate, says the information is sobering but not surprising.</s>JOHN MCLAUGHLIN, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Frankly, I didn't find a lot new in this press article. We've known for months that the movement is decentralizing. It's clear that Iraq is a major problem, and that the only real question is what do you about Iraq at this point?</s>QUIJANO: Six weeks away from congressional midterm elections, Democrats are using the leaked report to argue that Republicans have mismanaged Iraq and the larger war on terror.</s>REP. JANE HARMAN (D), CALIFORNIA: Even capturing the remaining top al Qaeda leadership isn't going to prevent copycat cells and it isn't going to change a failed policy in Iraq.</s>QUIJANO: But Republican Senator John McCain, who just last week reached a compromise with the White House after a public rift over detainee legislation, says success in Iraq is still crucial.</s>SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R-AZ), ARMED SVCS. CMTE.: They didn't need any encouragement to attack us on September 11. These people are after us anyway and we've got to win the war both psychologically, as well as militarily.</s>QUIJANO: And in a rare occurrence, Director of National Intelligence John Negroponte weighted in to the political debate, saying, "The estimate highlights the importance of the outcome in Iraq on the future of global jihadism, judging that should the Iraqi people prevail in establishing a stable political and security environment, the jihadists will be perceived to have failed." (on camera): In a statement, a White House official reiterated the administration's policy of not commenting on classified documents. But in a sign of the high political stakes this official did go on to comment, saying that "The New York Times" characterization of the intelligence estimate was not representative of the complete document. Elaine Quijano, CNN, the White House.</s>CLANCY: All right. That's the number one story on Capitol Hill in the U.S. today. Let's check some of the stories around the globe, though.</s>CHURCH: Yes. We want to begin in Baghdad, where deposed Iraqi president Saddam Hussein has been booted out of his genocide trial for the second time in a week. Now, he was thrown out for arguing with the new chief judge. Hussein's lawyers are boycotting the proceedings. Well, the man expected to succeed British Prime Minister Tony Blair is laying out his vision for the country. Gordon Brown, Britain's chancellor of the Exchequer, told the Labour Party he plans to put a firm stance against global extremism at the heart of his leadership agenda.</s>CLANCY: Gunmen on motorcycles shot and killed the provincial director of Afghanistan's Ministry of Women in Kandahar. Some officials believe the attackers targeted the woman because she helped to educate other women and girls. The director was killed just as she was leaving her home.</s>CHURCH: The Louisiana Superdome is reopening for "Monday Night Football." The New Orleans Saints have sold out season tickets for the first time in franchise history, even though much of the city is still in ruins. Now, flooding from Hurricane Katrina forced some 30,000 evacuees into the Superdome for up to five days.</s>CLANCY: We'll have a little bit more on that story of the Superdome coming back. Such dismal scenes during Katrina, and now coming back like this. It will be a lot of glitz tonight. A lot of people remembering what happened. Up next, though, we will focus on another story. And it's a disturbing one, the whole problem of slavery in Nepal.</s>CHURCH: It is. And it's actually more common than you might think. Just ahead, meet one girl sold into virtual slavery by her own family.</s>CLANCY: Also, can U.S. politicians control the price of gasoline? Some political bloggers seem to think so. We'll have a reality check coming up.