Wars Prompt Young Veterans To Run For Office
ROMANS: American troops fighting the war against radical Islamist terrorism in Afghanistan are facing a new challenge in training Afghan forces. CNN's Becky Diamond is embedded with the Florida National Guard in Afghanistan and joins us live via video phone with this exclusive report. Becky?</s>BECKY DIAMOND, CNN CORRESPONDENT (video phone): Good evening to you Christine. Well, a critical front in the war on terror is being fought here in Gardez. I'm at a forward operating base where soldiers from the 53rd brigade are helping to make the Afghan army operational. They're really fighting here to help build a nation, focusing on the army. The ultimate goal is to get these forces in a capacity of operations where they're working on their own, independently of U.S. troops. This would ultimately free up U.S. troops to redirect their activities elsewhere, either in Afghanistan or somewhere else. Now, soldiers are helping them with their weaponry, instilling some discipline in their ranks. But they say there are some challenges. These soldiers are mostly illiterate. About 70 percent of enlisted soldiers here can't read or write. Also they say, many of the soldiers speak a separate language, so they need a translator for the translator for the translator. But despite these challenges, the U.S. soldiers say that the Afghan soldiers understand what war is about. They very, very much want to build their country and they're up to the job. They're starting to go out on their own, staffing checkpoints, providing security. And they also provide a critical presence in this area. This is a very remote area in Afghanistan, where the national government really doesn't exist. So they provide a security presence, a sense of law for the people in Afghanistan, and that's one hope in the war on terror that democratization will reach this area. Christine?</s>ROMANS: All right, Becky Diamond in Afghanistan. Thank you, Becky. The wars in Afghanistan and Iraq have inspired a new group of young veterans to run for political office back home. My next guest is one of them. Lieutenant Colonel Tim Dunn has served with the Marines in both Iraq and Europe. He's now running for Congress as a Democrat in North Carolina, and he joins us tonight from Raleigh. Thanks for being with us.</s>LT. COL. TIM DUNN (D), CONGRESSIONAL CANDIDATE: Thanks, Christine. Great to be here.</s>ROMANS: The GOP holds both North Carolina Senate seats and I think seven of 13 congressional seats. Do you think your background in the military is going to help you as a Democrat in North Carolina?</s>DUNN: Absolutely. I think it's crucial, particularly in this environment, the political environment, that we have more veterans not only running, but serving in Congress. I think the experience that we bring to the political process is crucial. The ability to plan, to look at a mission, to be able to execute that plan and to accomplish the mission. I think it will be very valuable, not only in running but also in serving in Congress.</s>ROMANS: In the meantime, your party has, some would say, not very clearly articulated what its plan and its outlook is for Iraq and for -- some are calling for a withdrawal. What do you plan to run on specifically about Iraq and the next move there?</s>DUNN: Well certainly, I'd like to first say that there's no one that would support the military and our servicemen and women in Iraq and Afghanistan more than someone such as myself that have served in Iraq. But I see that there needs to be a clearly defined mission in this particular, in Iraq, in Afghanistan, where there's an instate. There's got to be a plan for a conflict termination, so to speak. Whereby we can look at what the objectives are and we can accomplish those objectives and the commanders on the ground will know what those objectives are by our civilian leadership.</s>ROMANS: Are we operating without a clearly defined objective and mission right now?</s>DUNN: Well, I hope that we are not. The perception is now, as we are going on and on in Iraq, that we have to be sure that there's a clearly defined objective. And I guess what I would propose as the administration has told us, that they want to stand down U.S. or coalition forces as the Iraqis stand up. Well, this has not taken place at all yet. I mean even with the president's most recent proposal in that package, there was indication that there were 120, now 120 operational Iraqi battalions. Of those 120, apparently there are 40 that are now combat ready and operationally committed, working independently of U.S. or coalition forces. Well it's time to look real closely now as these battalions stand up in Iraq. And we should be able to stand down the U.S. forces in Iraq. And I think we're seeing that, Christine, with the words from not only the administration, but from the secretary of defense in that they are looking toward now a planned withdrawal. But we don't do it just on a timeline, we do it on what I would call, milestones or benchmark. Once that level of training that the Iraqi forces, the security forces can handle their situation in Iraq, then it's time to stand down our forces, because we have certainly committed substantial forces and substantial lives of all of the servicemen and women that have served there. Now it's time to look closely at what that in state, what that conflict termination is going to be and what it's going to look like.</s>ROMANS: Well Lieutenant Colonel Tim Dunn, thank you so much for joining us tonight.</s>DUNN: Thank you very much, Christine.</s>ROMANS: You're very welcome. A reminder now to vote in tonight's poll. We told you earlier how the new immigration bill passed by the House calls for the elimination of the annual Visa lottery program. Do you believe eliminating the lottery will help curb illegal immigration? You can cast your vote at LouDobbs.com. We'll bring you the results in just a few minutes. Still ahead, should President Bush have wiretap worries on his mind? We'll talk to one man who says all this talk about the president eavesdropping is overstepping -- and overstepping his bounds is simply nonsense.