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CNN Live At Daybreak

If War Breaks Out, Some Iraqis Fear They Might Suffer at Hands of Hussein

Aired November 25, 2002 - 05:31   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


CATHERINE CALLAWAY, CNN ANCHOR: If war breaks out against Iraq, some Iraqis fear that they might suffer at the hands of Saddam Hussein. They are Kurdish separatists who were targeted after the first Gulf War. And now the Kurds are protected by coalition forces that patrol the northern no fly zone over Iraq.
In a special report, CNN's Brent Sadler travels in Nic for an inside look at Kurdish ways the deep concerns over war.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRENT SADLER, NBC CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): They're celebrating the marriage of Salah (ph) and Nasdah Desieh (ph) in the confines of the Iraqi Kurdish safe haven, shielded by U.S. and British war planes enforcing a no fly zone. But now, as the United States ponders a sequel to the Gulf War, Kurds are becoming nervous about Saddam Hussein, with good reason.

(on camera): This is where Iraqi Kurdish self-rule ends and President Saddam Hussein's territorial control over the rest of Iraq begins, along this mostly passive front line. But you can clearly see Iraqi soldiers on the ridge line within rifle range of Kurdish homes.

(voice-over): The newlyweds say they are tense about the buildup to possible war, scared that Iraq's leader might attack the Kurds to upset U.S. war plans. "I don't know how he might react," says Salah. "The Kurds are afraid."

But they're also widely supported, a possible U.S. action to topple Iraq's president.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That will ultimately bring freedom to our brother Arabs and the rest of Iraq.

SADLER: And Kurdish history tells a disheartening story of a centuries old struggle for self-determination, of bloodshed and betrayal amongst themselves and their powerful neighbors. After the Gulf War, they were encouraged by President George Bush, Sr. to rise up, only to be crushed yet again by Saddam Hussein.

Even before Iraq's president unleashed chemical weapons on civilians in Halajah (ph) 14 years ago, Kurds had already suffered the force of his rage -- villages razed, tens of thousands of civilians reportedly killed during an infamous campaign of ethnic cleansing called el Alfal (ph) in the 1980s. But nowadays, Northern Iraq's three and a half million Kurds have got used to running their own lives in a kind of dream land. On one side of the great Zaab River (ph), an Iraqi Army machine gun post and nine tenths of the country under Baghdad's control. On the Kurdish side of the checkpoint, a society which reads dozens of newspapers, reflecting a wide range of opinion and any number of satellite TV channels.

The Iraqi Kurds have been progressing this way since the end of the Gulf War. People can visit any Web site at Internet cafes. International phone calls are freely available. All this is banned or restricted in the other Iraq. Kurdish politicians may be reluctant to commit too soon to any U.S. attack, but if they could keep much of what they've gained in a new Iraq, politicians here say they're willing and perhaps able to join the fray.

Brent Sadler, CNN, Atrush (ph), Northern Iraq.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CALLAWAY: You can catch a new installment of Inside Northern Iraq each night this week at 10:00 p.m. Eastern time.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com




Hands of Hussein>


Aired November 25, 2002 - 05:31   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CATHERINE CALLAWAY, CNN ANCHOR: If war breaks out against Iraq, some Iraqis fear that they might suffer at the hands of Saddam Hussein. They are Kurdish separatists who were targeted after the first Gulf War. And now the Kurds are protected by coalition forces that patrol the northern no fly zone over Iraq.
In a special report, CNN's Brent Sadler travels in Nic for an inside look at Kurdish ways the deep concerns over war.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRENT SADLER, NBC CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): They're celebrating the marriage of Salah (ph) and Nasdah Desieh (ph) in the confines of the Iraqi Kurdish safe haven, shielded by U.S. and British war planes enforcing a no fly zone. But now, as the United States ponders a sequel to the Gulf War, Kurds are becoming nervous about Saddam Hussein, with good reason.

(on camera): This is where Iraqi Kurdish self-rule ends and President Saddam Hussein's territorial control over the rest of Iraq begins, along this mostly passive front line. But you can clearly see Iraqi soldiers on the ridge line within rifle range of Kurdish homes.

(voice-over): The newlyweds say they are tense about the buildup to possible war, scared that Iraq's leader might attack the Kurds to upset U.S. war plans. "I don't know how he might react," says Salah. "The Kurds are afraid."

But they're also widely supported, a possible U.S. action to topple Iraq's president.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That will ultimately bring freedom to our brother Arabs and the rest of Iraq.

SADLER: And Kurdish history tells a disheartening story of a centuries old struggle for self-determination, of bloodshed and betrayal amongst themselves and their powerful neighbors. After the Gulf War, they were encouraged by President George Bush, Sr. to rise up, only to be crushed yet again by Saddam Hussein.

Even before Iraq's president unleashed chemical weapons on civilians in Halajah (ph) 14 years ago, Kurds had already suffered the force of his rage -- villages razed, tens of thousands of civilians reportedly killed during an infamous campaign of ethnic cleansing called el Alfal (ph) in the 1980s. But nowadays, Northern Iraq's three and a half million Kurds have got used to running their own lives in a kind of dream land. On one side of the great Zaab River (ph), an Iraqi Army machine gun post and nine tenths of the country under Baghdad's control. On the Kurdish side of the checkpoint, a society which reads dozens of newspapers, reflecting a wide range of opinion and any number of satellite TV channels.

The Iraqi Kurds have been progressing this way since the end of the Gulf War. People can visit any Web site at Internet cafes. International phone calls are freely available. All this is banned or restricted in the other Iraq. Kurdish politicians may be reluctant to commit too soon to any U.S. attack, but if they could keep much of what they've gained in a new Iraq, politicians here say they're willing and perhaps able to join the fray.

Brent Sadler, CNN, Atrush (ph), Northern Iraq.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CALLAWAY: You can catch a new installment of Inside Northern Iraq each night this week at 10:00 p.m. Eastern time.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com




Hands of Hussein>