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American Morning
General Jay Garner Taking Charge in Baghdad
Aired April 21, 2003 - 07:18 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.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: The man who is charged with running post-war Iraq is now in Baghdad. Retired U.S. General Jay Garner arrived in the Iraqi capital this morning. His first priority: restoring basic services, like water and electricity.
Rula Amin is in Baghdad now with the latest on that.
Hello -- Rula.
RULA AMIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Heidi.
Garner came to Baghdad with only 19 aides, but his staff is going to grow to 450. It's a challenging task ahead of him. He has to oversee the reconstruction of Iraq, he has to oversee the delivery of aid to 24 million Iraqis, and he has to establish an interim Iraqi government. So, it's a lot, and he will need a lot of help.
Now, his first visit when he got to Baghdad was to an Iraqi hospital in the Iraqi capital. It was one of the hospitals where many of the war casualties were being treated, and where some of the looters had gone there and looted the hospital. And many of the doctors there had very specific requests. He said that he will try to help, but he also mentioned and said it will take time.
When reporters asked him, how long does he think he will need in order to accomplish his mission here, he was very elusive.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
QUESTION: You said you want to be out in 90 days. Do you still see that as the...
GEN. JAY GARNER (RET.), OFFICE OF RECONSTRUCTION: I don't think I would put 90 days as a mark on the wall. We will be here as long as it takes, but we'll leave fairly rapidly.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
AMIN: Well, some Iraqis are wondering, how rapidly? Because we have been hearing in the past few days many voices asking the U.S. troops to leave. They are concerned that the troops here will stay much longer than anticipated, and they are concerned. And they've been asking this question for how long will the troops be here and when will they get to rule themselves -- Heidi.
COLLINS: Maybe it's just too early to know. All right, Rula Amin in Baghdad this morning. Thank you.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
Aired April 21, 2003 - 07:18 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: The man who is charged with running post-war Iraq is now in Baghdad. Retired U.S. General Jay Garner arrived in the Iraqi capital this morning. His first priority: restoring basic services, like water and electricity.
Rula Amin is in Baghdad now with the latest on that.
Hello -- Rula.
RULA AMIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Heidi.
Garner came to Baghdad with only 19 aides, but his staff is going to grow to 450. It's a challenging task ahead of him. He has to oversee the reconstruction of Iraq, he has to oversee the delivery of aid to 24 million Iraqis, and he has to establish an interim Iraqi government. So, it's a lot, and he will need a lot of help.
Now, his first visit when he got to Baghdad was to an Iraqi hospital in the Iraqi capital. It was one of the hospitals where many of the war casualties were being treated, and where some of the looters had gone there and looted the hospital. And many of the doctors there had very specific requests. He said that he will try to help, but he also mentioned and said it will take time.
When reporters asked him, how long does he think he will need in order to accomplish his mission here, he was very elusive.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
QUESTION: You said you want to be out in 90 days. Do you still see that as the...
GEN. JAY GARNER (RET.), OFFICE OF RECONSTRUCTION: I don't think I would put 90 days as a mark on the wall. We will be here as long as it takes, but we'll leave fairly rapidly.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
AMIN: Well, some Iraqis are wondering, how rapidly? Because we have been hearing in the past few days many voices asking the U.S. troops to leave. They are concerned that the troops here will stay much longer than anticipated, and they are concerned. And they've been asking this question for how long will the troops be here and when will they get to rule themselves -- Heidi.
COLLINS: Maybe it's just too early to know. All right, Rula Amin in Baghdad this morning. Thank you.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
