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CNN Live Today
Arab Reaction to Rumsfeld's Visit
Aired April 30, 2003 - 11:04 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.
LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Donald Rumsfeld, the defense secretary, rallies the U.S. troops in Iraq and makes an appeal to the Iraqi people, urging them to help U.S. forces capture members of Saddam Hussein's toppled regime, who may be on the run and still inside the country.
More now on Rumsfeld's visit from CNN's Jim Clancy, standing by live in Baghdad.
Hello, Jim.
JIM CLANCY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Leon.
Well, as we look at the situation, there were really two messages carried by Donald Rumsfeld. One of them for the people of Iraq.
But just as important, a message to U.S. troops here in Baghdad, to British and coalition forces in Basra to the south, a message that really said what you have done here will not only shape the course of Iraq's future, but shape the course perhaps of an entire region.
For the troops themselves, the defense secretary had nothing but praise.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD RUMSFELD, SECY. OF DEFENSE: It was possibly the fastest march on a capital in modern military history.
(APPLAUSE)
And unlike many armies in the world, you came not to conquer, not to occupy, but to liberate, and the Iraqi people know this.
And when you arrived in Baghdad, many of the Iraqi people came to the streets to welcome you, pulling down statues of Saddam Hussein, celebrating their newfound freedom, freedom that you helped restore. And what a sight that was.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CLANCY: The sight that wasn't was the sight of the Iraqi people and their predicament today. They, of course, see this all in a different perspective. Many of them watched and listened as the secretary spoke. Some said they believed what he had to say. Others were not so accepting. They didn't believe that the U.S. had delivered on its promises, because they do not see security in their streets. They do not see a complete restoration of water, and electricity other utilities. They are very skeptical of this U.S. mission.
Some believe and remember that this was not the first visit made by the secretary of defense to Baghdad. Donald Rumsfeld, of course, coming to Iraq some years ago, two decades ago. In 1983, he shook hands with President Saddam Hussein. That was during the height of the Iran/Iraq war.
But of course chemical weapons were being used. The Iran/Iraq war, many people trace back the entire weapons of mass destruction program to that period in time, when Iraq and Iran both raced to develop weapons they could use on the battlefield.
Now years later, the one place that Donald Rumsfeld did not get to visit was a weapons of mass destruction site. So much talk of that before this conflict, that the real purpose of this conflict, to disarm President Saddam Hussein, but thus far, no such weapons sites have been found, although the U.S. continues to look for them -- Leon.
HARRIS: Thank you, Jim. Jim Clancy live in Baghdad.
Now we wonder, after having seen part of Jim's report there, just how is Donald Rumsfeld's visit to Iraq being perceived among Arabs in the region?
For some perspective on that, we're joined by our senior international editor Octavia Nasr, who by the way, if you were watching this throughout the war, you'll know that Octavia was monitoring some seven different Arab networks throughout the war to monitor their coverage of all the activity in that region.
Now let's talk about this Rumsfeld visit. What are you seeing and hearing?
OCTAVIA NASR, SR. INTL. CORRESPONDENT: The first impression, if you're watching Arab TV station, you're going to think that the Arab stations are snubbing Secretary Rumsfeld. And then you have to pay a closer look at how the story is being reported, and then you find out that for all of these Arab stations, without any exception, they do not have access.
As a matter of fact, the way they're reporting the visit is that this is an unannounced visit. Some are calling it a surprise visit. Basically that explains a lot. It explains that they were not told that Donald Rumsfeld is going to Iraq. They were not given a schedule. They were not invited to be -- to go along for a trip or to cover that story. I made a few phone calls to confirm this is what's going on, and this is exactly what was going on.
As a matter of fact, as I was speaking with one editor in one of those organizations, he said, oh what a minute, wait a minute,there's the speech, he's speaking at the airport. And that tells you a lot about the U.S. administration and how this whole trip was planned. Maybe it was planning on not getting the Arab networks involved in coverage. HARRIS: That seems surprising considers the networks were well represented at all the CENTCOM briefings.
NASR: That's right. And also, when Secretary Rumsfeld arrived in Qatar a few days ago, he did grant Al-Jazeera, for example, which is based in Qatar, he granted them an interview, a full-fledged interview, a sit-down interview one on one, and that shows you that, yes, the administration is going out of its way to include the stations.
But at the same time, a trip like this, if Mr. Rumsfeld wanted more coverage, he should have reached out further, he should have invited these networks, he should given them a schedule, or told them that they have access to him personally, his entourage and his speeches.
HARRIS: Likely this could result with a little more skepticism coming from Arab coverage as well on the U.S. intentions and motives there in that region.
NASR: That's always a possibility. You know that.
HARRIS: All right. Thanks, Octavia, Octavia Nasr.
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 30, 2003 - 11:04 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Donald Rumsfeld, the defense secretary, rallies the U.S. troops in Iraq and makes an appeal to the Iraqi people, urging them to help U.S. forces capture members of Saddam Hussein's toppled regime, who may be on the run and still inside the country.
More now on Rumsfeld's visit from CNN's Jim Clancy, standing by live in Baghdad.
Hello, Jim.
JIM CLANCY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Leon.
Well, as we look at the situation, there were really two messages carried by Donald Rumsfeld. One of them for the people of Iraq.
But just as important, a message to U.S. troops here in Baghdad, to British and coalition forces in Basra to the south, a message that really said what you have done here will not only shape the course of Iraq's future, but shape the course perhaps of an entire region.
For the troops themselves, the defense secretary had nothing but praise.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD RUMSFELD, SECY. OF DEFENSE: It was possibly the fastest march on a capital in modern military history.
(APPLAUSE)
And unlike many armies in the world, you came not to conquer, not to occupy, but to liberate, and the Iraqi people know this.
And when you arrived in Baghdad, many of the Iraqi people came to the streets to welcome you, pulling down statues of Saddam Hussein, celebrating their newfound freedom, freedom that you helped restore. And what a sight that was.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CLANCY: The sight that wasn't was the sight of the Iraqi people and their predicament today. They, of course, see this all in a different perspective. Many of them watched and listened as the secretary spoke. Some said they believed what he had to say. Others were not so accepting. They didn't believe that the U.S. had delivered on its promises, because they do not see security in their streets. They do not see a complete restoration of water, and electricity other utilities. They are very skeptical of this U.S. mission.
Some believe and remember that this was not the first visit made by the secretary of defense to Baghdad. Donald Rumsfeld, of course, coming to Iraq some years ago, two decades ago. In 1983, he shook hands with President Saddam Hussein. That was during the height of the Iran/Iraq war.
But of course chemical weapons were being used. The Iran/Iraq war, many people trace back the entire weapons of mass destruction program to that period in time, when Iraq and Iran both raced to develop weapons they could use on the battlefield.
Now years later, the one place that Donald Rumsfeld did not get to visit was a weapons of mass destruction site. So much talk of that before this conflict, that the real purpose of this conflict, to disarm President Saddam Hussein, but thus far, no such weapons sites have been found, although the U.S. continues to look for them -- Leon.
HARRIS: Thank you, Jim. Jim Clancy live in Baghdad.
Now we wonder, after having seen part of Jim's report there, just how is Donald Rumsfeld's visit to Iraq being perceived among Arabs in the region?
For some perspective on that, we're joined by our senior international editor Octavia Nasr, who by the way, if you were watching this throughout the war, you'll know that Octavia was monitoring some seven different Arab networks throughout the war to monitor their coverage of all the activity in that region.
Now let's talk about this Rumsfeld visit. What are you seeing and hearing?
OCTAVIA NASR, SR. INTL. CORRESPONDENT: The first impression, if you're watching Arab TV station, you're going to think that the Arab stations are snubbing Secretary Rumsfeld. And then you have to pay a closer look at how the story is being reported, and then you find out that for all of these Arab stations, without any exception, they do not have access.
As a matter of fact, the way they're reporting the visit is that this is an unannounced visit. Some are calling it a surprise visit. Basically that explains a lot. It explains that they were not told that Donald Rumsfeld is going to Iraq. They were not given a schedule. They were not invited to be -- to go along for a trip or to cover that story. I made a few phone calls to confirm this is what's going on, and this is exactly what was going on.
As a matter of fact, as I was speaking with one editor in one of those organizations, he said, oh what a minute, wait a minute,there's the speech, he's speaking at the airport. And that tells you a lot about the U.S. administration and how this whole trip was planned. Maybe it was planning on not getting the Arab networks involved in coverage. HARRIS: That seems surprising considers the networks were well represented at all the CENTCOM briefings.
NASR: That's right. And also, when Secretary Rumsfeld arrived in Qatar a few days ago, he did grant Al-Jazeera, for example, which is based in Qatar, he granted them an interview, a full-fledged interview, a sit-down interview one on one, and that shows you that, yes, the administration is going out of its way to include the stations.
But at the same time, a trip like this, if Mr. Rumsfeld wanted more coverage, he should have reached out further, he should have invited these networks, he should given them a schedule, or told them that they have access to him personally, his entourage and his speeches.
HARRIS: Likely this could result with a little more skepticism coming from Arab coverage as well on the U.S. intentions and motives there in that region.
NASR: That's always a possibility. You know that.
HARRIS: All right. Thanks, Octavia, Octavia Nasr.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
