Return to Transcripts main page

American Morning

Deadly Bombing Sends Shockwaves Through Humanitarian Aid Community

Aired August 22, 2003 - 07:33   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.


BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Back overseas right now, the deadly bombing at U.N. headquarters in Iraq has sent shockwaves through the entire humanitarian aid community, many of whom lost friends and colleagues in that attack. Some non-governmental organizations, known as NGOs, notably the IMF and the World Bank, have temporarily pulled their people out of Iraq.
And others, including our next guest, though, have chosen to stay.

John Kilkenny is the in Iraq director of Concern Worldwide, a group that is helping to rebuild schools. He's not our guest live in Baghdad.

We appreciate your time and thank you, John, for being with us.

I want to -- how much time do you spend on a daily basis thinking about your own safety and your own security?

JOHN KILKENNY, CONCERN WORLDWIDE: It's something we have to give time to every day simply because we have a responsibility for our own security and for those that work with us. So we have to give it some thought. But it's not -- we try as far as possible not to let it take over from giving us the ability to actually do the work that we need to do.

But we try to be prudent and we try to reassess frequently, such as after an incident like this.

HEMMER: Yes, John, why have you decided to stay?

KILKENNY: Well, we felt that at this stage, it's actually possible for us to still continue the work that we're doing, the rebuilding of schools within (UNINTELLIGIBLE). We've assessed that the terrible incident on Tuesday is of a completely different order and a completely different kind to the kind of risks that we've faced previously. But we feel that so long as we maintain good security procedures and keep our focus on our work, that if we don't concentrate in areas that would offer obvious targets, that it is still possible for us to continue the work we're doing with the Iraqi people.

HEMMER: John, there are reports back here in the U.S., the "New York Times" saying that it's possible that this might have been an inside job. Have you considered that at U.N. headquarters? KILKENNY: It's not something that we've considered up to this point. That has come as obviously shocking news if were to prove to be correct. We've relied very much upon the Iraqi people and we've actually received the most positive support from the Iraqi people, even following this incident, in fact, particularly following this incident. They've really shown great solidarity with us. And if I could just mention that in the recent bombing, not only did an agency that we are working with lose one of their international staff, but at this stage, also one of their national Iraqi staff is missing and is still unaccounted for.

So Iraqis are involved in taking the same risks in order to do the work that we're involved in. It's not just an international community thing.

HEMMER: We want to take time to mention a friend and colleague of yours. Her name is Jill Clark. She was killed in the bombing. She had been working with the Christian Children's Fund. Tell me about the work she was doing and the work of others there on behalf of the children of Iraq.

KILKENNY: Well, Jill was a very caring and a very experienced professional in the area of child protection. And she'd actually been leading a team, an interagency team here in Baghdad, conducting a survey into the needs of children at risk. And children are at risk more so now than at any other time in Iraq's past, with the security situation having deteriorated so much.

She was involved in leading that team, which involved a number of NGOs and also UNICEF. And they were just reaching the conclusion of that work when, sadly, Jill lost her life.

HEMMER: John, our condolences to you and the others working there.

In a word or two, if you could, is there a feeling of despair in Iraq based on what we've seen over the past week or is there still a sense of hope? And, if so, how strong is that hope that the situation in Iraq can be solved and done on a fairly short timetable?

KILKENNY: I think that the timetable is the issue. I don't think that the situation will be turned around in a short time span. I think what is absolutely essential now is that we can get small indications that can be shown to the Iraqi people that the situation is moving in the right direction. I think that in cases where the -- there's always been an ambivalence, maybe, towards some of the coalition actions. I think we've got to start putting that right. We've got to start showing small improvements, gradual improvements that will allow the Iraqi people to actually feel that they're included in a process that's leading in terms of the rebuilding of their country, where they have a full participatory role within that.

HEMMER: You've got your work cut out for you. I want to wish you the best of luck. And stay safe there, too.

John Kilkenny from Baghdad. KILKENNY: Thank you.

HEMMER: Much appreciate it.

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





Community>


Aired August 22, 2003 - 07:33   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Back overseas right now, the deadly bombing at U.N. headquarters in Iraq has sent shockwaves through the entire humanitarian aid community, many of whom lost friends and colleagues in that attack. Some non-governmental organizations, known as NGOs, notably the IMF and the World Bank, have temporarily pulled their people out of Iraq.
And others, including our next guest, though, have chosen to stay.

John Kilkenny is the in Iraq director of Concern Worldwide, a group that is helping to rebuild schools. He's not our guest live in Baghdad.

We appreciate your time and thank you, John, for being with us.

I want to -- how much time do you spend on a daily basis thinking about your own safety and your own security?

JOHN KILKENNY, CONCERN WORLDWIDE: It's something we have to give time to every day simply because we have a responsibility for our own security and for those that work with us. So we have to give it some thought. But it's not -- we try as far as possible not to let it take over from giving us the ability to actually do the work that we need to do.

But we try to be prudent and we try to reassess frequently, such as after an incident like this.

HEMMER: Yes, John, why have you decided to stay?

KILKENNY: Well, we felt that at this stage, it's actually possible for us to still continue the work that we're doing, the rebuilding of schools within (UNINTELLIGIBLE). We've assessed that the terrible incident on Tuesday is of a completely different order and a completely different kind to the kind of risks that we've faced previously. But we feel that so long as we maintain good security procedures and keep our focus on our work, that if we don't concentrate in areas that would offer obvious targets, that it is still possible for us to continue the work we're doing with the Iraqi people.

HEMMER: John, there are reports back here in the U.S., the "New York Times" saying that it's possible that this might have been an inside job. Have you considered that at U.N. headquarters? KILKENNY: It's not something that we've considered up to this point. That has come as obviously shocking news if were to prove to be correct. We've relied very much upon the Iraqi people and we've actually received the most positive support from the Iraqi people, even following this incident, in fact, particularly following this incident. They've really shown great solidarity with us. And if I could just mention that in the recent bombing, not only did an agency that we are working with lose one of their international staff, but at this stage, also one of their national Iraqi staff is missing and is still unaccounted for.

So Iraqis are involved in taking the same risks in order to do the work that we're involved in. It's not just an international community thing.

HEMMER: We want to take time to mention a friend and colleague of yours. Her name is Jill Clark. She was killed in the bombing. She had been working with the Christian Children's Fund. Tell me about the work she was doing and the work of others there on behalf of the children of Iraq.

KILKENNY: Well, Jill was a very caring and a very experienced professional in the area of child protection. And she'd actually been leading a team, an interagency team here in Baghdad, conducting a survey into the needs of children at risk. And children are at risk more so now than at any other time in Iraq's past, with the security situation having deteriorated so much.

She was involved in leading that team, which involved a number of NGOs and also UNICEF. And they were just reaching the conclusion of that work when, sadly, Jill lost her life.

HEMMER: John, our condolences to you and the others working there.

In a word or two, if you could, is there a feeling of despair in Iraq based on what we've seen over the past week or is there still a sense of hope? And, if so, how strong is that hope that the situation in Iraq can be solved and done on a fairly short timetable?

KILKENNY: I think that the timetable is the issue. I don't think that the situation will be turned around in a short time span. I think what is absolutely essential now is that we can get small indications that can be shown to the Iraqi people that the situation is moving in the right direction. I think that in cases where the -- there's always been an ambivalence, maybe, towards some of the coalition actions. I think we've got to start putting that right. We've got to start showing small improvements, gradual improvements that will allow the Iraqi people to actually feel that they're included in a process that's leading in terms of the rebuilding of their country, where they have a full participatory role within that.

HEMMER: You've got your work cut out for you. I want to wish you the best of luck. And stay safe there, too.

John Kilkenny from Baghdad. KILKENNY: Thank you.

HEMMER: Much appreciate it.

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





Community>