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CNN Saturday Morning News
Good News From Iraq
Aired September 27, 2003 - 07:41 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: A lot of the news out of Iraq is not good. But it's not all bad, either. Every Saturday on Weekend Morning we try to take a look at some of the things that are going right in Iraq.
This morning, CNN's Jason Bellini takes us to the Iran-Iraq border.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JASON BELLINI, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Today it's hard to imagine a village as quaint and lively as Tuela being anything other than innocent and untouched from violence, unless you've lived here the last 10 years. "You can look how happy they are and they feel freedom and it's much different."
Tuela is located literally within sight of the Iran-Iraq border. After the first Gulf War, the terrorist organization Ansar al-Islam encamped itself in the surrounding mountains, bringing misery to these Kurdish peasants. Most men here were at some point in the last decade imprisoned and/or tortured by Ansar al-Islam. Shopkeepers had to pay extortion just to operate. "People are very happy and we have a lot of customers. Before, we had not too many customers, because they were afraid to come to this area."
During the U.S.-led war to oust Saddam Hussein, Ansar al-Islam was also a target. Most are believed to have either died or have fled across the border to Iran. U.S. soldiers here are treated as heroes. The bad news they're hearing from the villagers, however, is that Ansar al-Islam may be planning a comeback.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: People that have family members on each side, these family members tell other family members what's going on on the other side and what they're saying is Ansar al-Islam is actually building back up.
BELLINI: No fence, only the mountains now stand in their way.
(on camera): It used to be that Kurdish peshmerga militiamen did the job of guarding their border with Iran in villages like Tuela, albeit in a far less organized fashion.
(voice-over): Now, these men who've roam the hills and valleys here for years are being trained as Iraq's new border guard. The training is urgent and necessary, according to the U.S. military. Currently, only 63 trained Iraqi border guards protect a 700 kilometer stretch of the border. Back in Tuela, rumors about Ansar al-Islam are shared on the street. "They're on the other side. We know that and we have information that the Iranian government is helping them."
Here in this small commercial village, villagers believe that the Iraqi border guards will provide Tuela the security it needs. Tuela borders on a painful past and a potentially promising future.
Jason Bellini, CNN, northern Iraq.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
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 September 27, 2003 - 07:41 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: A lot of the news out of Iraq is not good. But it's not all bad, either. Every Saturday on Weekend Morning we try to take a look at some of the things that are going right in Iraq.
This morning, CNN's Jason Bellini takes us to the Iran-Iraq border.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JASON BELLINI, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Today it's hard to imagine a village as quaint and lively as Tuela being anything other than innocent and untouched from violence, unless you've lived here the last 10 years. "You can look how happy they are and they feel freedom and it's much different."
Tuela is located literally within sight of the Iran-Iraq border. After the first Gulf War, the terrorist organization Ansar al-Islam encamped itself in the surrounding mountains, bringing misery to these Kurdish peasants. Most men here were at some point in the last decade imprisoned and/or tortured by Ansar al-Islam. Shopkeepers had to pay extortion just to operate. "People are very happy and we have a lot of customers. Before, we had not too many customers, because they were afraid to come to this area."
During the U.S.-led war to oust Saddam Hussein, Ansar al-Islam was also a target. Most are believed to have either died or have fled across the border to Iran. U.S. soldiers here are treated as heroes. The bad news they're hearing from the villagers, however, is that Ansar al-Islam may be planning a comeback.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: People that have family members on each side, these family members tell other family members what's going on on the other side and what they're saying is Ansar al-Islam is actually building back up.
BELLINI: No fence, only the mountains now stand in their way.
(on camera): It used to be that Kurdish peshmerga militiamen did the job of guarding their border with Iran in villages like Tuela, albeit in a far less organized fashion.
(voice-over): Now, these men who've roam the hills and valleys here for years are being trained as Iraq's new border guard. The training is urgent and necessary, according to the U.S. military. Currently, only 63 trained Iraqi border guards protect a 700 kilometer stretch of the border. Back in Tuela, rumors about Ansar al-Islam are shared on the street. "They're on the other side. We know that and we have information that the Iranian government is helping them."
Here in this small commercial village, villagers believe that the Iraqi border guards will provide Tuela the security it needs. Tuela borders on a painful past and a potentially promising future.
Jason Bellini, CNN, northern Iraq.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
