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Soldiers, Iraqis Not All Pleased With Bush's Visit
Aired November 28, 2003 - 10:59 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: A day after the president's surprise trip, more of the same in Iraq today. A mortar attack on the 101st Airborne's headquarters Mosul left a U.S. soldiers dead. And senior international correspondent Walter Rodgers is in Baghdad with the story. Walt, start us off with this hour.
WALTER RODGERS, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Catherine.
Well it was most unrealistic to expect that a 2 1/2 hour visit by George W. Bush to Iraq was going to put a crimp in the attacks launched by Iraq consurgents against U.S. and coalition forces. That was not going to change at all.
Another soldier was, indeed, as you pointed out from 101st Airborne, killed in mortar attack in Mosul. Mosul is of course the headquarters of the 101st Airborne. Another soldier, incidentally, in that was also injured.
Having said that, the reaction among U.S. soldiers generally in Iraq, those at least that close enough to see the president was more than a little favorable. Now remember that was only about 600 soldiers, so there are 130,000 here and more than a few of them were almost indifferent, merely because they didn't get to see the president.
Again, the soldiers who saw him were really elated that the president came because it said that he was willing to take the risks of coming to a war zone. Privately, however, when you told a soldier you were not going to use his name and you asked him to talk to you, they are becoming increasingly disgruntled with their experience here in Iraq.
Several that I talked to immediately after the president's remarks said this place is more dangerous now than it was several months ago when they arrived. And another soldier said, echoing the sentiments of many of his colleagues, All I want to do is get out of here and get out of here alive.
Now the reaction among the Iraqi people, at least here in Baghdad, was very interesting and it was clearly divided.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): We welcome him in Iraq. We just want him to reassure us. We need security here. We want to live in peace and security. UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): To be honest with you, he came and went and no one even knew because the electricity was out. In the morning we heard that he had come. We welcome Bush. And it was a good step on his behalf to rid us of Saddam. But we want a bit more. The American soldiers must treat the Iraqi people with respect.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
RODGERS: Now, one Iraqi with whom we spoke indicated that he took a dim view of the president's visit, particularly the fact that in his words essentially that the president came skulking into town under the cover of darkness and left very quickly. More than a few Iraqis said that they wish the president had spent less time with his army and had tried to make some contacts with the Iraqi people themselves.
You can't please all the people all the time -- Catherine.
CALLAWAY: Some concerned (UNINTELLIGIBLE) Iraqi residents there that he did not address them in any way.
RODGERS: That is true. And perhaps that was too much to expect. But here expectations are I suppose high, in the sense people don't have a lot to hope for. They live very dangerous lives in Economic deprivation.
And the fact the president came here and made no effort to reach out to them on a personal level was an affront to them. Having said that, there are other security considerations. It was probably totally unrealistic of Iraqis to expect that.
But then again they don't understand complex issues like the security surrounding the protection of the president of the United States -- Catherine..
CALLAWAY: All right, Walt, thank you. Walt Rodgers joining us from Baghdad this morning.
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 November 28, 2003 - 10:59 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CATHERINE CALLAWAY, CNN ANCHOR: A day after the president's surprise trip, more of the same in Iraq today. A mortar attack on the 101st Airborne's headquarters Mosul left a U.S. soldiers dead. And senior international correspondent Walter Rodgers is in Baghdad with the story. Walt, start us off with this hour.
WALTER RODGERS, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Catherine.
Well it was most unrealistic to expect that a 2 1/2 hour visit by George W. Bush to Iraq was going to put a crimp in the attacks launched by Iraq consurgents against U.S. and coalition forces. That was not going to change at all.
Another soldier was, indeed, as you pointed out from 101st Airborne, killed in mortar attack in Mosul. Mosul is of course the headquarters of the 101st Airborne. Another soldier, incidentally, in that was also injured.
Having said that, the reaction among U.S. soldiers generally in Iraq, those at least that close enough to see the president was more than a little favorable. Now remember that was only about 600 soldiers, so there are 130,000 here and more than a few of them were almost indifferent, merely because they didn't get to see the president.
Again, the soldiers who saw him were really elated that the president came because it said that he was willing to take the risks of coming to a war zone. Privately, however, when you told a soldier you were not going to use his name and you asked him to talk to you, they are becoming increasingly disgruntled with their experience here in Iraq.
Several that I talked to immediately after the president's remarks said this place is more dangerous now than it was several months ago when they arrived. And another soldier said, echoing the sentiments of many of his colleagues, All I want to do is get out of here and get out of here alive.
Now the reaction among the Iraqi people, at least here in Baghdad, was very interesting and it was clearly divided.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): We welcome him in Iraq. We just want him to reassure us. We need security here. We want to live in peace and security. UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): To be honest with you, he came and went and no one even knew because the electricity was out. In the morning we heard that he had come. We welcome Bush. And it was a good step on his behalf to rid us of Saddam. But we want a bit more. The American soldiers must treat the Iraqi people with respect.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
RODGERS: Now, one Iraqi with whom we spoke indicated that he took a dim view of the president's visit, particularly the fact that in his words essentially that the president came skulking into town under the cover of darkness and left very quickly. More than a few Iraqis said that they wish the president had spent less time with his army and had tried to make some contacts with the Iraqi people themselves.
You can't please all the people all the time -- Catherine.
CALLAWAY: Some concerned (UNINTELLIGIBLE) Iraqi residents there that he did not address them in any way.
RODGERS: That is true. And perhaps that was too much to expect. But here expectations are I suppose high, in the sense people don't have a lot to hope for. They live very dangerous lives in Economic deprivation.
And the fact the president came here and made no effort to reach out to them on a personal level was an affront to them. Having said that, there are other security considerations. It was probably totally unrealistic of Iraqis to expect that.
But then again they don't understand complex issues like the security surrounding the protection of the president of the United States -- Catherine..
CALLAWAY: All right, Walt, thank you. Walt Rodgers joining us from Baghdad this morning.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
