Return to Transcripts main page
CNN Live Saturday
Thousands of Anti-War Demonstrators Take to Streets of Paris
Aired March 15, 2003 - 14:37 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.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: A call for peace in Paris. Tens of thousands of anti-war protesters are taking to the streets of the French capital today. They're also supporting a government which has decided not to support any U.S.-led war on Iraq. But CNN's Jim Bittermann explains, some French are concerned about American backlash.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JIM BITTERMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Another Saturday, and by the thousands, demonstrators took to the streets of Paris to protest America's war plan. If the insults and threats from the U.S. are having an effect, Frenchmen in the street certainly are not showing it.
According to a French poll last week, seven out of 10 here agree with its government threat to veto any U.N. resolution sanctioning immediate war in Iraq. The insults from the other side of the Atlantic, some said, come from people who are misinformed or disinformed by their government.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: People who are informed don't think like Bush.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The war against Iraq is also a war against united Europe.
BITTERMANN: Unclear for some is what has made Americans so upset with a government which has a different opinion.
(on camera): Something which perplexes many French is why they're being singled out for criticism by the Americans when the governments of other countries on the U.N. Security Council, governments which represent more than 1.5 billion people worldwide are just as opposed to the Iraq war.
(voice-over): President Jacques Chirac simply shrugs off the threats of boycotts directed at France. Many of his countrymen would, no doubt, do the same. Besides, it's too early to tell if the threats are real.
Still, those who export cheese or wine don't want to see Americans turning up their noses at French products, and the tourist industry, knowing France is always one of the top travel designations for Americans, doesn't want to fall out of favor.
But no one in the business community here has suggested the government should change its policy.
Someone like Jean-Michel Gondak (ph), sales manager for a copper products company, worries that orders might suffer. But he says international politics is the government's business. And he points to a reality in a globalized world. The stock in his French company is mostly owned by American banks and pension funds.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It means that, for us, possible boycott, you know, French companies wouldn't make much sense, because the less products we sell, the less money we make and it won't make our owners, who are Americans, happy.
BITTERMANN: From concerts for peace to candlelight vigils, those against war in Iraq have kept busy lately. But some would echo what their president says -- sometimes your closest friend is not someone who agrees with you, but who tries to stop you from doing something wrong.
Jim Bittermann, CNN, Paris.
(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
Paris>
Aired March 15, 2003 - 14:37 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: A call for peace in Paris. Tens of thousands of anti-war protesters are taking to the streets of the French capital today. They're also supporting a government which has decided not to support any U.S.-led war on Iraq. But CNN's Jim Bittermann explains, some French are concerned about American backlash.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JIM BITTERMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Another Saturday, and by the thousands, demonstrators took to the streets of Paris to protest America's war plan. If the insults and threats from the U.S. are having an effect, Frenchmen in the street certainly are not showing it.
According to a French poll last week, seven out of 10 here agree with its government threat to veto any U.N. resolution sanctioning immediate war in Iraq. The insults from the other side of the Atlantic, some said, come from people who are misinformed or disinformed by their government.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: People who are informed don't think like Bush.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The war against Iraq is also a war against united Europe.
BITTERMANN: Unclear for some is what has made Americans so upset with a government which has a different opinion.
(on camera): Something which perplexes many French is why they're being singled out for criticism by the Americans when the governments of other countries on the U.N. Security Council, governments which represent more than 1.5 billion people worldwide are just as opposed to the Iraq war.
(voice-over): President Jacques Chirac simply shrugs off the threats of boycotts directed at France. Many of his countrymen would, no doubt, do the same. Besides, it's too early to tell if the threats are real.
Still, those who export cheese or wine don't want to see Americans turning up their noses at French products, and the tourist industry, knowing France is always one of the top travel designations for Americans, doesn't want to fall out of favor.
But no one in the business community here has suggested the government should change its policy.
Someone like Jean-Michel Gondak (ph), sales manager for a copper products company, worries that orders might suffer. But he says international politics is the government's business. And he points to a reality in a globalized world. The stock in his French company is mostly owned by American banks and pension funds.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It means that, for us, possible boycott, you know, French companies wouldn't make much sense, because the less products we sell, the less money we make and it won't make our owners, who are Americans, happy.
BITTERMANN: From concerts for peace to candlelight vigils, those against war in Iraq have kept busy lately. But some would echo what their president says -- sometimes your closest friend is not someone who agrees with you, but who tries to stop you from doing something wrong.
Jim Bittermann, CNN, Paris.
(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
Paris>
