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Americans, Iraqis Bring Down Saddam Statue
Aired April 09, 2003 - 13:04 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.
WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: CNN's Rula Amin in is Ruwashished, across the border in Jordan, from Iraq. She is standing by. Rula, as someone who has been to Iraq on numerous occasions, covered that story there for many years, this is history unfolding.
RULA AMIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It is history unfolding, Wolf.
Among Iraqis, there is relief and there is anxiety. As the United States troops try to firm their grip on power in Baghdad, Iraqis are trying to come to terms with what is happening.
In the morning, we saw cheering crowds, people in Saddam City. This is an overpopulated, very poor neighborhood in Iraq. About two million people live there, mostly Iraqi Shiites, and they were all joyful at the fact that the Saddam Hussein regime has fallen. They welcome the falling of Saddam Hussein. They cheered at the U.S. troops, and they thanked President Bush. They were overjoyed. They very happy, very excited.
They chanted religious slogans, as well as anti-Saddam Hussein slogan. It was not surprising that those people would express such joy. For years, there had been anti-Saddam sentiments there on the rise, very strong opposition to the regime, but never were they able to express it. Today, they went on streets and they did express it.
They also went on looting. There were looters all over town in Baghdad, government buildings the trade ministry, the U.N. headquarters, universities. They took everything they found, things that were valuable and things that were not very valuable. We saw them taking away plastic flowers, documents, chairs, anything they could find. This also caused alarm among many Iraqi residents in Baghdad, people who have welcomed the removal of Saddam Hussein, but are fearful of what comes next. They are fearful of chaos, on the breakdown of law and order, and they are wondering what will happen next who will take over, will they have a say in controlling their life in determining what is the future next in Iraq? They have been promised democracy, promised that sanctions would be lifted, so many promises. And many of them are trying to see, if these promises are going to be fulfilled. Will Iraq disintegrate, will Iraq be one? So many questions.
In Iraq, we can see definitely that people are relieved that Saddam Hussein is gone, but many are really wondering what is coming next -- Wolf.
BLITZER: Rula Amin, monitoring the situation for us along the border between Jordan and Iraq. Rula, thanks very much. 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 9, 2003 - 13:04 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: CNN's Rula Amin in is Ruwashished, across the border in Jordan, from Iraq. She is standing by. Rula, as someone who has been to Iraq on numerous occasions, covered that story there for many years, this is history unfolding.
RULA AMIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It is history unfolding, Wolf.
Among Iraqis, there is relief and there is anxiety. As the United States troops try to firm their grip on power in Baghdad, Iraqis are trying to come to terms with what is happening.
In the morning, we saw cheering crowds, people in Saddam City. This is an overpopulated, very poor neighborhood in Iraq. About two million people live there, mostly Iraqi Shiites, and they were all joyful at the fact that the Saddam Hussein regime has fallen. They welcome the falling of Saddam Hussein. They cheered at the U.S. troops, and they thanked President Bush. They were overjoyed. They very happy, very excited.
They chanted religious slogans, as well as anti-Saddam Hussein slogan. It was not surprising that those people would express such joy. For years, there had been anti-Saddam sentiments there on the rise, very strong opposition to the regime, but never were they able to express it. Today, they went on streets and they did express it.
They also went on looting. There were looters all over town in Baghdad, government buildings the trade ministry, the U.N. headquarters, universities. They took everything they found, things that were valuable and things that were not very valuable. We saw them taking away plastic flowers, documents, chairs, anything they could find. This also caused alarm among many Iraqi residents in Baghdad, people who have welcomed the removal of Saddam Hussein, but are fearful of what comes next. They are fearful of chaos, on the breakdown of law and order, and they are wondering what will happen next who will take over, will they have a say in controlling their life in determining what is the future next in Iraq? They have been promised democracy, promised that sanctions would be lifted, so many promises. And many of them are trying to see, if these promises are going to be fulfilled. Will Iraq disintegrate, will Iraq be one? So many questions.
In Iraq, we can see definitely that people are relieved that Saddam Hussein is gone, but many are really wondering what is coming next -- Wolf.
BLITZER: Rula Amin, monitoring the situation for us along the border between Jordan and Iraq. Rula, thanks very much. TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
