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Arab Media Looking Towards the Future of Iraq, Its People

Aired April 09, 2003 - 15:57   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.


(AUDIO/VIDEO GAP)
WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: ... yet?

OCTAVIA NASR, CNN CENTER: Yes, that's right. The Arab media are starting to shift the focus now from the celebration, jubilation to the future.

Now the questions are what kind of future lies ahead in front of these Iraqis and so forth. So in comparison when you look at the U.S. networks, we're covering the story. If you watch Arab networks you think that the war is over, Baghdad has fallen. Now what's next? How the coalition forces are going to be able to rebuild Iraq -- Wolf.

BLITZER: And the bottom line as far as coverage. Is there happiness, sadness as far as the downfall of Saddam Hussein is concerned?

NASR: They're trying not to have any expression of, you know, sadness or happiness. They are reporting the story as it is unfolding on the ground. They're reporting heavily on the celebrations. They're trying to understand if these are genuine celebrations and the reporters on the ground are saying, yes, they are. They can't be any more genuine than this.

The coverage right now is focusing on all those experts. The military experts, for example. Abu Dhabi TV had a very nice segment earlier on today when where they talked to their military expert and they asked him, they said, if you were defending Baghdad, what would you have done? And he bluntly said, if I were to defend Baghdad, I would have questioned the political leadership and I would have asked them if this is indeed the last resort.

They're all shocked at the Iraqi military, and how it didn't perform, in their words. They're questioning where those tanks are, where are the Republican army Guard? Lots of questions on Arab TV.

BLITZER: Octavia Nasr monitoring the Arab news channels for us. Octavia, 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 - 15:57   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(AUDIO/VIDEO GAP)
WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: ... yet?

OCTAVIA NASR, CNN CENTER: Yes, that's right. The Arab media are starting to shift the focus now from the celebration, jubilation to the future.

Now the questions are what kind of future lies ahead in front of these Iraqis and so forth. So in comparison when you look at the U.S. networks, we're covering the story. If you watch Arab networks you think that the war is over, Baghdad has fallen. Now what's next? How the coalition forces are going to be able to rebuild Iraq -- Wolf.

BLITZER: And the bottom line as far as coverage. Is there happiness, sadness as far as the downfall of Saddam Hussein is concerned?

NASR: They're trying not to have any expression of, you know, sadness or happiness. They are reporting the story as it is unfolding on the ground. They're reporting heavily on the celebrations. They're trying to understand if these are genuine celebrations and the reporters on the ground are saying, yes, they are. They can't be any more genuine than this.

The coverage right now is focusing on all those experts. The military experts, for example. Abu Dhabi TV had a very nice segment earlier on today when where they talked to their military expert and they asked him, they said, if you were defending Baghdad, what would you have done? And he bluntly said, if I were to defend Baghdad, I would have questioned the political leadership and I would have asked them if this is indeed the last resort.

They're all shocked at the Iraqi military, and how it didn't perform, in their words. They're questioning where those tanks are, where are the Republican army Guard? Lots of questions on Arab TV.

BLITZER: Octavia Nasr monitoring the Arab news channels for us. Octavia, 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