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The New Iraq: Deadly Attacks

Aired October 13, 2003 - 13:34   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.


MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Terror in the heart of Baghdad. Two more deadly attacks in American soldiers in and around Tikrit are raising questions, at home and in Iraq, about Washington's ability to stop the bloodshed there.
Joining me now to talk about the violence and telling us about life in Iraq, a couple of our favorite friends who are in the house today, Ingrid Formanek and Nic Robertson, fresh from Baghdad, on a visit to Atlanta.

Good to have you both with us.

Ingrid is bureau chief there now.

INGRID FORMANEK, CNN PRODUCER: Now producer.

O'BRIEN: Producer. She's the boss. When she's there, she's the boss, and here's Nic as well, of course who you've seen. And they were there, of course, all throughout the war, and you remember that well.

First of all, let's just talk everyday life situation in Iraq. I'm just curious the stuff we're not getting on the air about just daily life for Iraqis.

You first, Ingrid. What are you seeing there? Are you seeing improvement?

FORMANEK: Well, there's some improvement, in that there is more electricity now than there used to be. I mean, those services are improving slowly.

But there is also great frustration, because the Iraqis aren't able to carry on with day to day life until the security situation improves, which means there is problems having hospitals. Doctors won't go to hospitals unless they feel safe going there. Schools are opening, but parents are reluctant to send their children to school, again, because they're afraid of kidnappings, of rapes. Many university-age women have body guards that go to lectures with them.

So until you get a security situation improved, the quality of life will stay as it is, because they cannot get on with the life.

Importing goods into the country -- the highway from Jordan to Baghdad is so dangerous that it's going to be difficult for any businessman or merchant to actually bring something to the country, to import or export. So until the security situation improves for the Iraqis, it's very, very tough.

O'BRIEN: Nic, it's such a vicious cycle when you start talking about these things. Is it something that requires money, more personnel or both?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SR. INTL. CORRESPONDENT: Oh, absolutely it requires both. It requires more personnel, because the job that the coalition is doing there is a very, very difficult job.

We do see improvements on the streets. The curb stones have been painted. The garbage is being picked up. The place looks tidier, and there are improvements. The stores stay open in some neighborhoods a little later in the evenings.

But ask Iraqis and from our own personal knowledge of Baghdad and Iraq, it's not like it was before the war, and of course, that's what Iraq is measured against. Oh, I haven't been out to go out in the evening since before the war, and that's what they measure it against. Yes, it's going to take more people. Yes, it's going to take more money. It's going to take -- the real thing that it will take is absolute commitment. Once that corner turns, the security corner turns, and people's perception, the life is picking up and getting better, I think we'll see a dramatic change, but it is getting around that perception.

O'BRIEN: That's a tough corner to turn. Let's get a couple of e-mails in, some folks have been sending in.

Richard Alabama has this one. I don't know if Richard is planning a trip, but here we go: "What kind of people are given visas to visit Iraq. Who's issuing them. Can anyone go?"

FORMANEK: Well, for right now, if you have the guts to do it, you can go pretty much. The problem is getting in and out because there's insecurity on the roads. So it's a physical problem, but there's nobody issuing visas for right now, unlike the old days, when it was very tough to get a visa.

O'BRIEN: So do you have a job for Richard?

FORMANEK: Well, If he's got the strength to do it, absolutely.

O'BRIEN: Let's go to Michael in Oil City, Pennsylvania, who has this: "The White House insists that the media is responsible for the negative perception most Americans have in regards to Iraq. Is that a fair statement, or did they miscalculate the Iraq resistance?"

That's a very big question, Nic. Why don't you try first?

ROBERTSON: Well, it is a very big question. I think there's no doubt about it at all. The U.S.-led coalition absolutely expected there to be resistance. Perhaps what they didn't expect is the resistance would take root and get a popularity among people. That popularity is exhibited in people saying, well, we don't want the occupation. It's not that people are directly opposed to the U.S. troops being there. They just said we don't want an occupation. So although then they wouldn't go out and fight them, whenever the resistance does something, it gets this kind of popular support. That's kind of surprising.

Are we painting a negative picture? No, we're not. We're covering the news events of the day. The other week, for example, and I went to go out on another story. Before I could even get there, there was a call that a bomb that had gone out in the U.N. headquarters again. So you could sort of divert from the so-called good news stories. It's like any issue in any country, we'll cover the big stories, the things that are making news, the things that are important to the U.S. troops, the things that are important to the Iraqi citizens, and so many of them do seem to have negative connotations, but we're laying it out there as it happens.

O'BRIEN: It's a lot like the argument you hear when crime coverage domestically. We cover crimes because there are news, and violence in Iraq of course remains news.

Ingrid, you tell a story, sort of a similar one, on your way to cover the school house being painted or whatever, and you get diverted. As you start your day, you probably want to tell the positive stories, right?

FORMANEK: Absolutely. You don't want to -- there goes the microphone, can't do my job without the microphone.

Let's try that again. All right.

You do make an attempt to go out and tell all of the stories that are happening in Iraq. And yes, there are some improvements. But how do you balance a school being painted with a bomb going off and American soldiers being injured or hurt or Iraqis being injured or hurt. So it's very difficult to get this balance going. But I have no doubt that what we're (UNINTELLIGIBLE) from Baghdad, from our area, is an absolutely honest picture and a true picture of what is happening in Iraq.

O'BRIEN: So it's really events that are overtaking it, as opposed to the journalist.

ROBERTSON: Well, if we just looked at the last few months, for example, the coalition was saying a few months ago that the average number of attacks against U.S. troops, coalition troops, was perhaps 10, 12 attacks a day.

Now they're putting the figure in the low 20s. So we can see this progression over the last few months.

O'BRIEN: All right. Thank you both very much for being with us. Thanks for your e-mails. We appreciate it. Ingrid Formanek, Nic Robertson, in the house today. Safe journeys back to Baghdad. We look forward to seeing you from there. Be careful out there.

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 October 13, 2003 - 13:34   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Terror in the heart of Baghdad. Two more deadly attacks in American soldiers in and around Tikrit are raising questions, at home and in Iraq, about Washington's ability to stop the bloodshed there.
Joining me now to talk about the violence and telling us about life in Iraq, a couple of our favorite friends who are in the house today, Ingrid Formanek and Nic Robertson, fresh from Baghdad, on a visit to Atlanta.

Good to have you both with us.

Ingrid is bureau chief there now.

INGRID FORMANEK, CNN PRODUCER: Now producer.

O'BRIEN: Producer. She's the boss. When she's there, she's the boss, and here's Nic as well, of course who you've seen. And they were there, of course, all throughout the war, and you remember that well.

First of all, let's just talk everyday life situation in Iraq. I'm just curious the stuff we're not getting on the air about just daily life for Iraqis.

You first, Ingrid. What are you seeing there? Are you seeing improvement?

FORMANEK: Well, there's some improvement, in that there is more electricity now than there used to be. I mean, those services are improving slowly.

But there is also great frustration, because the Iraqis aren't able to carry on with day to day life until the security situation improves, which means there is problems having hospitals. Doctors won't go to hospitals unless they feel safe going there. Schools are opening, but parents are reluctant to send their children to school, again, because they're afraid of kidnappings, of rapes. Many university-age women have body guards that go to lectures with them.

So until you get a security situation improved, the quality of life will stay as it is, because they cannot get on with the life.

Importing goods into the country -- the highway from Jordan to Baghdad is so dangerous that it's going to be difficult for any businessman or merchant to actually bring something to the country, to import or export. So until the security situation improves for the Iraqis, it's very, very tough.

O'BRIEN: Nic, it's such a vicious cycle when you start talking about these things. Is it something that requires money, more personnel or both?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SR. INTL. CORRESPONDENT: Oh, absolutely it requires both. It requires more personnel, because the job that the coalition is doing there is a very, very difficult job.

We do see improvements on the streets. The curb stones have been painted. The garbage is being picked up. The place looks tidier, and there are improvements. The stores stay open in some neighborhoods a little later in the evenings.

But ask Iraqis and from our own personal knowledge of Baghdad and Iraq, it's not like it was before the war, and of course, that's what Iraq is measured against. Oh, I haven't been out to go out in the evening since before the war, and that's what they measure it against. Yes, it's going to take more people. Yes, it's going to take more money. It's going to take -- the real thing that it will take is absolute commitment. Once that corner turns, the security corner turns, and people's perception, the life is picking up and getting better, I think we'll see a dramatic change, but it is getting around that perception.

O'BRIEN: That's a tough corner to turn. Let's get a couple of e-mails in, some folks have been sending in.

Richard Alabama has this one. I don't know if Richard is planning a trip, but here we go: "What kind of people are given visas to visit Iraq. Who's issuing them. Can anyone go?"

FORMANEK: Well, for right now, if you have the guts to do it, you can go pretty much. The problem is getting in and out because there's insecurity on the roads. So it's a physical problem, but there's nobody issuing visas for right now, unlike the old days, when it was very tough to get a visa.

O'BRIEN: So do you have a job for Richard?

FORMANEK: Well, If he's got the strength to do it, absolutely.

O'BRIEN: Let's go to Michael in Oil City, Pennsylvania, who has this: "The White House insists that the media is responsible for the negative perception most Americans have in regards to Iraq. Is that a fair statement, or did they miscalculate the Iraq resistance?"

That's a very big question, Nic. Why don't you try first?

ROBERTSON: Well, it is a very big question. I think there's no doubt about it at all. The U.S.-led coalition absolutely expected there to be resistance. Perhaps what they didn't expect is the resistance would take root and get a popularity among people. That popularity is exhibited in people saying, well, we don't want the occupation. It's not that people are directly opposed to the U.S. troops being there. They just said we don't want an occupation. So although then they wouldn't go out and fight them, whenever the resistance does something, it gets this kind of popular support. That's kind of surprising.

Are we painting a negative picture? No, we're not. We're covering the news events of the day. The other week, for example, and I went to go out on another story. Before I could even get there, there was a call that a bomb that had gone out in the U.N. headquarters again. So you could sort of divert from the so-called good news stories. It's like any issue in any country, we'll cover the big stories, the things that are making news, the things that are important to the U.S. troops, the things that are important to the Iraqi citizens, and so many of them do seem to have negative connotations, but we're laying it out there as it happens.

O'BRIEN: It's a lot like the argument you hear when crime coverage domestically. We cover crimes because there are news, and violence in Iraq of course remains news.

Ingrid, you tell a story, sort of a similar one, on your way to cover the school house being painted or whatever, and you get diverted. As you start your day, you probably want to tell the positive stories, right?

FORMANEK: Absolutely. You don't want to -- there goes the microphone, can't do my job without the microphone.

Let's try that again. All right.

You do make an attempt to go out and tell all of the stories that are happening in Iraq. And yes, there are some improvements. But how do you balance a school being painted with a bomb going off and American soldiers being injured or hurt or Iraqis being injured or hurt. So it's very difficult to get this balance going. But I have no doubt that what we're (UNINTELLIGIBLE) from Baghdad, from our area, is an absolutely honest picture and a true picture of what is happening in Iraq.

O'BRIEN: So it's really events that are overtaking it, as opposed to the journalist.

ROBERTSON: Well, if we just looked at the last few months, for example, the coalition was saying a few months ago that the average number of attacks against U.S. troops, coalition troops, was perhaps 10, 12 attacks a day.

Now they're putting the figure in the low 20s. So we can see this progression over the last few months.

O'BRIEN: All right. Thank you both very much for being with us. Thanks for your e-mails. We appreciate it. Ingrid Formanek, Nic Robertson, in the house today. Safe journeys back to Baghdad. We look forward to seeing you from there. Be careful out there.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com