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Saddam "Beheaded"
Aired December 02, 2003 - 14:02 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.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Coalition officials in Baghdad today declared off with his heads. Four giant busts of Saddam are finally bedecked in warrior's headgear are finally coming down from their lofty perches on a former palace. CNN's Walt Rodgers kept his head long enough to file this report -- Walter.
WALTER RODGERS, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Heidi. With the search for Saddam Hussein going nowhere at least at the present time, the U.S.-led coalition decided it was time to get rid of four of Saddam's monuments to Saddam. Those were huge cast metal heads about 30 feet high, each of them and each weighing about 70 tons.
They were in a royal palace here. And most Iraqis, when they used to go by that palace, would deflect their eyes for fear of being caught looking at the great Saddam. That could have cost them their lives.
Now, these big Saddam heads, which were -- they began to remove them today, actually are illegal in the new Iraq, that is to say symbols of Saddam and the old Ba'athist party are no longer allowed.
Ambassador Paul Bremer who works in the general area said he was glad to see the statues go. Most Iraqis were glad to see them go, but as I said, they probably never saw much of them before and didn't dare look on them.
Incidentally, the headgear on the head of Saddam Hussein's bust over there, that big head, is actually a Muslim warrior's headgear. Saddam, if you look at the intelligence reports, used to imagine himself a great Islamic warrior. Once he imagined himself to be Salahadin, the great 12th century Islamic warrior, the one who threw the crusaders out of Jerusalem. he even imagined himself the Biblical figure Nebuchadnezzar out of ancient Babylon.
Still, most Iraqis know this is all symbolism, perhaps even hollow symbolism because Saddam himself is at large, and for his real head, no one is trying to collect the $25 million reward yet -- Heidi.
COLLINS: Walt, I want to ask you, if we could, about the attack in Samarra. What is the feeling there now as you see it as far as more anger toward Americans after that incident?
RODGERS: Well, the anger in Samarra is growing very seriously because while the Americans say that between 46 and 54 enemy soldiers were killed, the Americans have not produced any bodies. And, of course, when the attackers, the ambushers, began their attack, they had the advantage of surprise. They didn't warn civilians to get out of the streets. The Americans, of course, began firing at those staging the ambush. No one denies there was an ambush.
But in a huge firefight with that with the overwhelming American firepower, more than a few of the bullets went into the homes and businesses of the Iraqis in that town and they're not about to forgive the Americans.
It's much easier to hold a grudge against the Americans in this country. And in that particular part of Iraq, to hold a grudge against Americans than to condemn the Iraqi insurgents -- Heidi.
COLLINS: We've seen that before. Walter Rodgers, thanks so much, live from Baghdad today.
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 December 2, 2003 - 14:02 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Coalition officials in Baghdad today declared off with his heads. Four giant busts of Saddam are finally bedecked in warrior's headgear are finally coming down from their lofty perches on a former palace. CNN's Walt Rodgers kept his head long enough to file this report -- Walter.
WALTER RODGERS, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Heidi. With the search for Saddam Hussein going nowhere at least at the present time, the U.S.-led coalition decided it was time to get rid of four of Saddam's monuments to Saddam. Those were huge cast metal heads about 30 feet high, each of them and each weighing about 70 tons.
They were in a royal palace here. And most Iraqis, when they used to go by that palace, would deflect their eyes for fear of being caught looking at the great Saddam. That could have cost them their lives.
Now, these big Saddam heads, which were -- they began to remove them today, actually are illegal in the new Iraq, that is to say symbols of Saddam and the old Ba'athist party are no longer allowed.
Ambassador Paul Bremer who works in the general area said he was glad to see the statues go. Most Iraqis were glad to see them go, but as I said, they probably never saw much of them before and didn't dare look on them.
Incidentally, the headgear on the head of Saddam Hussein's bust over there, that big head, is actually a Muslim warrior's headgear. Saddam, if you look at the intelligence reports, used to imagine himself a great Islamic warrior. Once he imagined himself to be Salahadin, the great 12th century Islamic warrior, the one who threw the crusaders out of Jerusalem. he even imagined himself the Biblical figure Nebuchadnezzar out of ancient Babylon.
Still, most Iraqis know this is all symbolism, perhaps even hollow symbolism because Saddam himself is at large, and for his real head, no one is trying to collect the $25 million reward yet -- Heidi.
COLLINS: Walt, I want to ask you, if we could, about the attack in Samarra. What is the feeling there now as you see it as far as more anger toward Americans after that incident?
RODGERS: Well, the anger in Samarra is growing very seriously because while the Americans say that between 46 and 54 enemy soldiers were killed, the Americans have not produced any bodies. And, of course, when the attackers, the ambushers, began their attack, they had the advantage of surprise. They didn't warn civilians to get out of the streets. The Americans, of course, began firing at those staging the ambush. No one denies there was an ambush.
But in a huge firefight with that with the overwhelming American firepower, more than a few of the bullets went into the homes and businesses of the Iraqis in that town and they're not about to forgive the Americans.
It's much easier to hold a grudge against the Americans in this country. And in that particular part of Iraq, to hold a grudge against Americans than to condemn the Iraqi insurgents -- Heidi.
COLLINS: We've seen that before. Walter Rodgers, thanks so much, live from Baghdad today.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
