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CNN Live Today
Iraq: The Next Chapter; The Final Goodbye
Aired October 26, 2005 - 11:33 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: To Iraq now, a grim milestone, 2,000 American military deaths. At home, there is waning public support for the war, but the president's message remains unchanged, no early withdrawal.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Some say perhaps we ought to just pull out of Iraq. That is a foolhardy policy. It's a policy that would invite disaster not only for the Iraqis, but the American citizens. We will not allow Iraq to become a safe haven for the terrorists, we will promote democracy in Iraq and we will lay the foundation of peace for generations to come.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KAGAN: Despite the escalating war, the president sees one bit of light on the horizon. He cites the recent constitutional referendum as a success story in Iraq's road to democracy.
The American public, however, might not be so enthusiastic. Only 40 percent surveyed in a CNN/"USA Today"/Gallup poll believes the U.S. can establish stable government in Iraq. Fifty-six percent say the U.S. will not be able to do just that.
So where does Iraq go from here? A majority of Iraqis said yes to the draft constitution, but the Sunni minority appears to be more alienated than ever.
Our senior international correspondent Nic Robertson files this report from Baghdad.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SR. INTL. CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The constitution passed, declares the headlines, but don't look for dancing in the streets. Democracy and danger advance in near equal measure here.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): Regardless of what I voted in the referendum, I participated seeking law for this country.
ROBERTSON: Almost eight out of every 10 Iraqi voters supported the new constitution. Almost everyone who voted no was a Sunni.
This man, unwilling to talk on camera, told us, I voted no, but I fear if I say that, they'll either kill or harass me because I'm a Sunni. The political calculation, a last-minute deal to tweak the constitution after voting on it, did get Sunnis to the polls, reversing their refusal to engage in politics, but the outcome is raising questions for them.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They feel they were cheated. They feel that the results were doctored.
ROBERTSON: Electoral officials praise themselves, and were praised by international observers for pulling off a relatively safe and fair election.
(on camera): But, warns the U.N. election team, the results indicate political polarization that challenges all Iraqis.
The question now is can Sunni politicians like Mutlak (ph), who this time managed to convince even some insurgents that it's worth giving democracy a chance. But it's now worth Sunnis staying the Democratic course.
(voice-over): The next crucial political step is parliamentary elections in December.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We are going to be in the political process. We are going to resist (INAUDIBLE) for the election. But we are not going to be in the election unless we see an international supported regime.
ROBERTSON: And that, given the violence here, is a lot to ask.
Nic Robertson, CNN, Baghdad.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KAGAN: When it comes to saying the final goodbye to fallen comrades, the military follows a time-honored procedure.
Our Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr joins us now with more on that.
Barbara, hello.
BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Hello to you, Daryn.
Well, whether it is number one or number 2,000, some of the nation's highest ranking military officers are determined to pay their final respects to the nation's war dead.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
STARR (voice-over): So many funerals, so much grief. The Army has been at war in Iraq for nearly three years. And for those three years, it has been burying its dead.
Since the beginning of the war, the Army has assigned a general to each funeral, each time, to render final honors. MAJ. GEN. WAYNE ERCK, U.S. ARMY RESERVE: This particular funeral, Lieutenant Colonel James, was in my division. He was a battalion commander. So I knew him personally. I knew the family personally. And this is the only place I would want to be today, right next to him.
STARR: It's an extraordinary mission for the nation's highest- ranking officers. More than 200 Army generals have now journeyed, often on a moment's notice, to towns across America, meeting widows, moms and dads they may not even know, telling families the Army is sorry for their loss.
MAJ. GEN. GALEN JACKMAN, U.S. ARMY: There is not a general officer in the United States Army who would not drop what they're doing to participate in a funeral.
STARR: Major General Galen Jackman escorted former First Lady Nancy Reagan through President Reagan's funeral. He has now attended four funerals here at Arlington. This senior officers says the heartbreak of death so young is tough for everyone.
JACKMAN: You see them, they're lance corporals and sergeants and private first classes. And so most of these young and women are probably anywhere from about 18 to 23 years old.
STARR: It begins with a phone call from Major Holly Gay, whose job is to make sure there is a general for every family who wants one there. She says it's the hardest job she has ever had.
(on camera): How many funerals have you coordinated for?
MAJ. HOLLY GAY, U.S. ARMY, GENERAL OFFICE MANAGEMENT OFFICE: Too many. Too many.
STARR: Give me a ballpark.
GAY: Well, you know, if it's been about 15 months, over 700.
STARR: The names and faces of the fallen are very personal, even after 2,000 deaths.
STF. SGT. TERRELL GANT, U.S. ARMY, GENERAL OFFICE MANAGEMENT OFFICE: You see some of these young soldiers being in the Army for a year, a couple of months and you see what's actually, how -- the sacrifice they have made and you just always think it could be you.
STARR: One reason for the effort? It keeps senior officers in touch with the grief of a life lost.
GAY: When you go to the funeral, you understand the sacrifices that the soldiers and their families are going through.
STARR: Confronting the last full measure of devotion. The generals say they will keep coming to each funeral for each soldier, for each family.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
STARR: Daryn, we talked to a number of army generals who have don't missions very quietly, very privately. You remember Brigadier General Mark Kimet (ph) from the podium in Baghdad. All of those very public press conferences. Well, he very quietly has done a number of these funeral ceremonies, and he told us one of the toughest moments for him, he was moving down the line of relatives at the grave site, thanking them for the service of their fallen soldier. All the relatives, all the family members, he said, turned and thanked him for coming. He's a pretty tough customer, and he said it was one of the toughest moments in his army career -- Daryn.
KAGAN: A lot of brave souls out there and a lot of special families as well. Barbara, thank you.
Want to get back to our breaking news. That is out of Israel and the coastal town of Hadera. There's been a suicide bombing explosion there and our Guy Raz is just getting to the scene with the latest. Guy, what do you have?
GUY RAZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Daryn, as you mentioned, Hadera, a town about 20 miles north of Tel Aviv, a suicide bomb striking this town just about two hours ago, almost exactly two hours ago. And here the at scene, most of the wounded have been evacuated, but police and forensic teams are here on the scene, gathering evidence, gathering information, and obviously, gathering the wounded.
Now, we understand, as of now, there are five who have died as a result of this blast. The blast claimed by the militant Palestinian group Islamic Jihad. Now, many familiar scenes at these suicide bombings, Daryn. the grim scene of emergency workers, known as a zakakruses (ph), are religious workers, forensic workers, who are picking up all of the human remains. Under Jewish law, all human remains must be buried together. And these are scenes that are playing out again and again.
We're being moved at the moment by some workers, emergency workers with stretchers. But just absolute utter devastation here. A marketplace right in the center of this town, completely gutted. Shattered glass all around and blood stains on the streets here. A very, very grim scene indeed -- Daryn.
KAGAN: Guy Raz, just getting to the scene there in Hadera, Israel. Thank you.
Other news today. From McDonald's, a little something extra with the fries, burger and a drink. Educating consumers and weighing in on the obesity battle. Just what is in that hamburger? You're going to find out whether you want to or not, just ahead.
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KAGAN: The spread of the deadly avian flu tops our "Daily Dose" of health news.
The European Union says that tests have confirmed the presence of the lethal H5N1 strain of bird flu in Croatia. Yesterday, the E.U. commission imposed a temporary ban on imports of live poultry, game and feathers, AS well, from Croatia. According to the World Health Organization, the deadly strain of bird flu has been reported in at least 17 countries since December.
So, you say you want nutritional information with those fries? You're going to get it at McDonald's, starting next year. The fast food chain will include information about the amount of fat and calories from most of its menu items. The nutrition information will be displayed right on the wrapper or the package. The CEO of McDonald's says it's in response to demand by consumers, not consumer groups.
Her play "The Vagina Monologues" became an international phenomenon. And now playwright and author Eve Ensler is on tour with her latest work. She calls "The Good Body." It examines beauty and body image through the eyes of women around the world. The book will be out in paperback next month and it's a play on a six month, 20 city tour.
In the middle of all that, I had a chance to talk with Eve Ensler about the project and how it came about.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
EVE ENSLER, PLAYWRIGHT/AUTHOR/PERFORMER: It began with me obsessing about my not flat, post-40 stomach, and that...
KAGAN: Even you, the woman that has tried through your work to try to teach all of us women to love all parts of our body, even you were obsessing about your stomach?
ENSLER: Well, I think it's an indication of the power of the infiltration of all these elements in the world, whether they be media or patriarchy or all kinds of mandates for women to be good, that it impacts all of us. I have not escaped. No, indeed I haven't. And I think part of what was really surprising me is to be a feminist for all these years and to still be obsessing about my not-so-flat post-40 stomach. That's what began this journey and this search for me, which took me around the world looking at why women spend as much money and time and attention as we do focusing on fixing our bodies.
KAGAN: And, so, that is something that you do well, you journey well and you go around the world and talk to women well. And you did the range, you say "from Botox to burkas." We, as women, no matter where you go around the world, are doing something to change ourselves.
ENSLER: Yes. I think one of the things that really struck me on this particular journey and piece was how dangerously distracted women have become and how we are all fixing this one country, which is our body, and managing it and renovating it and changing it, while in a way, everybody else running the world.
And I think one of the main reasons I'm doing this tour of the show is that so women really begin to redirect their attentions, their power, their energy towards fixing the world rather than fixing something which isn't broken called our bodies.
KAGAN: So as you went around the world and you visited with women from different cultures and you were looking at things like what's their concept of beauty and desire, do you find that that changes from culture to culture?
ENSLER: It definitely changes from culture to culture. I think, you know, in some cultures women are tightening, and some they're lightening and some they're flattening, and some they're -- but I think there's one theme that's pervasive everywhere, which is there is this kind of mandate to be good, which means to thin, to be flat, to be blond, to be disappeared, to be quiet, to be passive, and it manifests in the way women are taught to regulate, and change and comply with their bodies.
And I think the theme that's running through the piece is that maybe we should opt to be great, as opposed to being good, which would mean that we were messy, and here and present with voice, with power, as opposed to being tiny, and little, and disappeared, and passive and waiting for somebody to determine our lives.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KAGAN: A portion of the proceeds from the tour will benefit V- Day. That's a global movement to end violence against women and girls. Find out about the campaign more at vday.org.
We're going to have a check of business news coming up next, how the day on Wall Street is playing out, just after this.
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(STOCK MARKET REPORT)
(WEATHER REPORT)
KAGAN: Good to have you with us today. I'm Daryn Kagan. International news is up next. Stay tuned for YOUR WORLD TODAY. Michael Holmes and Andrea Koppel have the duty today. That's coming for you after a quick break.
And I will see you tomorrow morning.
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