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American Morning
Will Iraq Cooperate When Inspectors Arrive?
Aired November 15, 2002 - 09:02 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.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: As the debate rages on whether inspections will work in Iraq and whether that might ultimately lead to war, you have U.N. chief weapons inspector Hans Blix setting off for Baghdad today. He will meet up with his advance team in Cyprus over the weekend, then head on to the Iraqi capital on Monday.
Will Iraq cooperate when the inspectors arrive? Let's go to Rym Brahimi, who is standing by in Baghdad with the very latest.
Rym, good morning .
RYM BRAHIMI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Paula.
Well, indeed, that's also a big question here, although the answer is pretty much clear from what we're hearing. Now there is a big dilemma among ordinary Iraqis about this cooperation issue. They know, of course, that it's in their interest to cooperate, because they know that the slightest glitch could lead to a bombing, and the last thing they want to see here is another war.
But of course they find it very humiliating, and other people I talked to say, what if they show up in the middle of the night at my house, am I supposed to let them in and not say anything? On the other hand, of course, they have been told and certainly among government officials, government employees have been instructed, I understand, to cooperate as much as possible. That also goes for university professors, school teachers. Even in nurseries, teachers have been asked to cooperate. These are places that before 1998, the previous teams of inspectors used to visit on a regular basis as well, and so everybody is pretty much aware of what the stakes are right now -- Paula.
ZAHN: Do you have much access to any members of the public to see how they are gauging the approach of the inspectors coming in?
BRAHIMI: Yes, Paula. We've been speaking to a few people, and they're quite open about their concern. Of course, there is also what they read in the media. Now the official newspapers have told them that this decision by the leadership to allow inspectors back in and to accept the resolution, despite the fact they say it was a very bad and unfair resolution, will allow them to prevent a war with the U.S. And also they think -- they're hoping, at any rate, that it will help them get the sanctions lifted at one point.
But they are also very worried, because they don't feel this is the end of their problems, now that Iraq has said yes to the U.N. inspections. They feel probably it's the beginning of new problems. ZAHN: Rym Brahimi, thank you for the update.
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Aired November 15, 2002 - 09:02 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: As the debate rages on whether inspections will work in Iraq and whether that might ultimately lead to war, you have U.N. chief weapons inspector Hans Blix setting off for Baghdad today. He will meet up with his advance team in Cyprus over the weekend, then head on to the Iraqi capital on Monday.
Will Iraq cooperate when the inspectors arrive? Let's go to Rym Brahimi, who is standing by in Baghdad with the very latest.
Rym, good morning .
RYM BRAHIMI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Paula.
Well, indeed, that's also a big question here, although the answer is pretty much clear from what we're hearing. Now there is a big dilemma among ordinary Iraqis about this cooperation issue. They know, of course, that it's in their interest to cooperate, because they know that the slightest glitch could lead to a bombing, and the last thing they want to see here is another war.
But of course they find it very humiliating, and other people I talked to say, what if they show up in the middle of the night at my house, am I supposed to let them in and not say anything? On the other hand, of course, they have been told and certainly among government officials, government employees have been instructed, I understand, to cooperate as much as possible. That also goes for university professors, school teachers. Even in nurseries, teachers have been asked to cooperate. These are places that before 1998, the previous teams of inspectors used to visit on a regular basis as well, and so everybody is pretty much aware of what the stakes are right now -- Paula.
ZAHN: Do you have much access to any members of the public to see how they are gauging the approach of the inspectors coming in?
BRAHIMI: Yes, Paula. We've been speaking to a few people, and they're quite open about their concern. Of course, there is also what they read in the media. Now the official newspapers have told them that this decision by the leadership to allow inspectors back in and to accept the resolution, despite the fact they say it was a very bad and unfair resolution, will allow them to prevent a war with the U.S. And also they think -- they're hoping, at any rate, that it will help them get the sanctions lifted at one point.
But they are also very worried, because they don't feel this is the end of their problems, now that Iraq has said yes to the U.N. inspections. They feel probably it's the beginning of new problems. ZAHN: Rym Brahimi, thank you for the update.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
