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American Morning
Escalating Tensions in Iraq
Aired December 24, 2002 - 07:09 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.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: We want to get to the latest now on Iraq again. The tensions continue overseas right now. Yesterday, Baghdad shot down an unmanned U.S. aircraft, an unmanned Predator, flying over southern Iraq, just southeast of Baghdad, adding now to its already long list of hostile acts against allied forces.
Rym Brahimi now live in Baghdad with more on this, and what also is taking place with the latest round of inspections.
Rym -- hello. Good afternoon to you there.
RYM BRAHIMI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, hello, Bill.
Well, indeed, they broadcast pictures actually last night, Bill, of this unmanned plane that was shot down, or what was left of it at any rate. And the commentary when they broadcast those pictures, Bill, was, "These are the planes that the American enemy uses to spy on our civilian and military installations."
This morning, the newspaper headlines hailing this as a heroic act, interestingly enough, Bill, saying that this was an act of bravery and heroism on the part of Iraq's air force and air defense, indicating perhaps that it was indeed a joint action. The plane must have been hit in that case, if that's the case, by both a plane and a surface-to-air missile, an anti-aircraft missile.
So, a lot of newspaper reaction in the headlines this morning.
It's not the first time, though, as you know, that this has happened, and it's something that Iraqis look at as something as a good thing. They believe that the no-fly zones that are patrolled by U.S. and British planes in the south and the north of the country are illegal, that they're not included in any UN resolution, and therefore that they violate Iraq's national sovereignty.
So, they believe it's in their full right to do that. And, of course, they feel that, you know, against (ph) the U.S. with all of its high technology this is a big victory.
Now, moving on to the inspections, Bill, there's been inspections today, although this is Christmas Eve, a lot of different directions, at least nine different sites from what we hear so far. One team seems to have headed south in the direction of Basra, that's about a five-hour drive south of Baghdad. So, they're very active. They plan to work tomorrow on Christmas Day, and they're still very, very busy working on how to get those interviews -- Bill. HEMMER: Rym, in this country, we've been reporting on the U.S. military exercises taking place in northern Kuwait. Do these exercises get any play there in Baghdad?
BRAHIMI: You know, they do, obviously not pictures, Bill, because that's not really acceptable here. But a lot of the press, the media here, the state-run media mentions those exercises. And it also comes out, Bill, in the words of the president when the president is reported, for instance, to have met with officials, well, they say the president said -- denounced what he said was an American-British- Zionist aggression, referring to that buildup in the Gulf.
Last night, you know, Vice Prime Minister Tariq Aziz was addressing a group of Arab solidarity representatives, and he told them this whole buildup is a very public buildup, and it's aimed at threatening not only Iraq, but the rest of the region and the entire Arab world from east to west. So, they are being told that this is happening, of course with their spin on it -- Bill.
HEMMER: Rym, thanks -- Rym Brahimi again in the Iraqi capital. Thanks, Rym.
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 24, 2002 - 07:09 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: We want to get to the latest now on Iraq again. The tensions continue overseas right now. Yesterday, Baghdad shot down an unmanned U.S. aircraft, an unmanned Predator, flying over southern Iraq, just southeast of Baghdad, adding now to its already long list of hostile acts against allied forces.
Rym Brahimi now live in Baghdad with more on this, and what also is taking place with the latest round of inspections.
Rym -- hello. Good afternoon to you there.
RYM BRAHIMI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, hello, Bill.
Well, indeed, they broadcast pictures actually last night, Bill, of this unmanned plane that was shot down, or what was left of it at any rate. And the commentary when they broadcast those pictures, Bill, was, "These are the planes that the American enemy uses to spy on our civilian and military installations."
This morning, the newspaper headlines hailing this as a heroic act, interestingly enough, Bill, saying that this was an act of bravery and heroism on the part of Iraq's air force and air defense, indicating perhaps that it was indeed a joint action. The plane must have been hit in that case, if that's the case, by both a plane and a surface-to-air missile, an anti-aircraft missile.
So, a lot of newspaper reaction in the headlines this morning.
It's not the first time, though, as you know, that this has happened, and it's something that Iraqis look at as something as a good thing. They believe that the no-fly zones that are patrolled by U.S. and British planes in the south and the north of the country are illegal, that they're not included in any UN resolution, and therefore that they violate Iraq's national sovereignty.
So, they believe it's in their full right to do that. And, of course, they feel that, you know, against (ph) the U.S. with all of its high technology this is a big victory.
Now, moving on to the inspections, Bill, there's been inspections today, although this is Christmas Eve, a lot of different directions, at least nine different sites from what we hear so far. One team seems to have headed south in the direction of Basra, that's about a five-hour drive south of Baghdad. So, they're very active. They plan to work tomorrow on Christmas Day, and they're still very, very busy working on how to get those interviews -- Bill. HEMMER: Rym, in this country, we've been reporting on the U.S. military exercises taking place in northern Kuwait. Do these exercises get any play there in Baghdad?
BRAHIMI: You know, they do, obviously not pictures, Bill, because that's not really acceptable here. But a lot of the press, the media here, the state-run media mentions those exercises. And it also comes out, Bill, in the words of the president when the president is reported, for instance, to have met with officials, well, they say the president said -- denounced what he said was an American-British- Zionist aggression, referring to that buildup in the Gulf.
Last night, you know, Vice Prime Minister Tariq Aziz was addressing a group of Arab solidarity representatives, and he told them this whole buildup is a very public buildup, and it's aimed at threatening not only Iraq, but the rest of the region and the entire Arab world from east to west. So, they are being told that this is happening, of course with their spin on it -- Bill.
HEMMER: Rym, thanks -- Rym Brahimi again in the Iraqi capital. Thanks, Rym.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
