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Iraqi Exiles in U.S. Making Plans for Post Saddam Hussein Iraq

Aired April 05, 2003 - 09:18   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: Some Iraqi exiles in the U.S. are already making plans for an Iraq in which Saddam Hussein is out of the picture. But it's work that could put their lives on the line.
Rusty Dornin has that for us.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RUSTY DORNIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Iraqi-American John Kano (ph) keeps the turbines up and running at this agricultural facility in Stockton, California, expertise the U.S. government wants to put to use in postwar Iraq.

Kano and some 180 other so-called free Iraqis worldwide have been asked by the U.S. State Department to help rebuild Iraq. His job is to keep the electricity on.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We don't know all the information as to what is left standing, but we are prepared to -- I mean, sometimes it's going to be better and cheaper to start from scratch and rebuild a whole new power plant from nothing.

DORNIN: It's called the Future of Iraq Project, and Kano spent the last few weeks spreading the word at home.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The Future of Iraq Project is a blueprint for a country.

DORNIN: And there are others from here who are also part of the project.

In the nearby town of Ceres, against the California sky looms what looks like an exotic fortress, the Assyrian Cultural Center, dedicated to the indigenous people of Iraq. Inside, an all-American pastime, bingo.

For the last decade, the bucks from bingo operation have in part been used to stir up anti-Saddam feelings inside Iraq. That's Sargon Dodesho's (ph) idea. Dodesho and his family fled Iraqi oppression in 1965. Now he's using the bingo money to fund a satellite TV channel that has been beaming anti-Hussein programs into Iraq.

(on camera): Are people seeing this in Iraq?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All the time. All the time. We get calls from Iraq, different parts of Iraq. DORNIN (voice-over): But this story isn't over yet. His programming angered the regime so much that this man, posing as an Iraqi singer, was sent to assassinate Dodesho 12 years ago. The FBI uncovered the plot, the would-be assassin went to jail, and a federal court awarded Dodesho $1.5 million from the Iraq government, so far uncollected.

So for Dodesho, revenge could be really sweet after the dictator is toppled.

(on camera): Are you going to go to Iraq?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I will go to Iraq.

DORNIN: To do what?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's my homeland. Whatever is asked of me, I will do.

DORNIN (voice-over): Two men and the Future of Iraq Project waiting to serve two countries they both call home.

Rusty Dornin, CNN, Ceres, California.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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




Iraq>


Aired April 5, 2003 - 09:18   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Some Iraqi exiles in the U.S. are already making plans for an Iraq in which Saddam Hussein is out of the picture. But it's work that could put their lives on the line.
Rusty Dornin has that for us.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RUSTY DORNIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Iraqi-American John Kano (ph) keeps the turbines up and running at this agricultural facility in Stockton, California, expertise the U.S. government wants to put to use in postwar Iraq.

Kano and some 180 other so-called free Iraqis worldwide have been asked by the U.S. State Department to help rebuild Iraq. His job is to keep the electricity on.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We don't know all the information as to what is left standing, but we are prepared to -- I mean, sometimes it's going to be better and cheaper to start from scratch and rebuild a whole new power plant from nothing.

DORNIN: It's called the Future of Iraq Project, and Kano spent the last few weeks spreading the word at home.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The Future of Iraq Project is a blueprint for a country.

DORNIN: And there are others from here who are also part of the project.

In the nearby town of Ceres, against the California sky looms what looks like an exotic fortress, the Assyrian Cultural Center, dedicated to the indigenous people of Iraq. Inside, an all-American pastime, bingo.

For the last decade, the bucks from bingo operation have in part been used to stir up anti-Saddam feelings inside Iraq. That's Sargon Dodesho's (ph) idea. Dodesho and his family fled Iraqi oppression in 1965. Now he's using the bingo money to fund a satellite TV channel that has been beaming anti-Hussein programs into Iraq.

(on camera): Are people seeing this in Iraq?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All the time. All the time. We get calls from Iraq, different parts of Iraq. DORNIN (voice-over): But this story isn't over yet. His programming angered the regime so much that this man, posing as an Iraqi singer, was sent to assassinate Dodesho 12 years ago. The FBI uncovered the plot, the would-be assassin went to jail, and a federal court awarded Dodesho $1.5 million from the Iraq government, so far uncollected.

So for Dodesho, revenge could be really sweet after the dictator is toppled.

(on camera): Are you going to go to Iraq?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I will go to Iraq.

DORNIN: To do what?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's my homeland. Whatever is asked of me, I will do.

DORNIN (voice-over): Two men and the Future of Iraq Project waiting to serve two countries they both call home.

Rusty Dornin, CNN, Ceres, California.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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




Iraq>