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American Morning
Kirkuk Crowds Topple Saddam Statue
Aired April 10, 2003 - 08:44 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: Let's go to Jane Arraf, who is on the ground not far from where you see the locals in the process of trying to take down yet another statue of Saddam Hussein, this time in Kirkuk.
Jane, what do you see from where you're standing?
JANE ARRAF, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Paula, I have to say first that there Iraqi forces are on the ground here. They are certainly keeping a low profile. What we're mostly seeing are Kurdish Peshmerga, the Kurdish fighters, and crowds, absolute crowds of Kurds who have choked the highways between here and Irbil, an hour's drive away, all afternoon long. Now they have come here piled into the backs of trucks, on motorcycles, in cars, and they're all waving flags of the two main Kurdish parties. A lot of those people have congregated in that main square where we're seeing the statue of Saddam Hussein in tribal dress, very regal that statue.
An amazing sight, actually seeing young Kirkuk men climb up there and beat the face of the statue with that shoe. Now that has been going on for quite some time. They intend, obviously, to topple this statue, but they're having some trouble. A symbol perhaps of exactly how resistance and resilient that symbol of the Iraqi leadership is.
Now, in other parts of the city, we're still parading Peshmerga, the Kurdish fighters, as well as just young people from Irbil going through. On the way out of the city, we were seeing people going the other way, and they were going the other way to whatever they could carry, refrigerators in the backs of trucks, vehicles wheeled away. We had one person had two of his cars stolen, and he said a lot of people had told us, where are all of the Americans in all of this?
Paula.
ZAHN: Jane, we need your help in giving us some context here. Barbara Starr just learning just from the Pentagon that there are apparently eight Army regular force units in northern Iraq right now.
Now you just said you saw Iraqi forces on the ground. Who do you think they represent, one of these units of the regular army forces?
ARRAF: No, we've seen Kurdish forces on the ground. The Iraqi forces are keeping a low profile, and they have been melting away from the frontlines, including from Kirkuk.
Now when we left Irbil earlier, there was a convoy of tanks which we had been seeing, and those were the Abrams tanks, airlifted for the first time. Now the intention is to send American ground troops, if necessary, into places like this. As for the Iraqis, they have essentially, as far as we can see, essentially melted away. There has not been communication apparently between Army Units here in these cities and the rest of Iraq, and as they have retreated, the Kurdish fighters have moved forward to fill the vacuum.
So basically what we've seen in Kirkuk and in other cities is the city essentially falling without real fighting going on, as those Iraqi forces have retreated. The U.S. special forces have come in in small numbers, but mostly, it's the Kurdish forces, and that, again, is why the Turks must be getting a little bit alarmed right now -- Paula.
ZAHN: Well, Jane, as you and I were watching that live picture coming out of Kirkuk, it looked to both of us like it was going to be a long-term project, to bring the statue down. But just in the middle of your last answer, the statue did come down.
ARRAF: Then I know there is a lot of rejoicing over that, but still a lot of apprehension as well. Again, a lot of people on the fringes of that crowd you're seeing we're standing back and watching with some concern, wondering what comes next essentially. Especially as they are watching these convoys of Kurdish fighters parade through the streets with their flags. Now this is a very multiethnic community, and part of why it's always been claimed by so many groups -- it's Kurdish, it's Arab, it's Christian, it's got and of these different groups in there, and particularly, the non-Kurdish population have been telling us this afternoon as we've been standing in that square watching the attempt to topple that statue, that they're a little bit worried about what happens next, if the Americans do not come in in bigger numbers to stabilize the city -- Paula.
ZAHN Jane Arraf, thanks so much.
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 April 10, 2003 - 08:44 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: Let's go to Jane Arraf, who is on the ground not far from where you see the locals in the process of trying to take down yet another statue of Saddam Hussein, this time in Kirkuk.
Jane, what do you see from where you're standing?
JANE ARRAF, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Paula, I have to say first that there Iraqi forces are on the ground here. They are certainly keeping a low profile. What we're mostly seeing are Kurdish Peshmerga, the Kurdish fighters, and crowds, absolute crowds of Kurds who have choked the highways between here and Irbil, an hour's drive away, all afternoon long. Now they have come here piled into the backs of trucks, on motorcycles, in cars, and they're all waving flags of the two main Kurdish parties. A lot of those people have congregated in that main square where we're seeing the statue of Saddam Hussein in tribal dress, very regal that statue.
An amazing sight, actually seeing young Kirkuk men climb up there and beat the face of the statue with that shoe. Now that has been going on for quite some time. They intend, obviously, to topple this statue, but they're having some trouble. A symbol perhaps of exactly how resistance and resilient that symbol of the Iraqi leadership is.
Now, in other parts of the city, we're still parading Peshmerga, the Kurdish fighters, as well as just young people from Irbil going through. On the way out of the city, we were seeing people going the other way, and they were going the other way to whatever they could carry, refrigerators in the backs of trucks, vehicles wheeled away. We had one person had two of his cars stolen, and he said a lot of people had told us, where are all of the Americans in all of this?
Paula.
ZAHN: Jane, we need your help in giving us some context here. Barbara Starr just learning just from the Pentagon that there are apparently eight Army regular force units in northern Iraq right now.
Now you just said you saw Iraqi forces on the ground. Who do you think they represent, one of these units of the regular army forces?
ARRAF: No, we've seen Kurdish forces on the ground. The Iraqi forces are keeping a low profile, and they have been melting away from the frontlines, including from Kirkuk.
Now when we left Irbil earlier, there was a convoy of tanks which we had been seeing, and those were the Abrams tanks, airlifted for the first time. Now the intention is to send American ground troops, if necessary, into places like this. As for the Iraqis, they have essentially, as far as we can see, essentially melted away. There has not been communication apparently between Army Units here in these cities and the rest of Iraq, and as they have retreated, the Kurdish fighters have moved forward to fill the vacuum.
So basically what we've seen in Kirkuk and in other cities is the city essentially falling without real fighting going on, as those Iraqi forces have retreated. The U.S. special forces have come in in small numbers, but mostly, it's the Kurdish forces, and that, again, is why the Turks must be getting a little bit alarmed right now -- Paula.
ZAHN: Well, Jane, as you and I were watching that live picture coming out of Kirkuk, it looked to both of us like it was going to be a long-term project, to bring the statue down. But just in the middle of your last answer, the statue did come down.
ARRAF: Then I know there is a lot of rejoicing over that, but still a lot of apprehension as well. Again, a lot of people on the fringes of that crowd you're seeing we're standing back and watching with some concern, wondering what comes next essentially. Especially as they are watching these convoys of Kurdish fighters parade through the streets with their flags. Now this is a very multiethnic community, and part of why it's always been claimed by so many groups -- it's Kurdish, it's Arab, it's Christian, it's got and of these different groups in there, and particularly, the non-Kurdish population have been telling us this afternoon as we've been standing in that square watching the attempt to topple that statue, that they're a little bit worried about what happens next, if the Americans do not come in in bigger numbers to stabilize the city -- Paula.
ZAHN Jane Arraf, thanks so much.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
