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American Morning

Discussion with Karen Von Hippel

Aired April 11, 2003 - 09:54   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.


DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: We're looking at right now the question of how long Baghdad can go on with no one in charge. In the fast few days, the world has seen the city celebrating, and now it's becoming a capital of chaos, and what exactly is in store for Iraq in the days ahead?
Joining us from London right now is Karen Von Hippel. She is an expert in war zone reconstruction. She worked in Somalia and Kosovo after the conflicts there.

Karen, thanks for joining us.

KAREN VON HIPPEL, KING'S COLLEGE LONDON: Thank you.

KAGAN: Clearly, it looks like we've gone to another stage here, gone from the celebration into an area, into a time period where the people of Baghdad are feeling that they want some kind of calmness. They want some kind of order restored and, yet, what's it going to take for that to happen?

VAN HIPPEL: Well, I think we need to all maintain a bit of perspective here. Looting is not a unique Iraqi behavior. It's typical to all situations when a power vacuum is created. This happened in Panama, after U.S. troops invaded in 1989, and it even happened in the United States after the riots in L.A. and in New York after the blackout. So I just think people need to display a bit of patience. I think that the troops certainly would have anticipated this. They may not have enough people to police everywhere, but they certainly have a plan on how to deal with this.

KAGAN: Well, it's certainly not unique to Iraq, but, Karen, this is a society that has gone from one extreme to another. On one hand, they were under this totalitarian regime, very strict control over not only the entire city of Baghdad, but the entire country. To go into a situation where it is complete chaos, that has to be a shock for these Baghdad people.

VAN HIPPEL: It is a shock, but I think that there is a window of opportunity here. I think we have about several months in which the coalition forces will be given the benefit of the doubt, and people will demonstrate a bit of patience. They do that in these situations. I think that the coalition troops could make greater use of the regular Iraqi army and police forces, those that were weren't tainted, those weren't part of the paramilitaries or the Special Republican Guard. I do think there is trust in the regular army and the regular police in Iraq, and we already saw in Basra that the police were saying, we're ready to go and help you, just let us know. So I think we need a sort of mixed coalition-Iraqi presence on the street to try to restore common order, and I'm sure that will happen very soon.

KAGAN: So you're saying as much as possible involve the Iraqis in restoring order to their own society?

VAN HIPPEL: Yes, I think that's very important, and there are plenty of Iraqis that could help and want to help. I also think that Iraqis themselves are going to show restraint, that this is an initial euphoric period for many people, they're afraid, they're angry, they're happy, and there's a lot of confusion about how to respond, but I think things will calm down. And I certainly think that the coalition forces can help that. They may also want to try to bring in as many international police monitors and police officers as possible. There are a number of them throughout the European Union, and the United States and in Canada, and they can try to bring them in just to restore law and order and try to maintain a symbolic security presence on the streets.

KAGAN: Yes, the role of the international peace peacekeepers is one of the controversial topics on the table. I wish we had much more time for the discussion, but our time is short.

Karen Van Hippel, joining us from London. Thank you 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 11, 2003 - 09:54   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: We're looking at right now the question of how long Baghdad can go on with no one in charge. In the fast few days, the world has seen the city celebrating, and now it's becoming a capital of chaos, and what exactly is in store for Iraq in the days ahead?
Joining us from London right now is Karen Von Hippel. She is an expert in war zone reconstruction. She worked in Somalia and Kosovo after the conflicts there.

Karen, thanks for joining us.

KAREN VON HIPPEL, KING'S COLLEGE LONDON: Thank you.

KAGAN: Clearly, it looks like we've gone to another stage here, gone from the celebration into an area, into a time period where the people of Baghdad are feeling that they want some kind of calmness. They want some kind of order restored and, yet, what's it going to take for that to happen?

VAN HIPPEL: Well, I think we need to all maintain a bit of perspective here. Looting is not a unique Iraqi behavior. It's typical to all situations when a power vacuum is created. This happened in Panama, after U.S. troops invaded in 1989, and it even happened in the United States after the riots in L.A. and in New York after the blackout. So I just think people need to display a bit of patience. I think that the troops certainly would have anticipated this. They may not have enough people to police everywhere, but they certainly have a plan on how to deal with this.

KAGAN: Well, it's certainly not unique to Iraq, but, Karen, this is a society that has gone from one extreme to another. On one hand, they were under this totalitarian regime, very strict control over not only the entire city of Baghdad, but the entire country. To go into a situation where it is complete chaos, that has to be a shock for these Baghdad people.

VAN HIPPEL: It is a shock, but I think that there is a window of opportunity here. I think we have about several months in which the coalition forces will be given the benefit of the doubt, and people will demonstrate a bit of patience. They do that in these situations. I think that the coalition troops could make greater use of the regular Iraqi army and police forces, those that were weren't tainted, those weren't part of the paramilitaries or the Special Republican Guard. I do think there is trust in the regular army and the regular police in Iraq, and we already saw in Basra that the police were saying, we're ready to go and help you, just let us know. So I think we need a sort of mixed coalition-Iraqi presence on the street to try to restore common order, and I'm sure that will happen very soon.

KAGAN: So you're saying as much as possible involve the Iraqis in restoring order to their own society?

VAN HIPPEL: Yes, I think that's very important, and there are plenty of Iraqis that could help and want to help. I also think that Iraqis themselves are going to show restraint, that this is an initial euphoric period for many people, they're afraid, they're angry, they're happy, and there's a lot of confusion about how to respond, but I think things will calm down. And I certainly think that the coalition forces can help that. They may also want to try to bring in as many international police monitors and police officers as possible. There are a number of them throughout the European Union, and the United States and in Canada, and they can try to bring them in just to restore law and order and try to maintain a symbolic security presence on the streets.

KAGAN: Yes, the role of the international peace peacekeepers is one of the controversial topics on the table. I wish we had much more time for the discussion, but our time is short.

Karen Van Hippel, joining us from London. Thank you 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