Return to Transcripts main page
American Morning
Is U.S. Moving Fast Enough to Bring Help to Iraqis?
Aired May 09, 2003 - 08:15 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: Overseas in Baghdad, security still a major concern there, a fact acknowledged by the commander of the coalition ground forces operating there.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LT. GEN. DAVID MCKIERNAN, COMMANDER OF OPERATIONS: And there is a lot of work still to be done to create the right environment of safety and security within Iraq. There is still crime. There's still looting. There's still a large percentage of young ex-military Iraqis that need to be put back to work, need to earn a salary and be part of the solution.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HEMMER: Clearly, there is a lot to do in the next weeks and months to come.
Is the U.S. moving fast enough, though, to bring help to Iraqis? And are they being patient enough on the ground in Baghdad and Basra and other major cities?
Con Coughlin, author of "Saddam: King of Terror," executive editor of the "London Sunday Telegraph," has been our guest many times here on AMERICAN MORNING.
Con is our guest now from the Palestine Hotel live in Baghdad.
Con, welcome back.
I know you've been there about three days.
Your assessment right now of what you are seeing in the Iraqi capital with regard to electricity, power and water?
CON COUGHLIN, AUTHOR, "SADDAM: KING OF TERROR": Hi, there, Bill.
Great to be with you again.
Well, my assessment actually is, it's rather depressing, actually. The, I think the CENTCOM people have got it right. There's still a lot of work to be done here and my fear is that the coalition forces have won the military campaign, but they have not yet won the battle for hearts and minds. And there's a lot of frustration and even resentment building up in Baghdad, certainly, at the slowness that -- at the slow pace of getting things working, getting the electricity back on.
This is the, this country has the second largest oil reserves in the world and there's no petrol. I mean these are things that have to be addressed. And the security situation is dreadful here. It reminds me of Beirut in the 1980s when I was a correspondent there. And at night there's a curfew. There are gun battles. The streets aren't safe.
And the majority of Iraqi citizens here, middle class, well to do people, they have nice houses, nice families, a nice way of life, and they, you know, they feel very threatened.
HEMMER: So we have to wonder, then, what is the level of patience that the Iraqi people will give the United States military in terms of establishing more security there.
You had two incidents yesterday, Con. You had a sniper take out a U.S. soldier on a bridge. You had another U.S. soldier shot at point blank range with a pistol by an Iraqi there, as well.
How much interaction have you observed between members of the army and the regular Iraqi people on the streets? COUGHLIN: There's not a lot of interaction, actually, Bill. You see the American patrols all over the place, but they keep themselves to themselves in the main. And this morning I was up to Saddam's presidential compound and there are lots of American troops there. But you get the feeling that they're very happy there, amongst their own, and they don't want to be out amongst the Iraqi people. And I think, you know, they've got to break down these barriers.
Of course, the Iraqi people are not exactly helping the situation. But you have to remember, and this is nothing new, Bill, the Iraqis are a fierce nationalistic people. They've never taken kindly to outsiders interfering in their affairs. The British found this out after the First World War, when we established a monarchy. You know, they booted us out. They didn't like it. And they're very grateful that Saddam's been got rid of. But there's a dangerous political vacuum here. There's a lot of lawlessness and there's a lot of frustration.
HEMMER: Con, you are describing what amounts to a situation that is going to take an awful lot of time. If you think about it right now, this is truly a modern day Marshal Plan, when you talk about repairing the trains, repairing the dams, getting the schools up and running again. I think about a third of the school students have actually gone back to school. There's a great fear of, a fear of insecurity, with the parents sending their children back to school.
But ultimately what have you been able to gauge based on the level of patience the Iraqi people have for this project? COUGHLIN: Well, the Iraqi people will be very patient about getting the political system going. And frankly a lot of the infrastructure is intact. I mean the bombing during the war was carefully targeted at regime buildings. So there's not a lot of that left. But in terms of roads and things like this, and hospitals, they're all there. I think that the first priority must be to get the security situation under control or else this will, this situation will develop badly and we'll start getting into gun fights and that's something the American soldiers don't want.
But I think the Iraqi people, to come back to your question, will be patient, but they want to see progress and they haven't seen any. And they're used to -- the, I mean Saddam had many faults, but he was quite good at security. And that's what they feel very bad about at the moment.
HEMMER: Con, thanks for being with us.
Con Coughlin live there in Baghdad. And perhaps we can talk in a few days, maybe some time in the next week and get more observations from you then.
Thanks, Con.
Good to see you live in Baghdad. COUGHLIN: A pleasure, Bill.
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 May 9, 2003 - 08:15 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Overseas in Baghdad, security still a major concern there, a fact acknowledged by the commander of the coalition ground forces operating there.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LT. GEN. DAVID MCKIERNAN, COMMANDER OF OPERATIONS: And there is a lot of work still to be done to create the right environment of safety and security within Iraq. There is still crime. There's still looting. There's still a large percentage of young ex-military Iraqis that need to be put back to work, need to earn a salary and be part of the solution.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HEMMER: Clearly, there is a lot to do in the next weeks and months to come.
Is the U.S. moving fast enough, though, to bring help to Iraqis? And are they being patient enough on the ground in Baghdad and Basra and other major cities?
Con Coughlin, author of "Saddam: King of Terror," executive editor of the "London Sunday Telegraph," has been our guest many times here on AMERICAN MORNING.
Con is our guest now from the Palestine Hotel live in Baghdad.
Con, welcome back.
I know you've been there about three days.
Your assessment right now of what you are seeing in the Iraqi capital with regard to electricity, power and water?
CON COUGHLIN, AUTHOR, "SADDAM: KING OF TERROR": Hi, there, Bill.
Great to be with you again.
Well, my assessment actually is, it's rather depressing, actually. The, I think the CENTCOM people have got it right. There's still a lot of work to be done here and my fear is that the coalition forces have won the military campaign, but they have not yet won the battle for hearts and minds. And there's a lot of frustration and even resentment building up in Baghdad, certainly, at the slowness that -- at the slow pace of getting things working, getting the electricity back on.
This is the, this country has the second largest oil reserves in the world and there's no petrol. I mean these are things that have to be addressed. And the security situation is dreadful here. It reminds me of Beirut in the 1980s when I was a correspondent there. And at night there's a curfew. There are gun battles. The streets aren't safe.
And the majority of Iraqi citizens here, middle class, well to do people, they have nice houses, nice families, a nice way of life, and they, you know, they feel very threatened.
HEMMER: So we have to wonder, then, what is the level of patience that the Iraqi people will give the United States military in terms of establishing more security there.
You had two incidents yesterday, Con. You had a sniper take out a U.S. soldier on a bridge. You had another U.S. soldier shot at point blank range with a pistol by an Iraqi there, as well.
How much interaction have you observed between members of the army and the regular Iraqi people on the streets? COUGHLIN: There's not a lot of interaction, actually, Bill. You see the American patrols all over the place, but they keep themselves to themselves in the main. And this morning I was up to Saddam's presidential compound and there are lots of American troops there. But you get the feeling that they're very happy there, amongst their own, and they don't want to be out amongst the Iraqi people. And I think, you know, they've got to break down these barriers.
Of course, the Iraqi people are not exactly helping the situation. But you have to remember, and this is nothing new, Bill, the Iraqis are a fierce nationalistic people. They've never taken kindly to outsiders interfering in their affairs. The British found this out after the First World War, when we established a monarchy. You know, they booted us out. They didn't like it. And they're very grateful that Saddam's been got rid of. But there's a dangerous political vacuum here. There's a lot of lawlessness and there's a lot of frustration.
HEMMER: Con, you are describing what amounts to a situation that is going to take an awful lot of time. If you think about it right now, this is truly a modern day Marshal Plan, when you talk about repairing the trains, repairing the dams, getting the schools up and running again. I think about a third of the school students have actually gone back to school. There's a great fear of, a fear of insecurity, with the parents sending their children back to school.
But ultimately what have you been able to gauge based on the level of patience the Iraqi people have for this project? COUGHLIN: Well, the Iraqi people will be very patient about getting the political system going. And frankly a lot of the infrastructure is intact. I mean the bombing during the war was carefully targeted at regime buildings. So there's not a lot of that left. But in terms of roads and things like this, and hospitals, they're all there. I think that the first priority must be to get the security situation under control or else this will, this situation will develop badly and we'll start getting into gun fights and that's something the American soldiers don't want.
But I think the Iraqi people, to come back to your question, will be patient, but they want to see progress and they haven't seen any. And they're used to -- the, I mean Saddam had many faults, but he was quite good at security. And that's what they feel very bad about at the moment.
HEMMER: Con, thanks for being with us.
Con Coughlin live there in Baghdad. And perhaps we can talk in a few days, maybe some time in the next week and get more observations from you then.
Thanks, Con.
Good to see you live in Baghdad. COUGHLIN: A pleasure, Bill.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
