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American Morning
Nic Robertson's Work in Afghanistan Recognized with Peabody Award
Aired May 19, 2003 - 08:25 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: Sophia, let's keep it in Iraq right now. Many viewers quite familiar with our correspondent Nic Robertson. Home away from home in Baghdad, going back to the fall of last year. His work in Afghanistan recognized now with a Peabody Award here in New York City, one of the highest honors in all of journalism.
Good morning again to you.
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning.
HEMMER: We are taking your e-mail questions online at am@cnn.com.
Lori in Ann Arbor wants to know, "Where do you think the percentages lie between Iraqis who support Operation Iraqi Freedom and those who oppose the coalition involvement? Is there a specific age group or demographic who's particularly opposed to or supportive of America?"
Can you gauge that and break that down?
ROBERTSON: You can in a way. There's a -- the population in Iraq is very much a young population. Almost 50 percent of the population are below 18. Now, these people, if you think about it, grew up under 12 years of U.N. sanctions, grew up completely under Saddam Hussein's regime. They didn't know anything before this. They've only ever heard his message, his anti-American message. So you probably find more resentment against the U.S. invasion from that younger population.
From elements in the older part of the population who knew the U.S. involvement building some of the oil facilities back in the 1950s, involvement going back to then, they would perhaps look a little more favorably on it. It, perhaps, also isn't broken down by demographics, but by communities. The Shia community perhaps more opposed, but by demographics alone and the age alone, perhaps you would find in the younger part of the population more opposition to it, just because they were brought up under Saddam Hussein and they didn't know anything before.
CHOI: And here's a question from Eric in Virginia. "What do you see as the biggest stumbling block to rebuilding Iraq?"
ROBERTSON: Initially it has to be security. It has to be security. It has to be rebuilding a political infrastructure. If you think about it, in Baghdad, so many of the ministries have been destroyed. They've been looted. They've been gutted by numerous fires. So even when you begin to rebuild a civil administration, where do you put these people who are going to run, let's say, the agriculture sector inside Iraq? How do they do their work and dispense the funds that it needs, that are needed by the farmers to keep their livelihoods going to produce the food for the country?
So it's a very complex issue, but security, rebuilding that government, those are the biggest issues right now.
HEMMER: We heard a statistic over the weekend that says Saddam Hussein's police force in Baghdad alone was 20,000 strong, in a city of five million. The U.S. Army right now has fewer than 2,000 working the streets. We know those numbers are going to increase. But if they can keep the lid on it for now, that would be better.
Nic, we'll talk to you in about 25 minutes, I believe, OK?
Thanks again for stopping by.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Peabody Award>
Aired May 19, 2003 - 08:25 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Sophia, let's keep it in Iraq right now. Many viewers quite familiar with our correspondent Nic Robertson. Home away from home in Baghdad, going back to the fall of last year. His work in Afghanistan recognized now with a Peabody Award here in New York City, one of the highest honors in all of journalism.
Good morning again to you.
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning.
HEMMER: We are taking your e-mail questions online at am@cnn.com.
Lori in Ann Arbor wants to know, "Where do you think the percentages lie between Iraqis who support Operation Iraqi Freedom and those who oppose the coalition involvement? Is there a specific age group or demographic who's particularly opposed to or supportive of America?"
Can you gauge that and break that down?
ROBERTSON: You can in a way. There's a -- the population in Iraq is very much a young population. Almost 50 percent of the population are below 18. Now, these people, if you think about it, grew up under 12 years of U.N. sanctions, grew up completely under Saddam Hussein's regime. They didn't know anything before this. They've only ever heard his message, his anti-American message. So you probably find more resentment against the U.S. invasion from that younger population.
From elements in the older part of the population who knew the U.S. involvement building some of the oil facilities back in the 1950s, involvement going back to then, they would perhaps look a little more favorably on it. It, perhaps, also isn't broken down by demographics, but by communities. The Shia community perhaps more opposed, but by demographics alone and the age alone, perhaps you would find in the younger part of the population more opposition to it, just because they were brought up under Saddam Hussein and they didn't know anything before.
CHOI: And here's a question from Eric in Virginia. "What do you see as the biggest stumbling block to rebuilding Iraq?"
ROBERTSON: Initially it has to be security. It has to be security. It has to be rebuilding a political infrastructure. If you think about it, in Baghdad, so many of the ministries have been destroyed. They've been looted. They've been gutted by numerous fires. So even when you begin to rebuild a civil administration, where do you put these people who are going to run, let's say, the agriculture sector inside Iraq? How do they do their work and dispense the funds that it needs, that are needed by the farmers to keep their livelihoods going to produce the food for the country?
So it's a very complex issue, but security, rebuilding that government, those are the biggest issues right now.
HEMMER: We heard a statistic over the weekend that says Saddam Hussein's police force in Baghdad alone was 20,000 strong, in a city of five million. The U.S. Army right now has fewer than 2,000 working the streets. We know those numbers are going to increase. But if they can keep the lid on it for now, that would be better.
Nic, we'll talk to you in about 25 minutes, I believe, OK?
Thanks again for stopping by.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Peabody Award>
