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American Morning
Interview With Journalist Hassan Fattah
Aired June 02, 2003 - 08:32 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: Each though Saddam Hussein's regime is history, serving in Iraq is still a life or death proposition for many members of the U.S. military. Five American soldiers killed last week. The latest attack came yesterday, on Sunday, when an Army convoy was ambushed in a Baghdad neighborhood where support for Saddam once ran high.
Hassan Fattah is an Iraqi-American journalist who has gotten a firsthand look at life in Baghdad during that transition. He is reporting for "The New Republic" with us now live in Baghdad.
You say one of more difficult things is the level of communication that does or does not happen between American soldiers and the Iraqi civilians in Baghdad. Why is that such an issue that you are observing today?
HASSAN FATTAH, "THE NEW REPUBLIC": Well, it's always fascinating to see how -- whenever you have confrontations between Iraqis and troops, everyday kind of activities that any policeman would deal with or that sort of thing, you are always -- there's no communication going on. In essence, there's two completely different languages, completely different ways of communicating that are going on, and there's no one bridging the gap.
HEMMER: Hassan, about two weeks ago, you said, "We never really see any security in Baghdad. I think that's the biggest fear for almost every Iraqi. You are looking at a country that knew but organization and security, and has absolutely none whatsoever."
That was two weeks ago. Has it gotten better in the last 14, 15 days?
FATTAH: I dare say things are getting better. You are seeing a lot more troops around. You are seeing a lot more security going around. You do feel the sense of -- that something is being done, but I think the events of the past couple of days just tell us how far we have to go. Essentially, what we are looking at is New York in 1985, but New York with grenades, machine guns, and even AK-47s and what have you.
HEMMER: You described these armed factions developing. You say there might be as many as 15, possibly as high as 30 right now. Are they associated with the former Baath Party, or are they separate from that group?
HASSAN: Well, actually, what we're talking about 30 -- more than 30 different political parties that are organizing, and a lot of them are being armed either because of security and -- or simply to have a militia, and in the past several weeks they've attempt to disarm a lot of the militias, but still there is a long way for us to go.
HEMMER: You say the most difficult issue really is on the streets of Baghdad and the suburbs there, but you draw a comparison with the southern town of Nasiriyah. What's different between those two towns that you have observed, what is going wrong in Baghdad and what's going right in Nasiriyah?
FATTAH: Well, I think what's going wrong in Baghdad, No. 1, is there's no communication. It's a much bigger place and requires a lot more management.
I was just in Nasiriyah two days ago, and it was quite a fascinating experience. People are out at night at 1:00 in the morning. They really feel secure. They're relatively happy about the occupation, ironically enough. In Baghdad, people are very nervous, very concerned, and basically concerned about their own private safety.
Imagine an America where there's no police force, there is no one to call. If things go wrong. What do you do? Where do you go? That's what Iraqis live with every day.
HEMMER: One final thought here. The town of Fallujah has become prominent in the last few weeks. I understand this is a former Saddam stronghold. What is the U.S. now doing right now to bring more security to that town, about 45 minutes west of Baghdad?
FATTAH: Well, they're certainly stepping up efforts there. There's a lot of troops that are moving out there. There's a giant operation that is going -- that I believe is underway right now to clear out a lot of that resistance. I do say, however, that this is just the beginning. That's the biggest concern, and I think we have a long way to go...
(CROSSTALK)
HEMMER: Ahmed Chalabi -- I apologize, there's a delay in the satellite here. He believes Saddam Hussein is still alive, and living in Iraq. Has there been much reaction on that front?
FATTAH: I think a lot of people are very, very afraid of the concept that Saddam is still around, not necessarily because Saddam is going to come back and rule, but because Saddam can be a ruiner. He can come back and take potshots at people. There have already been cases of assassinations happening from all kinds of different groups. That is a real concern. I mean, that brings us back to memories of Beirut.
HEMMER: Hassan Fattah, live in Baghdad. As you mentioned, things are getting better by the day. Much better today than they were two weeks ago, and hopefully, in two weeks' time, even better than what we talk about now -- thank you 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 June 2, 2003 - 08:32 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Each though Saddam Hussein's regime is history, serving in Iraq is still a life or death proposition for many members of the U.S. military. Five American soldiers killed last week. The latest attack came yesterday, on Sunday, when an Army convoy was ambushed in a Baghdad neighborhood where support for Saddam once ran high.
Hassan Fattah is an Iraqi-American journalist who has gotten a firsthand look at life in Baghdad during that transition. He is reporting for "The New Republic" with us now live in Baghdad.
You say one of more difficult things is the level of communication that does or does not happen between American soldiers and the Iraqi civilians in Baghdad. Why is that such an issue that you are observing today?
HASSAN FATTAH, "THE NEW REPUBLIC": Well, it's always fascinating to see how -- whenever you have confrontations between Iraqis and troops, everyday kind of activities that any policeman would deal with or that sort of thing, you are always -- there's no communication going on. In essence, there's two completely different languages, completely different ways of communicating that are going on, and there's no one bridging the gap.
HEMMER: Hassan, about two weeks ago, you said, "We never really see any security in Baghdad. I think that's the biggest fear for almost every Iraqi. You are looking at a country that knew but organization and security, and has absolutely none whatsoever."
That was two weeks ago. Has it gotten better in the last 14, 15 days?
FATTAH: I dare say things are getting better. You are seeing a lot more troops around. You are seeing a lot more security going around. You do feel the sense of -- that something is being done, but I think the events of the past couple of days just tell us how far we have to go. Essentially, what we are looking at is New York in 1985, but New York with grenades, machine guns, and even AK-47s and what have you.
HEMMER: You described these armed factions developing. You say there might be as many as 15, possibly as high as 30 right now. Are they associated with the former Baath Party, or are they separate from that group?
HASSAN: Well, actually, what we're talking about 30 -- more than 30 different political parties that are organizing, and a lot of them are being armed either because of security and -- or simply to have a militia, and in the past several weeks they've attempt to disarm a lot of the militias, but still there is a long way for us to go.
HEMMER: You say the most difficult issue really is on the streets of Baghdad and the suburbs there, but you draw a comparison with the southern town of Nasiriyah. What's different between those two towns that you have observed, what is going wrong in Baghdad and what's going right in Nasiriyah?
FATTAH: Well, I think what's going wrong in Baghdad, No. 1, is there's no communication. It's a much bigger place and requires a lot more management.
I was just in Nasiriyah two days ago, and it was quite a fascinating experience. People are out at night at 1:00 in the morning. They really feel secure. They're relatively happy about the occupation, ironically enough. In Baghdad, people are very nervous, very concerned, and basically concerned about their own private safety.
Imagine an America where there's no police force, there is no one to call. If things go wrong. What do you do? Where do you go? That's what Iraqis live with every day.
HEMMER: One final thought here. The town of Fallujah has become prominent in the last few weeks. I understand this is a former Saddam stronghold. What is the U.S. now doing right now to bring more security to that town, about 45 minutes west of Baghdad?
FATTAH: Well, they're certainly stepping up efforts there. There's a lot of troops that are moving out there. There's a giant operation that is going -- that I believe is underway right now to clear out a lot of that resistance. I do say, however, that this is just the beginning. That's the biggest concern, and I think we have a long way to go...
(CROSSTALK)
HEMMER: Ahmed Chalabi -- I apologize, there's a delay in the satellite here. He believes Saddam Hussein is still alive, and living in Iraq. Has there been much reaction on that front?
FATTAH: I think a lot of people are very, very afraid of the concept that Saddam is still around, not necessarily because Saddam is going to come back and rule, but because Saddam can be a ruiner. He can come back and take potshots at people. There have already been cases of assassinations happening from all kinds of different groups. That is a real concern. I mean, that brings us back to memories of Beirut.
HEMMER: Hassan Fattah, live in Baghdad. As you mentioned, things are getting better by the day. Much better today than they were two weeks ago, and hopefully, in two weeks' time, even better than what we talk about now -- thank you 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
