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American Morning
Interview With David Enders, Editor, 'Baghdad Bulletin'
Aired July 25, 2003 - 07:08 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: I want to get back to Baghdad right now, more reaction now on those photographs. The U.S. says it showed the dead Hussein brothers.
David Enders is the editor of the "Baghdad Bulletin," an English- language paper launched recently by a group of young journalists in Iraq. He's back with us live in Baghdad here on AMERICAN MORNING.
David, thanks for coming back.
I guess, in a word or two, as best as you can, explain to us why there is the skepticism about these photographs?
DAVID ENDERS, EDITOR, "BAGHDAD BULLETIN": Well, I think for a lot of Iraqis, even those who do believe that Uday and Qusay are dead, it's a surprise that they'd be found the way they were -- very lightly guarded, virtually by themselves and so easily taken. I don't think anybody here really expected it to end this way.
HEMMER: The converse of that goes to those who do believe and are convinced. What are they saying when they see the photographs?
ENDERS: It's really not making that big a stir. Those sorts of photographs don't really shock people. There was a lot of flap during the war about very similar photographs being shown on Al Jazeera and other Arab media, so this is nothing shocking, nothing new under the sun. It really hasn't been that big a deal.
HEMMER: David, I know this is not a scientific answer, but did you get a percentage breakdown between those who believed and those who don't?
ENDERS: No. I was in Tikrit yesterday, and it's really tough to find someone there who believes it. In Baghdad, most people are pretty convinced, and also a lot of people think that why would the U.S. Army announce this if they weren't really dead? It would be kind of a silly thing to have them suddenly make their own tape and prove the Army wrong. So, I think most people, at least in Baghdad, are pretty accepting of this.
HEMMER: Is it not the case, though -- I'm not sure if you'd agree with this or not -- that there will always be doubters on this issue?
ENDERS: I think so, yes.
HEMMER: You mentioned you were in Tikrit yesterday. What did you find in Saddam's former hometown?
ENDERS: Well, people there, not only do they believe this to be an impossible thing, that Uday and Qusay are dead, you ask people, you ask them about the mass graves and all of the things Saddam Hussein's regime is accused of, and they tell you that you can't prove it. Saddam Hussein was very good to that area, and in return there is a lot of loyalty there. It's not 100, of course, but it certainly exists disproportionately to the rest of Iraq.
HEMMER: That's striking to get your contrast, too, from 100 miles apart in Tikrit to the north and in Baghdad where you are. David Enders, thanks again for joining us, the publisher of the "Baghdad Bulletin" in Iraq.
ENDERS: Thank you.
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 July 25, 2003 - 07:08 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: I want to get back to Baghdad right now, more reaction now on those photographs. The U.S. says it showed the dead Hussein brothers.
David Enders is the editor of the "Baghdad Bulletin," an English- language paper launched recently by a group of young journalists in Iraq. He's back with us live in Baghdad here on AMERICAN MORNING.
David, thanks for coming back.
I guess, in a word or two, as best as you can, explain to us why there is the skepticism about these photographs?
DAVID ENDERS, EDITOR, "BAGHDAD BULLETIN": Well, I think for a lot of Iraqis, even those who do believe that Uday and Qusay are dead, it's a surprise that they'd be found the way they were -- very lightly guarded, virtually by themselves and so easily taken. I don't think anybody here really expected it to end this way.
HEMMER: The converse of that goes to those who do believe and are convinced. What are they saying when they see the photographs?
ENDERS: It's really not making that big a stir. Those sorts of photographs don't really shock people. There was a lot of flap during the war about very similar photographs being shown on Al Jazeera and other Arab media, so this is nothing shocking, nothing new under the sun. It really hasn't been that big a deal.
HEMMER: David, I know this is not a scientific answer, but did you get a percentage breakdown between those who believed and those who don't?
ENDERS: No. I was in Tikrit yesterday, and it's really tough to find someone there who believes it. In Baghdad, most people are pretty convinced, and also a lot of people think that why would the U.S. Army announce this if they weren't really dead? It would be kind of a silly thing to have them suddenly make their own tape and prove the Army wrong. So, I think most people, at least in Baghdad, are pretty accepting of this.
HEMMER: Is it not the case, though -- I'm not sure if you'd agree with this or not -- that there will always be doubters on this issue?
ENDERS: I think so, yes.
HEMMER: You mentioned you were in Tikrit yesterday. What did you find in Saddam's former hometown?
ENDERS: Well, people there, not only do they believe this to be an impossible thing, that Uday and Qusay are dead, you ask people, you ask them about the mass graves and all of the things Saddam Hussein's regime is accused of, and they tell you that you can't prove it. Saddam Hussein was very good to that area, and in return there is a lot of loyalty there. It's not 100, of course, but it certainly exists disproportionately to the rest of Iraq.
HEMMER: That's striking to get your contrast, too, from 100 miles apart in Tikrit to the north and in Baghdad where you are. David Enders, thanks again for joining us, the publisher of the "Baghdad Bulletin" in Iraq.
ENDERS: Thank you.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
