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American Morning

Explosive Device Hits Commuter Buses in Baghdad

Aired September 24, 2003 - 08:03   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: Back to Iraq right now. After the president's appeal yesterday, deadly attacks continue to plague the rebuilding effort in Iraq. This morning, an explosive device hit two commuter buses in Baghdad.
Michael Holmes back with us to tell us what happened earlier today and also more reaction on the day after the meeting at the U.N. -- Michael, good afternoon there.

MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, to you, Bill.

Yes, we'll get back to that reaction in a moment. But first, today's incident. As you said, commuter buses were the victims, but they weren't the target. The target was a U.S. military Humvee which was driving along a road in Baghdad, an area called al-Hamdia (ph). And it was driving along the road there and an explosion went off.

This was an armored Humvee, Bill, and so it sustained very minor damage and kept on going. But that wasn't the case for two of these small commuter buses. They carry about 20 people, I suppose. And they were fairly close by. And it was what the U.S. military calls a daisy chain, which is one explosion goes off and then in fairly quick succession another explosion or perhaps even more.

Now, these two buses both fairly badly damaged. Twelve Iraqi civilians were wounded and one 17-year-old boy was killed. Certainly a very dramatic morning and it just shows that these attacks continue daily. On this occasion, though, the victims Iraqi.

Only 12 hours earlier and a kilometer away from where today's explosions happened, Bill, there was another incident. U.S. soldiers and Iraqi police were on a joint foot patrol. Another explosive device went off. Three U.S. servicemen were wounded, three Iraqi policemen also wounded -- Bill.

HEMMER: Michael, reaction from the speech at the U.N. yesterday? I don't know what you've been able to gather or not, maybe from U.S. soldiers or Iraqi civilians there in Baghdad. What are they saying now, the day after?

HOLMES: Yes, well after President Bush went to the U.N. to defend his reasons for going to war with Iraq, many Iraqis were themselves skeptical. Many, interestingly, were completely disinterested, turning their backs literally on televisions to play dominos, as we saw in one cafe last evening.

From U.S. soldiers on the ground, however, they're about carrying out their president's orders. Some said they had seen it all before. Others had little reaction. But many said that whatever their president wanted from them, they'd carry it out.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STAFF SGT. JASON DUGAN, U.S. ARMY: I wasn't particularly impressed with anything new that he came out with. I think that he just brought up some old issues that the U.N. hasn't took any action on yet.

SGT. DARRYL MCDOUGAL, U.S. ARMY: I just feel like it's good to see that we have the support of everybody in our government and that he's trying to carry that support over to the United Nations so that we get global support for everything that we're doing.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: Still, Bill, while the soldiers say that they will do whatever that's asked of them by their president, many, when you talk to them, one thing that comes out is they'd like to get home -- Bill.

HEMMER: Michael Holmes, thanks, from Baghdad.

Are the Iraqi people now better off now than before? Iraqis answering that question, and others, for themselves. In the Gallup organization's first Baghdad opinion poll ever, they questioned about 1,200 people, inside their homes, for the most part, in Baghdad and Baghdad only. Thirty-three percent think they're better off now. Forty-seven percent say the U.S. invasion has made things worse. In addition, 62 percent say getting rid of Saddam Hussein was worth it. Only 30 percent say it was not.

Gallup's international editor, Richard Burkholder, conducted that poll.

He's with us now in Washington, D.C.

Thanks for joining us.

A very fascinating study that you've conducted in Baghdad.

We should point out many times CNN works hand in hand with Gallup, but we had no role in this survey or this polling that was done recently in Baghdad.

Go back to the numbers we just put up. About 62 percent say the ouster was worth it, 30 percent say they do not think it's worth it. Break down the 30 percent. Who are these people, Richard?

RICHARD BURKHOLDER, GALLUP POLL INTERNATIONAL EDITOR: You know, they're folks -- if you go to a really upscale area that was relatively privileged in the prior regime, like al-Khath (ph), which is a mixed area, 47 percent say it's worth it so far, 47 percent say not worth it. If you go to what was Saddam City, this is this huge Shia slum which was really the area that felt the worse deprivations and cruelty under the Hussein regime, 78 percent of the folks in that area, which is a quarter of the whole population of Baghdad, tell us it was worth it. Only 18 percent disagree.

So it really depends on whether you had anything, even in terms of economic status, in the prior regime, never mind political status and freedom.

HEMMER: Let me flip through some more numbers here. This is a bit of a question and reflections on attitudes toward the U.S. and toward the president. Twenty-nine percent say they have a strong opinion of the U.S., a positive opinion, I should say. Forty-four percent say that opinion is negative. When asked about Mr. Bush, they say 29 percent positive, 50 percent negative.

This would seem, at the outset, to be not a very good reflection for the U.S. But you have a different take on this. Explain that.

BURKHOLDER: Well, my take on it would be is having looked at sentiment on those issues throughout the region, in nine other countries that we did about 18 months ago, that those are not out of line with what's generally sentiment in the region, in fact, maybe slightly better on some levels.

I think maybe what's more important there is the fact that the coalition provisional authority has a very slightly positive rating at this point and Ambassador Bremer, who is the chief administrator of that, has a very favorable rating.

So it's a question of whether people have the sense that the aspirations and the priorities have been internalized and are being acted upon. Bremer seems to have communicated a sense of that to the Iraqi people.

HEMMER: Let me show our viewers the numbers on Bremer. Forty- seven percent say positive. Only 22 percent negative. Why do you think he's been effective?

BURKHOLDER: Well, a couple things that are going in the CPA's favor at this point, and almost half say it's doing a better job now than it was two months ago. Two months ago was when they inaugurated the Iraqi Governing Council, which is a kind of a transitional group which will be a first step in leading them to self-governance. That group is not seen as independent in any sense yet and yet it's favorably received by the Iraqi people.

The other thing is I think Bremer, when he speaks to the Iraqis, he internalizes -- he has -- he often speaks in a first person plural sense -- we have these concerns, but we have these skills and these talents and we will get to this point. And so he can, I think he communicates a sense of hopefulness, but also a sense of common cause with them.

HEMMER: Yes. One other note here I just want to point out. In five years, you asked the question, where Iraq will be. Sixty-seven percent said they would be better off, we'll all be in time.

BURKHOLDER: Exactly, and I think that's the third point in that thing you say. People say it was worth it, but actually, in the short-term, we're worse off. It's a question of what are their long- term expectations. Once the rebuilding has more of an Iraqi face -- they want our help, they want our assistance, they want international assistance, but once there's -- but once there's more self-governance and they can take on a chunk of the tasks themselves, really, that's the most hopeful thing in the survey, that five years down the road, everyone sees their lives being substantially improved. And that's even true among the folks who were relatively well off before.

HEMMER: Thank you, Richard.

Richard Burkholder from D.C., from Gallup.

Appreciate that.

BURKHOLDER: 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 September 24, 2003 - 08:03   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Back to Iraq right now. After the president's appeal yesterday, deadly attacks continue to plague the rebuilding effort in Iraq. This morning, an explosive device hit two commuter buses in Baghdad.
Michael Holmes back with us to tell us what happened earlier today and also more reaction on the day after the meeting at the U.N. -- Michael, good afternoon there.

MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, to you, Bill.

Yes, we'll get back to that reaction in a moment. But first, today's incident. As you said, commuter buses were the victims, but they weren't the target. The target was a U.S. military Humvee which was driving along a road in Baghdad, an area called al-Hamdia (ph). And it was driving along the road there and an explosion went off.

This was an armored Humvee, Bill, and so it sustained very minor damage and kept on going. But that wasn't the case for two of these small commuter buses. They carry about 20 people, I suppose. And they were fairly close by. And it was what the U.S. military calls a daisy chain, which is one explosion goes off and then in fairly quick succession another explosion or perhaps even more.

Now, these two buses both fairly badly damaged. Twelve Iraqi civilians were wounded and one 17-year-old boy was killed. Certainly a very dramatic morning and it just shows that these attacks continue daily. On this occasion, though, the victims Iraqi.

Only 12 hours earlier and a kilometer away from where today's explosions happened, Bill, there was another incident. U.S. soldiers and Iraqi police were on a joint foot patrol. Another explosive device went off. Three U.S. servicemen were wounded, three Iraqi policemen also wounded -- Bill.

HEMMER: Michael, reaction from the speech at the U.N. yesterday? I don't know what you've been able to gather or not, maybe from U.S. soldiers or Iraqi civilians there in Baghdad. What are they saying now, the day after?

HOLMES: Yes, well after President Bush went to the U.N. to defend his reasons for going to war with Iraq, many Iraqis were themselves skeptical. Many, interestingly, were completely disinterested, turning their backs literally on televisions to play dominos, as we saw in one cafe last evening.

From U.S. soldiers on the ground, however, they're about carrying out their president's orders. Some said they had seen it all before. Others had little reaction. But many said that whatever their president wanted from them, they'd carry it out.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STAFF SGT. JASON DUGAN, U.S. ARMY: I wasn't particularly impressed with anything new that he came out with. I think that he just brought up some old issues that the U.N. hasn't took any action on yet.

SGT. DARRYL MCDOUGAL, U.S. ARMY: I just feel like it's good to see that we have the support of everybody in our government and that he's trying to carry that support over to the United Nations so that we get global support for everything that we're doing.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: Still, Bill, while the soldiers say that they will do whatever that's asked of them by their president, many, when you talk to them, one thing that comes out is they'd like to get home -- Bill.

HEMMER: Michael Holmes, thanks, from Baghdad.

Are the Iraqi people now better off now than before? Iraqis answering that question, and others, for themselves. In the Gallup organization's first Baghdad opinion poll ever, they questioned about 1,200 people, inside their homes, for the most part, in Baghdad and Baghdad only. Thirty-three percent think they're better off now. Forty-seven percent say the U.S. invasion has made things worse. In addition, 62 percent say getting rid of Saddam Hussein was worth it. Only 30 percent say it was not.

Gallup's international editor, Richard Burkholder, conducted that poll.

He's with us now in Washington, D.C.

Thanks for joining us.

A very fascinating study that you've conducted in Baghdad.

We should point out many times CNN works hand in hand with Gallup, but we had no role in this survey or this polling that was done recently in Baghdad.

Go back to the numbers we just put up. About 62 percent say the ouster was worth it, 30 percent say they do not think it's worth it. Break down the 30 percent. Who are these people, Richard?

RICHARD BURKHOLDER, GALLUP POLL INTERNATIONAL EDITOR: You know, they're folks -- if you go to a really upscale area that was relatively privileged in the prior regime, like al-Khath (ph), which is a mixed area, 47 percent say it's worth it so far, 47 percent say not worth it. If you go to what was Saddam City, this is this huge Shia slum which was really the area that felt the worse deprivations and cruelty under the Hussein regime, 78 percent of the folks in that area, which is a quarter of the whole population of Baghdad, tell us it was worth it. Only 18 percent disagree.

So it really depends on whether you had anything, even in terms of economic status, in the prior regime, never mind political status and freedom.

HEMMER: Let me flip through some more numbers here. This is a bit of a question and reflections on attitudes toward the U.S. and toward the president. Twenty-nine percent say they have a strong opinion of the U.S., a positive opinion, I should say. Forty-four percent say that opinion is negative. When asked about Mr. Bush, they say 29 percent positive, 50 percent negative.

This would seem, at the outset, to be not a very good reflection for the U.S. But you have a different take on this. Explain that.

BURKHOLDER: Well, my take on it would be is having looked at sentiment on those issues throughout the region, in nine other countries that we did about 18 months ago, that those are not out of line with what's generally sentiment in the region, in fact, maybe slightly better on some levels.

I think maybe what's more important there is the fact that the coalition provisional authority has a very slightly positive rating at this point and Ambassador Bremer, who is the chief administrator of that, has a very favorable rating.

So it's a question of whether people have the sense that the aspirations and the priorities have been internalized and are being acted upon. Bremer seems to have communicated a sense of that to the Iraqi people.

HEMMER: Let me show our viewers the numbers on Bremer. Forty- seven percent say positive. Only 22 percent negative. Why do you think he's been effective?

BURKHOLDER: Well, a couple things that are going in the CPA's favor at this point, and almost half say it's doing a better job now than it was two months ago. Two months ago was when they inaugurated the Iraqi Governing Council, which is a kind of a transitional group which will be a first step in leading them to self-governance. That group is not seen as independent in any sense yet and yet it's favorably received by the Iraqi people.

The other thing is I think Bremer, when he speaks to the Iraqis, he internalizes -- he has -- he often speaks in a first person plural sense -- we have these concerns, but we have these skills and these talents and we will get to this point. And so he can, I think he communicates a sense of hopefulness, but also a sense of common cause with them.

HEMMER: Yes. One other note here I just want to point out. In five years, you asked the question, where Iraq will be. Sixty-seven percent said they would be better off, we'll all be in time.

BURKHOLDER: Exactly, and I think that's the third point in that thing you say. People say it was worth it, but actually, in the short-term, we're worse off. It's a question of what are their long- term expectations. Once the rebuilding has more of an Iraqi face -- they want our help, they want our assistance, they want international assistance, but once there's -- but once there's more self-governance and they can take on a chunk of the tasks themselves, really, that's the most hopeful thing in the survey, that five years down the road, everyone sees their lives being substantially improved. And that's even true among the folks who were relatively well off before.

HEMMER: Thank you, Richard.

Richard Burkholder from D.C., from Gallup.

Appreciate that.

BURKHOLDER: 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