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American Morning
What Iraqis Want
Aired November 04, 2003 - 09:08 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.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Attacks on U.S. forces proved that there are forces in Iraq that want to drive Americans out of the country. The journalist Tish Durkin, who's been there for months now, says that most Iraqis don't want the U.S. to leave yet. She's written about the Iraqi view of the American presence in an article for "The New York Observer." And Tish Durkin joins us this morning Baghdad.
Good morning. Nice to see you.
TISH DURKIN, "THE NEW YORK OBSERVER": Good morning, Soledad. Nice to see you.
O'BRIEN: Let's first talk about what we just spoke about, most Iraqis saying they actually want Americans to stay for the time being. At the same time, we're seeing the violence escalating. Those two things are not necessarily contradictory, are they?
DURKIN: No, they're not, Soledad. I should point out that first in my view, those Iraqis who believe that the American forces should stay here, at least for a time, are typically not saying that out of any great love for the U.S. presence here, but rather, out of tremendous fear that should the U.S. pull out now or very soon, the situation would deteriorate into something much worse than what it presently is.
As for these terrible and serious terrorist attacks as a gauge of general public sentiment here, you have to remember that even if there were, God forbid, even if there were ten times as many attacks here in the Baghdad area where much of the violence is concentrated, you have to remember that there are five million people or so who live In Baghdad. The overwhelming majority of them would not be involved in those attacks and would condemn them.
O'BRIEN: Do you think that the region would be more stable now if in fact a multinational force, a more multinational force, had gone in in the first place?
DURKIN: I think that's really impossible to say, and it's almost a waste of time for members of Congress and others to be speculating about it at this point, because, of course, that is not an option.
However, I would argue that the -- there is very little to support -- the notion of a multinational force as some kind of a stability silver bullet. You'll recall, Soledad, that one of the first really horrific attacks here in Baghdad was in August on the headquarters of the United Nations, and 22 people were killed in that attack, including the top U.N. envoy, and of course, last week we saw the targeting of the International Committee for the Red Cross. So these -- the folks who are actually making the most serious trouble clearly don't make much of a distinction between international-type forces who are trying to stabilize the situation and American or coalition forces trying to do so.
O'BRIEN: You write a lot about Iraqi anger toward Americans. What -- at the end of it all, what is the core reason behind that anger?
DURKIN: Of course, there are different types of anger. I would never deny the fact there are certainly some Iraqis who believe that the Americans never should have come here in the first place and would like them to go home, contrary to what I've just been saying.
But I think that many, many Iraqis who are angry at the Americans are not angry because the Americans have not been enough of a presence here. They're angry because Americans have not been enough of a presence, rather than because they've been too much of a presence. They want security, they want jobs, they want to feel that this place -- that the infrastructure is improving, that normal life is on its way. So it's not so much the occupation itself that is bothering them at this moment, but the fact that they have to endure many, many inconveniences of occupation, and at this point, they don't feel that they're experiencing commensurate improvement.
O'BRIEN: Tish Durkin's article appears in the November 3rd "New York Observer." Tish, thanks. Nice to see you, as always.
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 November 4, 2003 - 09:08 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Attacks on U.S. forces proved that there are forces in Iraq that want to drive Americans out of the country. The journalist Tish Durkin, who's been there for months now, says that most Iraqis don't want the U.S. to leave yet. She's written about the Iraqi view of the American presence in an article for "The New York Observer." And Tish Durkin joins us this morning Baghdad.
Good morning. Nice to see you.
TISH DURKIN, "THE NEW YORK OBSERVER": Good morning, Soledad. Nice to see you.
O'BRIEN: Let's first talk about what we just spoke about, most Iraqis saying they actually want Americans to stay for the time being. At the same time, we're seeing the violence escalating. Those two things are not necessarily contradictory, are they?
DURKIN: No, they're not, Soledad. I should point out that first in my view, those Iraqis who believe that the American forces should stay here, at least for a time, are typically not saying that out of any great love for the U.S. presence here, but rather, out of tremendous fear that should the U.S. pull out now or very soon, the situation would deteriorate into something much worse than what it presently is.
As for these terrible and serious terrorist attacks as a gauge of general public sentiment here, you have to remember that even if there were, God forbid, even if there were ten times as many attacks here in the Baghdad area where much of the violence is concentrated, you have to remember that there are five million people or so who live In Baghdad. The overwhelming majority of them would not be involved in those attacks and would condemn them.
O'BRIEN: Do you think that the region would be more stable now if in fact a multinational force, a more multinational force, had gone in in the first place?
DURKIN: I think that's really impossible to say, and it's almost a waste of time for members of Congress and others to be speculating about it at this point, because, of course, that is not an option.
However, I would argue that the -- there is very little to support -- the notion of a multinational force as some kind of a stability silver bullet. You'll recall, Soledad, that one of the first really horrific attacks here in Baghdad was in August on the headquarters of the United Nations, and 22 people were killed in that attack, including the top U.N. envoy, and of course, last week we saw the targeting of the International Committee for the Red Cross. So these -- the folks who are actually making the most serious trouble clearly don't make much of a distinction between international-type forces who are trying to stabilize the situation and American or coalition forces trying to do so.
O'BRIEN: You write a lot about Iraqi anger toward Americans. What -- at the end of it all, what is the core reason behind that anger?
DURKIN: Of course, there are different types of anger. I would never deny the fact there are certainly some Iraqis who believe that the Americans never should have come here in the first place and would like them to go home, contrary to what I've just been saying.
But I think that many, many Iraqis who are angry at the Americans are not angry because the Americans have not been enough of a presence here. They're angry because Americans have not been enough of a presence, rather than because they've been too much of a presence. They want security, they want jobs, they want to feel that this place -- that the infrastructure is improving, that normal life is on its way. So it's not so much the occupation itself that is bothering them at this moment, but the fact that they have to endure many, many inconveniences of occupation, and at this point, they don't feel that they're experiencing commensurate improvement.
O'BRIEN: Tish Durkin's article appears in the November 3rd "New York Observer." Tish, thanks. Nice to see you, as always.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
