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CNN Sunday Morning
Iraq Commemorates Gulf War Casualties
Aired February 16, 2003 - 07:30 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.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: As the threat of war looms, Iraq is remembering some casualties from the 1991 Gulf War. Baghdad is marking the 12th anniversary of a shelter bombing that may have killed as many as 400 civilians. CNN's Nic Robertson is in Iraqi's capital, Baghdad.
Good morning to you, Nic.
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SR. INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Heidi. Not just a commemoration, but an inauguration of a museum there to commemorate the 407 women, children and old people that Iraqi officials say died in that bombing on the 13th of February, 1991.
Now at the ceremony today was the Vice President Taha Yassin Ramadan. He had very strong words for the United States. He said that at this time, the United States was trying to lead the world by its aggression into a catastrophe. He also went on to say that it's clear that there is -- that the gap is widening between the United States and other countries.
Talking privately with some officials there at the commemoration service, I found out that they think that at the moment the United States is becoming increasingly isolated. They say that they, from the way that they read the international peace marches this weekend, they say they've never seen anything like this since Vietnam. And they even interpret Tony Blair's speech in Britain yesterday. The British prime minister, they even interpret that as a movement away from the United States' position.
So the view from here at the moment is that the United States is becoming increasingly isolated. Indeed, Taha Yassin Ramadan in his speech that it was Iraq that was leading the way and showing the world the United States lies. And he said that because Iraq, he said, has no weapons of mass destruction -- Heidi?
COLLINS: Nic, after all of the protests just yesterday, the Iraqi people, as you say, had never seen anything like that. Is there actually a change in the way that they're feeling that you're getting a sense of possibly more calm or more confident that you're noticing?
ROBERTSON: I don't think anybody here really thinks that the possibility of war has really gone away at all, but if you look at the economy, which is perhaps one of the better ways to judge the mood on the streets here, the Iraqi dinar, the local currency, went up two percent against the U.S. dollar. Now as war appear to be approaching very quickly, people were doing things like selling off gold to get hard currency, selling what they could to get enough money to buy supplies or leave the country maybe.
So the fact that the Iraqi dinar is strengthened, even marginally, it's just an indication there's a little bit of home there, Heidi. But I don't think anyone really thinks the possibility's gone away at this time.
COLLINS: All right, Nic Robertson, live from Baghdad this morning. 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 February 16, 2003 - 07:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: As the threat of war looms, Iraq is remembering some casualties from the 1991 Gulf War. Baghdad is marking the 12th anniversary of a shelter bombing that may have killed as many as 400 civilians. CNN's Nic Robertson is in Iraqi's capital, Baghdad.
Good morning to you, Nic.
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SR. INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Heidi. Not just a commemoration, but an inauguration of a museum there to commemorate the 407 women, children and old people that Iraqi officials say died in that bombing on the 13th of February, 1991.
Now at the ceremony today was the Vice President Taha Yassin Ramadan. He had very strong words for the United States. He said that at this time, the United States was trying to lead the world by its aggression into a catastrophe. He also went on to say that it's clear that there is -- that the gap is widening between the United States and other countries.
Talking privately with some officials there at the commemoration service, I found out that they think that at the moment the United States is becoming increasingly isolated. They say that they, from the way that they read the international peace marches this weekend, they say they've never seen anything like this since Vietnam. And they even interpret Tony Blair's speech in Britain yesterday. The British prime minister, they even interpret that as a movement away from the United States' position.
So the view from here at the moment is that the United States is becoming increasingly isolated. Indeed, Taha Yassin Ramadan in his speech that it was Iraq that was leading the way and showing the world the United States lies. And he said that because Iraq, he said, has no weapons of mass destruction -- Heidi?
COLLINS: Nic, after all of the protests just yesterday, the Iraqi people, as you say, had never seen anything like that. Is there actually a change in the way that they're feeling that you're getting a sense of possibly more calm or more confident that you're noticing?
ROBERTSON: I don't think anybody here really thinks that the possibility of war has really gone away at all, but if you look at the economy, which is perhaps one of the better ways to judge the mood on the streets here, the Iraqi dinar, the local currency, went up two percent against the U.S. dollar. Now as war appear to be approaching very quickly, people were doing things like selling off gold to get hard currency, selling what they could to get enough money to buy supplies or leave the country maybe.
So the fact that the Iraqi dinar is strengthened, even marginally, it's just an indication there's a little bit of home there, Heidi. But I don't think anyone really thinks the possibility's gone away at this time.
COLLINS: All right, Nic Robertson, live from Baghdad this morning. 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
