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CNN Saturday Morning News

Learning Freedom

Aired April 12, 2003 - 05:52   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.


CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: We want to talk about democracy now. Democracy is a stranger to most Iraqis, and after decades of oppression, freedom could be overwhelming.
Our Jamie Colby visited a large community of former Iraqis now living here in the United States, and they offer cautious hope that their country can learn how to be free.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JAMIE COLBY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Sakria al-Bahaj (ph) pictured going back to Iraq, and now it's about to become a reality. She immigrated to Dearborn, Michigan in 1994, with her son, Haythem al-Mawla, now 30. But she left three other children behind, including one son, who Haythem says endured three years in a Saddam- run prison.

HAYTHEM AL-MAWLA, IRAQI EXILE: He was physically tortured. The first thing I noticed was his nails. He had three of his nails were taken off.

COLBY: Haythem's wife, Zaina (ph), says her mother also plans to visit Iraq.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They have cousins (UNINTELLIGIBLE) they're dead. Saddam Hussein told them they're dead already.

COLBY: Zaina (ph) says she also has a brother and sister in Iraq.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She's scared about her family.

COLBY: Haythem and Zaina (ph), both college students, believe the process of adjusting to democracy in Iraq will be difficult. For them, experiencing freedom in the U.S. wasn't always easy. Take, for example, Haythem's first experience with a traffic cop.

AL-MAWLA: I keep shaking, shaking, shaking, shaking, and it's like I did a crime. And he said: "Sir, don't do it again. This is a warning for you, and thank you very much, sir. Thank you. This is your driver's license."

These words, "thank you, sir," you will never -- you'll dream to hear it from an officer in Iraq.

COLBY: Dr. Ebrahim Kira (ph), a Dearborn-based psychologist, has studied the Iraqi community here for more than 20 years. Of his patients, mostly torture survivors:

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Twenty percent hear voices, 30 percent depression, 40 percent anxiety. It is, you know, overwhelming when you see this. You know, this is the general picture, but when you sit with a client it's even worse.

COLBY: And, he explains, it's a culture not accustomed to asking for help from outsiders.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It is the (UNINTELLIGIBLE) part, we are not -- it is not in the family, but on the other side is the knowledge. They don't know. They were never exposed in Iraq, for example, to psychological services or never know about it. I mean, everything had always handled by the family or the tribe. Have problem? OK, go to the elders.

COLBY: It has taken time, but Dr. Kira (ph) says Iraqis here have adjusted well to freedom, and the news from Baghdad this week is the right prescription for Iraqis still in Iraq.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think what happens now it is very a healing power for them.

COLBY: Haythem and Zaina (ph) have settled into their new life, and they're confident, with time, the Iraqi people will, too.

AL-MAWLA: With my knowledge of Iraqi people, they have, you know, a huge number of middle-class, educated people. This will be, you know, easier than what we expect.

COLBY: Jamie Colby, CNN, Dearborn, Michigan.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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 April 12, 2003 - 05:52   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: We want to talk about democracy now. Democracy is a stranger to most Iraqis, and after decades of oppression, freedom could be overwhelming.
Our Jamie Colby visited a large community of former Iraqis now living here in the United States, and they offer cautious hope that their country can learn how to be free.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JAMIE COLBY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Sakria al-Bahaj (ph) pictured going back to Iraq, and now it's about to become a reality. She immigrated to Dearborn, Michigan in 1994, with her son, Haythem al-Mawla, now 30. But she left three other children behind, including one son, who Haythem says endured three years in a Saddam- run prison.

HAYTHEM AL-MAWLA, IRAQI EXILE: He was physically tortured. The first thing I noticed was his nails. He had three of his nails were taken off.

COLBY: Haythem's wife, Zaina (ph), says her mother also plans to visit Iraq.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They have cousins (UNINTELLIGIBLE) they're dead. Saddam Hussein told them they're dead already.

COLBY: Zaina (ph) says she also has a brother and sister in Iraq.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She's scared about her family.

COLBY: Haythem and Zaina (ph), both college students, believe the process of adjusting to democracy in Iraq will be difficult. For them, experiencing freedom in the U.S. wasn't always easy. Take, for example, Haythem's first experience with a traffic cop.

AL-MAWLA: I keep shaking, shaking, shaking, shaking, and it's like I did a crime. And he said: "Sir, don't do it again. This is a warning for you, and thank you very much, sir. Thank you. This is your driver's license."

These words, "thank you, sir," you will never -- you'll dream to hear it from an officer in Iraq.

COLBY: Dr. Ebrahim Kira (ph), a Dearborn-based psychologist, has studied the Iraqi community here for more than 20 years. Of his patients, mostly torture survivors:

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Twenty percent hear voices, 30 percent depression, 40 percent anxiety. It is, you know, overwhelming when you see this. You know, this is the general picture, but when you sit with a client it's even worse.

COLBY: And, he explains, it's a culture not accustomed to asking for help from outsiders.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It is the (UNINTELLIGIBLE) part, we are not -- it is not in the family, but on the other side is the knowledge. They don't know. They were never exposed in Iraq, for example, to psychological services or never know about it. I mean, everything had always handled by the family or the tribe. Have problem? OK, go to the elders.

COLBY: It has taken time, but Dr. Kira (ph) says Iraqis here have adjusted well to freedom, and the news from Baghdad this week is the right prescription for Iraqis still in Iraq.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think what happens now it is very a healing power for them.

COLBY: Haythem and Zaina (ph) have settled into their new life, and they're confident, with time, the Iraqi people will, too.

AL-MAWLA: With my knowledge of Iraqi people, they have, you know, a huge number of middle-class, educated people. This will be, you know, easier than what we expect.

COLBY: Jamie Colby, CNN, Dearborn, Michigan.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.