Fear and anger inside Iraq

msnbc.com ^ | 9/8/02 | Ron Allen

[scab4faa]

BAGHDAD, Iraq, Sept. 6 — As the only American network reporter currently on the ground in Baghdad, NBC’s Ron Allen spoke with MSNBC.com about the current mood in the country and what it’s like to operate there as the drums of war grow louder in the United States.

MSNBC.com: Describe the scene in Iraq right now. How has the growing drumbeat of war affected the average person there?

NBC’s Ron Allen: I know people here are very concerned and very worried about the growing threat of war. They’re even more concerned because they’re hearing that the United States is determined to change the regime in Baghdad, and that could mean that if there is war and fighting, it could happen in major cities like the capital and other places around the country, bringing it very close to home. In the past, most of the fighting has been outside of the city, and during the Gulf War, it was close to the Kuwaiti border. So, there’s a lot of concern.

I know the government here is very, very angry, very concerned, feeling again that they’re not getting a fair hearing in the court of public opinion, that they’re being demonized. I just heard from the director of the media center here that the government feels very strongly that Iraq has fulfilled all of its commitments under the U.N. Security Council resolutions and that the United States has no right to try to change the government here — a government that, according to Iraqi officials at least, is much loved and very respected.

MSNBC.com: You’re just one of a few reporters on the ground in Iraq right now. Tell us a little about what it’s like to report from there, especially as an American under the current circumstances.

Allen: Generally speaking, there’s a professional arrangement between the journalists — even us American ones — and the Iraqi government. They tell us what they feel, and we try to portray their point of view. We try not to take sides; we try to be objective. You try to be fair, and you try to tell people what they’re trying to say.

Whenever we go out on a shoot, whenever we attempt to interview people, whenever we make a request to do anything, the request has to be approved by a ministry official. We are escorted everywhere around town. Over the years, our movements have been more or less restricted depending on what the government assumes our intentions are and what our agenda might be. So far on this trip, we’ve only been here for a day, so it’s hard to say what we’ll be able to accomplish this time.

MSNBC.com: What do you hear from people on the street? Are they angry at the American threats?

Allen: There’s a lot of anger in this country about America. It’s been that way for years. The Iraqis blame America for a lot of the problems here. They blame America for 12 years of sanctions that have impoverished vast numbers of people.

There’s no love lost between these two nations. Even younger Iraqis — we’ve visited universities here over the years, and I was at one just a few months ago — there’s a feeling that the United States is a superpower that is arrogant, that lies, that does not like Arab people and pursues politics that are not in the interests of the world. And I think those feelings are going to be even more intense as the American rhetoric increases.

MSNBC.com: Is there any sense there that people want Saddam to go?

Allen: No is the short answer. It’s very hard to get people here to say anything negative about the government, to say anything negative about their leader. The comments you always hear from people — whether you stop them in the street or in the market or in their homes — is that they are always very positive and respectful of the Iraqi leader.

The view is very different outside the country, of course — in London and other places where there is an opposition movement. But here, inside the country, there’s never a disparaging word heard.

[adam stevens]

If they didn't want this to happen they could have gottrn rid of Saddam and started acting like a decent nation by now. I have now sympathy.

[xzins]

I always appreciate it when one of our media outlets becomes a mouthpiece for a dictator. They done it for so long that they don't even recognize their own whoring. Loved the line They tell us what they feel, and we try to portray their point of view.

I recall, oh so many times, when NBC/ABC/CBS/A-z have heard from the Bush administration and tried hard to portray GW's point of view. Don't you remember it? It was...uhh..excuse me...uhhhh.

[stuck_in_new_orleans]

Allen: No is the short answer. It’s very hard to get people here to say anything negative about the government, to say anything negative about their leader.

You goddamn f-cking moron! Of course the people arent going to speak up and against a man who has gassed his own people and killed political opponents. Especially when your being escorted by military guards. You f'ing leftist scum. Did you mention that in your "report" that you tried oh-so hard to be fair while reporting your story? I didnt think so

[WyCoKsRepublican]

Ignorance breeds ignorance. The Iraqi people don't know the truth. They are like cattle, fed what are are supposed to belief, then ultimately slaughtered for speaking out or just because they happen to be Iraqi in times of war. I have no sympathy for these poor SOBs. The two bit "shoeshine boy" Saddam has to go.

[KineticKitty]

"They tell us what they feel, and we try to portray their point of view. We try not to take sides; we try to be objective. You try to be fair, and you try to tell people what they’re trying to say"

Makes one wonder how much of the facts they "try" to report. < /sarcasm>

[ItisaReligionofPeace]

But here, inside the country, there’s never a disparaging word heard.

Hmmm, who knew that he was so popular?

[dark_lord]

I note that the tone of the report from the reporter, "Allen", was very measured. I suspect that no one, and I mean no one, in Iraq is going to say anything against Saddam right now to the US media. Or they will be dead pretty quick. Consider where he is, who he is reporting on, and what is about to happen between the US and Iraq. And if he gets too negative..."accidents happen." He may be a leftist weasel...or not, I don't watch TV. But whether or not he is, he clearly has no intention of slipping and falling into a vat of acid while preparing for his bath, or accidently flaying himself in a kitchen accident.

[PhilDragoo]

It’s very hard to get people here to say anything negative about the government, to say anything negative about their leader.

YO, ALLEN, BECAUSE THEY WOULD BE HACKED TO PIECES IN A HEARTBEAT, DUMBASS.

(This is why we need MSNBC?)

(To be Saddam's poodle licking his face?)

Making
Saddam
Nice
By
Cooperating

[hoosierskypilot]

"I stopped watching this idiocy about two years ago..."

Gothca beat. Stopped watching tv 5 years ago. VCR yes. Television, no.

[piasa]

MSNBC would broadcast the devil's statement of "concern and anger" from hell itself if it could get permission to enter.

I understand that they've earned a season pass.

[infowarrior]

Gotcha both beat, about 20 years ago...

the infowarrior

[Chemnitz]

If this so-called reporter sneezed, he could blow up his entire lower GI tract.

First of all, who would be allowed to report inside this police state? Only a puppet. What would people in a police state say to a puppet of the government, someone who could tape "treacherous" and candid remarks? I imagine they would be full of praise for Saddam...on tape.

[The Scorpion King]

"NBC’s Ron Allen: I know people here are very concerned and very worried about the growing threat of war."

That's okay. They won't have to worry long.

[tet68]

Allen: Generally speaking, there’s a professional arrangement between the journalists — even us American ones — and the Iraqi government. They tell us what they feel, and we try to portray their point of view. We try not to take sides; we try to be objective. You try to be fair, and you try to tell people what they’re trying to say.

Whenever we go out on a shoot, whenever we attempt to interview people, whenever we make a request to do anything, the request has to be approved by a ministry official. We are escorted everywhere around town. Over the years, our movements have been more or less restricted depending on what the government assumes our intentions are and what our agenda might be.

Ya know, there was a time when an American reporter would not have put up with this, would have found a way around it, would have let that show in his reporting.

These aren't reporters.

[big gray tabby]

I agree. Under the circumstances he tells us all we really need to know. When he refers to the "short answer," that's his way of telling us "Yes, but no one's going to say so."

I don't share the board's disdain for the piece, even if it leaves something to be desired.

[Kenton]

No is the short answer. It’s very hard to get people here to say anything negative about the government, to say anything negative about their leader. The comments you always hear from people — whether you stop them in the street or in the market or in their homes — is that they are always very positive and respectful of the Iraqi leader.

When we drop leaflets on Baghdad telling the population that the Republican Guard has ceased to exist and that Saddam is hiding alone in his bunker, it will be interesting to see how many of the Iraquis pick up AKs and how many wave white flags.