Reporter Trevor Bormann spent three months in the Middle East before, during and after the conflict.
Bormann: For the Generation X of a beseiged Iraq, this is what’s become of beloved Baghdad. Saddam Hussein has gone, a new military power now has absolute authority on the streets. There’s nothing to do any more; nowhere to go, and city wide curfew keeps every one at home at night. (To interviewee) They call this liberation; what do you call it?
Uday: Invasion.
Bormann: Two months ago before the war.. we brought together a group of students from Baghdad University. They were the nation’s best and brightest -- the future leaders of this country. But they had to be very careful about what they said to us. Ever present were minders from Saddam Hussein’s Ministry of Information. (To interviewee) If you want to say something’s wrong, you can’t. True or false?
Uday: True or false? True and false. I mean it depends, like I can’t answer that.
Hamsa: Just because Saddam Hussein stood against them and said, “No, I’m not going to be what you want me to be. I’m going to be what I am.”
Haider: If someone of Iraqi citizen doesn’t like the President or does not like the attitude of our government he will say it.
Bormann: Well that was before the war and the end of the regime. So what are they thinking about now? We found them trying to make sense of a city in turmoil.
Haider: During the war and bombing there were no guards in this college, this department. That’s why it was open for the thieves.
Bormann: Nineteen year old Haider Hamza has returned to library of the School of English at Baghdad University.
Haider: We were helpless before, and now we are even more helpless.
Bormann: Even as we speak the looters are still moving through the campus. In the wake of battle Iraqi civilians have turned on each other. Before the war, Haider displayed unflinching support for the only leader he’s never known -- the man he claims earned 100 per cent of the vote. Now you’d expect him to feel free to speak his mind. (To interviewee) Do you accept that he gassed his own people?
Haider: He what?
Bormann: Do you accept that he gassed the Kurds?
Haider: He gassed the Kurds. Okay, well of course I don’t accept it.
Bormann: Many people watching that first interview with you might be saying he’s not being completely truthful. You’re scared, you’re oppressed, you’re frightened to tell the truth. Were you being completely forthcoming with us?.
Haider: Not 100 per cent, no.
Bormann: Which part were you telling?
Haider: Well, let’s say it was 90 per cent or even more than that.
Bormann: So which is the ten per cent you weren’t truthful to us about?
Haider: I even criticised him, I remember that. I said he’s not ideal. I said he’s got his own negative points..
Bormann: What Haider doesn’t like is the presence of the new kids on the block. Many of them aren’t much older than he is.
You can see the contempt in his eyes at every checkpoint.
Haider (to American soldiers): I mean come on, have you took a look at Baghdad? Have you seen what it became? Are you proud of it? Are you guys proud of what you’re doing here?
American soldier: No, I’m proud that Saddam’s gone.
Haider: Where has he gone? Do you think it’s worth it, to pay all the sacrifices to change the regime? Do you think it’s worth it? You’re saying yes. What about you, what do you say?
American soldier: He gassed his own people in the streets. Honestly, he doesn’t care about you all.
Haider: So do you guys believe that we own mass destruction weapons?
Female Soldier: We’re here defending terrorism and all those civilians that died in the World Trade Center -- you heard about that right -- those were all civilians.
Haider: So what? OK do you know that we are suffering from the 11th of September each day here in Iraq? There are the same number of people dying each day here for twelve years.
American soldier: Whose fault was that? Saddam Hussein.
Haider: No it was the embargo, it was the embargo. Today one American died. Oh my god, that’s a disaster. Today one thousand Iraqi died. So what, they are Iraqis, just like bugs or flies.
Bormann: Haider, like many of his generation, did very well out of life under Saddam Hussein, spending years abroad as the son of diplomat. His father is the first to admit Haider was sheltered from the regime.
Haider's father: He had a comfortable life. In the future, the change will not be drastic for him. He will have the internet and e-mail and he will have a dish and various channels of TV to watch. I mean basically there will not be tremendous change unless he wants to be politically active.
Hamsa: They destroyed our country that’s all -- what is it?
Bormann: Hamsa Hosni was another in our class from Baghdad University who couldn’t find a harsh word for Saddam Hussein. Talking to her now, you get the impression not much has changed.
Hamsa: Nobody’s perfect. You can’t tell me that this government or that leader is a perfect guy, or any human being is perfect, but I didn’t see anything from them
Bormann: Nobody’s perfect, but didn’t he torture people and murder them?
Hamsa: Okay, but what about other leaders, didn’t they do the same thing?.
Bormann: But I’m asking you about Saddam Hussein?
Hamsa: Well okay, to be honest, yes maybe. We heard lots of stuff, we didn’t see them with our own eyes.
Uday: I’m translating right now. It’s the best job I can get; it’s better than sitting home right now for me.
Bormann: When we met Uday Jaffer Sadik before the war he told us that Americans had a distorted picture of what was happening in Iraq. Their media, he said, was full of propaganda. Six weeks later, he’s working for CNN in its makeshift bureau at a Baghdad hotel.
Uday: When Saddam Hussein was in power I wouldn’t even bring his name up on camera because I didn’t want any trouble.
Bormann: Would it have been dangerous for you to bring his name up?
Uday: Of course.
Bormann: What would have happened?
Uday: Well probably someone would have reported that I said something about him and I would have been jailed.
Bormann: Twelve years of economic sanctions have hardened this generation of Iraqis in their formative years. And when a coalition from the western world moved in, they saw it not as an attack on their leader, but as an invasion of their home. As they see it, the Americans are big on promises, but things had better improve soon.
Bormann: Dr Mayse Azzu is two years out of medical school. In her short professional career she’s known nothing but shortages from sanctions.
Azzu: It is a serious operation and we have a deficiency of anaesthetic drugs here, so sometimes we only give some kind of analgesics and we work under local anaesthesia, which is not the usual way.
Bormann: And in her whole life Mayse has known nothing but Saddam Hussein; her university days were devoid of free thinking and talking.
Azzu: Every demonstrations were monitored by the government. Nothing was spontaneous.
Bormann: So did you feel free before to criticise Saddam Hussein here?
Hamsa: Not freely, I’m going to be honest with you, you can’t do that. I mean we re not allowed. I mean you’d be afraid.
Haider: I like this one. He’s always smiling. It’s always America, some day the whole world will be just America. To get rid of something we’re supposed to replace it with something better, right. And I can’t see anything better here. Here is Bush and Saddam. We used to have a country, we used to have a capital here, we used to have government. We used to have security, college, our daily life, our hobbies. In the past we could go to have dinner, to play, to go to clubs, to have parties. Now we can’t have anything. Just sitting in your home with no electricity, no pure water, no gas, no security. And to hear the voices of the bullets, the bombing and the smell of smoke, and everything. That’s it, that’s our whole life right now.
Uday: I am pleased to see him gone, okay. We’ve just replaced Saddam Hussein with a greater power which is the United States. We can’t get the United States out of this country no matter what. It’s too strong for this country. It’s too strong for the people of this country -- stronger than Saddam Hussein.
Bormann: In the confusion and anarchy of Baghdad a generation of young Iraqis has scarcely started to look for a place in a new society. Their parents have not seen such radical change in their own lifetimes. After decades of tyranny and oppression, Iraq may be free but the future leaders of this nation still harbour suspicion and distrust.
Azzu: As with any society the ones with connections with the government, the wealthy ones, were pleased with the situation . They’re seeing now the buildings destroyed, the streets are burned. This is, I hope, a temporary situation. I think they will change their minds when they see that a better life is coming, but it is normal that wealthy students want that life, because they have their connections with the regime.
Bormann: For the Generation X of a beseiged Iraq, this is what’s become of beloved Baghdad. Saddam Hussein has gone, a new military power now has absolute authority on the streets. There’s nothing to do any more; nowhere to go, and city wide curfew keeps every one at home at night. (To interviewee) They call this liberation; what do you call it?
Uday: Invasion.
Bormann: Two months ago before the war.. we brought together a group of students from Baghdad University. They were the nation’s best and brightest -- the future leaders of this country. But they had to be very careful about what they said to us. Ever present were minders from Saddam Hussein’s Ministry of Information. (To interviewee) If you want to say something’s wrong, you can’t. True or false?
Uday: True or false? True and false. I mean it depends, like I can’t answer that.
Hamsa: Just because Saddam Hussein stood against them and said, “No, I’m not going to be what you want me to be. I’m going to be what I am.”
Haider: If someone of Iraqi citizen doesn’t like the President or does not like the attitude of our government he will say it.
Bormann: Well that was before the war and the end of the regime. So what are they thinking about now? We found them trying to make sense of a city in turmoil.
Haider: During the war and bombing there were no guards in this college, this department. That’s why it was open for the thieves.
Bormann: Nineteen year old Haider Hamza has returned to library of the School of English at Baghdad University.
Haider: We were helpless before, and now we are even more helpless.
Bormann: Even as we speak the looters are still moving through the campus. In the wake of battle Iraqi civilians have turned on each other. Before the war, Haider displayed unflinching support for the only leader he’s never known -- the man he claims earned 100 per cent of the vote. Now you’d expect him to feel free to speak his mind. (To interviewee) Do you accept that he gassed his own people?
Haider: He what?
Bormann: Do you accept that he gassed the Kurds?
Haider: He gassed the Kurds. Okay, well of course I don’t accept it.
Bormann: Many people watching that first interview with you might be saying he’s not being completely truthful. You’re scared, you’re oppressed, you’re frightened to tell the truth. Were you being completely forthcoming with us?.
Haider: Not 100 per cent, no.
Bormann: Which part were you telling?
Haider: Well, let’s say it was 90 per cent or even more than that.
Bormann: So which is the ten per cent you weren’t truthful to us about?
Haider: I even criticised him, I remember that. I said he’s not ideal. I said he’s got his own negative points..
Bormann: What Haider doesn’t like is the presence of the new kids on the block. Many of them aren’t much older than he is.
You can see the contempt in his eyes at every checkpoint.
Haider (to American soldiers): I mean come on, have you took a look at Baghdad? Have you seen what it became? Are you proud of it? Are you guys proud of what you’re doing here?
American soldier: No, I’m proud that Saddam’s gone.
Haider: Where has he gone? Do you think it’s worth it, to pay all the sacrifices to change the regime? Do you think it’s worth it? You’re saying yes. What about you, what do you say?
American soldier: He gassed his own people in the streets. Honestly, he doesn’t care about you all.
Haider: So do you guys believe that we own mass destruction weapons?
Female Soldier: We’re here defending terrorism and all those civilians that died in the World Trade Center -- you heard about that right -- those were all civilians.
Haider: So what? OK do you know that we are suffering from the 11th of September each day here in Iraq? There are the same number of people dying each day here for twelve years.
American soldier: Whose fault was that? Saddam Hussein.
Haider: No it was the embargo, it was the embargo. Today one American died. Oh my god, that’s a disaster. Today one thousand Iraqi died. So what, they are Iraqis, just like bugs or flies.
Bormann: Haider, like many of his generation, did very well out of life under Saddam Hussein, spending years abroad as the son of diplomat. His father is the first to admit Haider was sheltered from the regime.
Haider's father: He had a comfortable life. In the future, the change will not be drastic for him. He will have the internet and e-mail and he will have a dish and various channels of TV to watch. I mean basically there will not be tremendous change unless he wants to be politically active.
Hamsa: They destroyed our country that’s all -- what is it?
Bormann: Hamsa Hosni was another in our class from Baghdad University who couldn’t find a harsh word for Saddam Hussein. Talking to her now, you get the impression not much has changed.
Hamsa: Nobody’s perfect. You can’t tell me that this government or that leader is a perfect guy, or any human being is perfect, but I didn’t see anything from them
Bormann: Nobody’s perfect, but didn’t he torture people and murder them?
Hamsa: Okay, but what about other leaders, didn’t they do the same thing?.
Bormann: But I’m asking you about Saddam Hussein?
Hamsa: Well okay, to be honest, yes maybe. We heard lots of stuff, we didn’t see them with our own eyes.
Uday: I’m translating right now. It’s the best job I can get; it’s better than sitting home right now for me.
Bormann: When we met Uday Jaffer Sadik before the war he told us that Americans had a distorted picture of what was happening in Iraq. Their media, he said, was full of propaganda. Six weeks later, he’s working for CNN in its makeshift bureau at a Baghdad hotel.
Uday: When Saddam Hussein was in power I wouldn’t even bring his name up on camera because I didn’t want any trouble.
Bormann: Would it have been dangerous for you to bring his name up?
Uday: Of course.
Bormann: What would have happened?
Uday: Well probably someone would have reported that I said something about him and I would have been jailed.
Bormann: Twelve years of economic sanctions have hardened this generation of Iraqis in their formative years. And when a coalition from the western world moved in, they saw it not as an attack on their leader, but as an invasion of their home. As they see it, the Americans are big on promises, but things had better improve soon.
Bormann: Dr Mayse Azzu is two years out of medical school. In her short professional career she’s known nothing but shortages from sanctions.
Azzu: It is a serious operation and we have a deficiency of anaesthetic drugs here, so sometimes we only give some kind of analgesics and we work under local anaesthesia, which is not the usual way.
Bormann: And in her whole life Mayse has known nothing but Saddam Hussein; her university days were devoid of free thinking and talking.
Azzu: Every demonstrations were monitored by the government. Nothing was spontaneous.
Bormann: So did you feel free before to criticise Saddam Hussein here?
Hamsa: Not freely, I’m going to be honest with you, you can’t do that. I mean we re not allowed. I mean you’d be afraid.
Haider: I like this one. He’s always smiling. It’s always America, some day the whole world will be just America. To get rid of something we’re supposed to replace it with something better, right. And I can’t see anything better here. Here is Bush and Saddam. We used to have a country, we used to have a capital here, we used to have government. We used to have security, college, our daily life, our hobbies. In the past we could go to have dinner, to play, to go to clubs, to have parties. Now we can’t have anything. Just sitting in your home with no electricity, no pure water, no gas, no security. And to hear the voices of the bullets, the bombing and the smell of smoke, and everything. That’s it, that’s our whole life right now.
Uday: I am pleased to see him gone, okay. We’ve just replaced Saddam Hussein with a greater power which is the United States. We can’t get the United States out of this country no matter what. It’s too strong for this country. It’s too strong for the people of this country -- stronger than Saddam Hussein.
Bormann: In the confusion and anarchy of Baghdad a generation of young Iraqis has scarcely started to look for a place in a new society. Their parents have not seen such radical change in their own lifetimes. After decades of tyranny and oppression, Iraq may be free but the future leaders of this nation still harbour suspicion and distrust.
Azzu: As with any society the ones with connections with the government, the wealthy ones, were pleased with the situation . They’re seeing now the buildings destroyed, the streets are burned. This is, I hope, a temporary situation. I think they will change their minds when they see that a better life is coming, but it is normal that wealthy students want that life, because they have their connections with the regime.