Baghdad Residents Cautiously Optimistic About Saddam's Demis

Broadcast: Apr 09, 2003

 

Pessin: Alisha, I know you had a chance to go into western Baghdad with the Army units today. Tell us what that was like and what you saw.

Ryu: "Well, we are just on the border between the main center of town and the western sector¹. We are trying to move in a little bit closer to see, because we have been hearing a lot about this looting going on in certain parts of Baghdad and people celebrating. It seems as if people are now fairly convinced that Saddam Hussein has been ¹⁾toppled, if not killed. And there is a sense of relief among some people here that this regime is finished, and they are hesitantly, and I say hesitantly because we have not seen that sort of mass kind of eruption² of celebration out in the streets yet, but there seems to be some hesitant celebrations going on in different parts of town. I am going to try to get a little bit closer in. I am not sure how successful I will be because there are still some parts of town that are insecure. The military is being very cautious about it, especially after yesterday's encounter where they received some fire from across the Tigris River where the 2nd Brigade's position is in the center of Baghdad. And so there is still some hesitancy among the military if you try to venture in too far."

Pessin: So even as we are hearing reports and, in fact, seeing pictures on television of celebrating, at least in some parts of the city, in other areas it is not secure and even some pockets of resistance remain?

Ryu: "Correct. The biggest worrisome part of Baghdad right now is the northeastern sector. That part has not been secured. The feeling is that the firefights that happened between the 2nd Brigade yesterday and the fire they were receiving from across the river actually came from a Shiite neighborhood in the northeast section. The thinking is that as the 2nd Brigade went into the center of Baghdad, a lot of ²⁾the Fedayeen and ³⁾the Special Republican Guard fled into that Shiite neighborhood across the river, and they are using that base to make ⁴⁾sniper attacks and to unleash³ small arms fire on U.S. troops on the other side of the river. And so this is why the insecurities still exist on that side. Until that sector of town is secure, the military is still going to be very, very cautious on the ground."

Pessin: Alisha, although all the reports we are getting from Baghdad this morning indicate that the authority of Saddam Hussein's government has essentially⁴ faded away overnight. There do not seem to be any police visible in many parts, maybe all, of the city. The Information Ministry's staff appears to have disappeared from the Palestine Hotel where the journalists are staying, and yet we are also hearing from Central Command and from your report that the city is not secure, that this is not over. So if it is not over, what is next?

Ryu: "This will be an ongoing⁵ thing for at least a week, from what I am being told from the military commanders. They need to be absolutely certain that either Saddam Hussein is dead or he is gone, and if he is gone, they want to know where he left. Not only Saddam Hussein, but his two sons, so they are also on the top of the list. So until they are absolutely sure that the Saddam Hussein regime has been toppled and are gone, they are not going to be relaxed about anything. There is still that chance that he may be in touch with some of his commanders in the sort of Special Republican Guard or the Fedayeen, and, if so, there is always that chance that they could make trouble again.

Even if the city becomes calm, there is no guarantee that something else might not flare⁶ up within minutes or within hours or within days. So, with that in the back of their minds, until the whole city is sealed off and cordoned⁷ off and they do a sector by sector by sector search of the entire city to make sure that every part of the city is secure, they are not going to relax about this. But we are looking at another week of mop-up operations, and I think that there will still be quite a few hostile contacts in the days to come."

Pessin: In addition, there are several cities in the north of Iraq that have not yet been entered by allied⁸ forces, much less secured, including Saddam Hussein's hometown, Tikrit, where some people think, if he is still alive, he might make his last stand.

Ryu: "Absolutely. There is always the possibility that Saddam Hussein, if he is alive, has gone to his hometown of Tikrit in the north. U.S. military commanders here are already looking at Tikrit as the next stop. I asked about what could the resistance level there be, since that is very, very loyal to Saddam Hussein, and they said they are trying to assess that now. They are not sure what kind of a force he might have in there, but it is a large city, it is very loyal to Saddam Hussein, and it is another hurdle⁹, if you will, for the U.S. forces and coalition¹⁰ forces because that will be the next key town that they must take if you are going to bring any kind of stability to Iraq as a whole."

Pessin: What is the next step for you today?

Ryu: " I am going to try to see if I can speak to some of the Iraqi civilians¹². I will do my best to try to get into those neighborhoods that are feeling more comfortable about the stability coming to Baghdad, and I want to get a little more of the civilian¹¹ reaction to all of this. So I will try to get that information to you as soon as I can."

 

We are looking forward to hearing from you later.

 

This is Alisha Ryu in Baghdad, I'm Pessin, VOA news, London.

 

 

1.topple [5tCpl]v.倾倒

2.the Fedayeen 萨达姆敢死队

3.the Special Republican Guard 共和国卫队

4.sniper [5snaipE]n.狙击兵

1 sector   

n.部门，部分；防御地段，防区；扇形

参考例句：

• The export sector will aid the economic recovery. 出口产业将促进经济复苏。
• The enemy have attacked the British sector.敌人已进攻英国防区。

2 eruption   

n.火山爆发；（战争等）爆发；（疾病等）发作

参考例句：

• The temple was destroyed in the violent eruption of 1470 BC.庙宇在公元前1470年猛烈的火山爆发中摧毁了。
• The eruption of a volcano is spontaneous.火山的爆发是自发的。

3 unleash   

vt.发泄，发出；解带子放开

参考例句：

• They hope to create allies to unleash against diseases,pests,and invasive species.他们希望创造出一些新群体来对付疾病、害虫和一些有侵害性的物种。
• Changing water levels now at times unleash a miasma of disease from exposed sewage.如今，大坝不时地改变水位，从暴露的污水释放出了疾病瘴气。

4 essentially   

adv.本质上，实质上，基本上

参考例句：

• Really great men are essentially modest.真正的伟人大都很谦虚。
• She is an essentially selfish person.她本质上是个自私自利的人。

5 ongoing   

adj.进行中的，前进的

参考例句：

• The problem is ongoing.这个问题尚未解决。
• The issues raised in the report relate directly to Age Concern's ongoing work in this area.报告中提出的问题与“关心老人”组织在这方面正在做的工作有直接的关系。

6 flare   

v.闪耀，闪烁；n.潮红；突发

参考例句：

• The match gave a flare.火柴发出闪光。
• You need not flare up merely because I mentioned your work.你大可不必因为我提到你的工作就动怒。

7 cordoned   

v.封锁，用警戒线围住( cordon的过去式 )

参考例句：

• Police cordoned off the area until the bomb was defused. 警方封锁了这个地区直到炸弹被拆除为止。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Police cordoned off the road and diverted commuter traffic. 警察封锁了道路并分流交通。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 allied   

adj.协约国的；同盟国的

参考例句：

• Britain was allied with the United States many times in history.历史上英国曾多次与美国结盟。
• Allied forces sustained heavy losses in the first few weeks of the campaign.同盟国在最初几周内遭受了巨大的损失。

9 hurdle   

n.跳栏，栏架；障碍，困难；vi.进行跨栏赛

参考例句：

• The weather will be the biggest hurdle so I have to be ready.天气将会是最大的障碍，所以我必须要作好准备。
• She clocked 11.6 seconds for the 80 metre hurdle.八十米跳栏赛跑她跑了十一秒六。

10 coalition   

n.结合体，同盟，结合，联合

参考例句：

• The several parties formed a coalition.这几个政党组成了政治联盟。
• Coalition forces take great care to avoid civilian casualties.联盟军队竭尽全力避免造成平民伤亡。

11 civilian   

adj.平民的，民用的，民众的

参考例句：

• There is no reliable information about civilian casualties.关于平民的伤亡还没有确凿的信息。
• He resigned his commission to take up a civilian job.他辞去军职而从事平民工作。

12 civilians   

平民，百姓( civilian的名词复数 )； 老百姓

参考例句：

• the bloody massacre of innocent civilians 对无辜平民的血腥屠杀
• At least 300 civilians are unaccounted for after the bombing raids. 遭轰炸袭击之后，至少有300名平民下落不明。