ABC Nightline 3/16: Iraq today (joint project with Time and the BBC)

[Bozita]

 
Nightline Daily E-Mail
March 16, 2004


TONIGHT'S FOCUS: As part of ABC News' periodic survey of conditions in Iraq, we'll look at three different subjects tonight: security, religious strife, and the efforts to create a new government on the local and national levels. This is a joint project with Time and the BBC.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

So word came this morning of several Iraqi police officers killed in a drive-by shooting in the city of Mosul. That's where four American missionaries were shot and killed yesterday. And this past weekend was a bloody one for American troops. So what is happening in Iraq? We are often criticized for not reporting the "good news" out of Iraq. So many schools opened, electricity restored, etc. And while all of that is true, it's tough to ignore the deaths of Americans or Iraqis. Let me be honest. That type of news, the "bad news" will always get more coverage than "good news." That's true in this country, that's true in Iraq. But ABC News first paired with Time magazine about three months ago to try to do a comprehensive survey of conditions in Iraq. What's gotten better? Worse? This is something that we intend to do periodically.

So tonight we're going to focus on three major areas. Clearly the issue of security remains key. The violence continues, and whoever is carrying it out seems to be changing their tactics. Roadside bombings. Car bombs. Now drive-by shootings. Nightline correspondent Dave Marash will report from Baghdad on the security situation, which can be very different from one street to another. Go into a neighborhood and life is pretty normal. Go a block away and you're in a war zone.

Correspondent Bob Woodruff will report from southern Iraq on religion. The main conflict lines exist between the Sunnis and the Shiites, who are the majority. That split affects just about everything. Ten years ago, the first time I went to Iraq, you rarely saw a woman wearing the headscarf. Now that's the norm, and as you'll see tonight, even Christian women have adopted it to avoid criticism or worse. And finally, correspondent Jim Sciutto will report from the north on the efforts to form a new government. Not just a national government, Iraqis are trying to learn how to run their local affairs, and are grappling with elections, and what role women will play as well. All of these issues are linked. Can't have security without a government, can't have a government without some sort of religious accommodation, and so on. So that's our plan for tonight. Ted will anchor, and I hope you'll join us.

Leroy Sievers and the Nightline Staff
ABCNEWS Washington D.C. bureau

[Gloria]

1. AND on Wednesday, 3/17, BBC World Service will be starting a

series on Iraq one year after the war, focussing on all the crap that went on before and the afermath.....The title is something like "Fitting the Jigsaw Puzzle Pieces Together" or something like that.....It will be on at 9am, 3pm and 8pm ET....

[Malva Zebrina]

2. It is probably all part of the Bush teams concetration on the celebration

of the anniversary of the invasion of Iraq. Isn't it interesting how this is done? I am willing to bet that most people will not even realize that all of it is a part of the Bush regimes PR effort to mythologize Bush as a great "war president" and "leader"--it simply appears to be regular scheduled broadcasting and documentary and such.

[Bozita]

3. lick for the evening crowd

[imax2268]

4. thanks for the lick...!

just kidding...

:kick: