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From Our Own Correspondent

Jeremy Bowen: Memories of Iraq

From Our Own Correspondent

BBC

News, News Commentary

4.41.3K Ratings

🗓️ 23 March 2023

⏱️ 28 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Kate Adie presents stories from Iraq, on the 20th anniversary of the US-led invasion, Brazil and Colombia. The BBC's International Editor Jeremy Bowen first reported from Iraq in 1990, and went on to visit the country on many more occasions - including during the US-led invasion in 2003. Twenty years on since the start of that war, he charts how events during the decade prior shaped the country's destiny. The city of Fallujah has had to rebuild many times following the invasion by coalition forces, which was followed by the Iraqi insurgency and a takeover by Al Qaeda and Isis. Leila Molana Allen speaks to residents of the city about their memories of the last 20 years, and what life is like today. In Brazil, measures have been taken to enshrine protection for those who are overweight, including preferential seats on subways, larger desks in schools and an annual day to promote the rights of obese people. But despite these moves, it can take longer for societal attitudes to change, says Bob Howard. And we're in Colombia on a journey by ferry on the Magdalena river to the old colonial trading hub, Mompox, which later became crucial to the fight for independence. The ripple effects of this region's rich history are still felt today, says Sara Wheeler. Series Producer: Serena Tarling Producer: Bethan Ashmead Editor: Richard Fenton-Smith Production Coordinator: Helena Warwick-Cross

Transcript

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0:00.0

BBC Sounds, Music, Radio, Podcasts

0:05.1

Today the Iraqi city of Fallujah became the site of some of the bloodiest battles during

0:10.8

the US-led invasion 20 years ago. We speak to those who lived through it. We're in Brazil,

0:18.0

where our correspondent discovers that despite recent measures there to protect the overweight,

0:24.0

a culture of discrimination remains. And we take a ferry up the Magdalena River in Colombia,

0:31.1

where the ripple effects of history are felt in the present day. First, this week marks the

0:37.4

20th anniversary of the US-led invasion of Iraq. In March 2003, a coalition, including the UK,

0:46.0

began a full-scale air and ground invasion under the pretext that Saddam Hussein was developing

0:52.1

weapons of mass destruction, a premise that later proved to be false. The prime objective of

0:58.8

the coalition's shock and awe strategy, as it came to be known, was regime change in Baghdad.

1:06.2

The swift and decisive first months of the war were followed by a fierce counterinsurgency,

1:11.7

which led to the loss of hundreds of thousands of lives. This gave way to sectarian violence,

1:18.0

and then the rise of ISIS. But the seeds of this conflict were so long before the invasion in

1:24.3

2003, says Jeremy Bone, who's been reporting from Iraq since the 1990s and returned this week.

1:32.4

The first time I came here to Iraq was for me very exciting. It was November 1990, about three

1:39.5

months after President Saddam Hussein sent his army into Kuwait. That rash decision changed

1:45.9

everything for the Iraqis and for Saddam. After he was captured at the end of 2003, Saddam was

1:52.5

questioned for months by the CIA. His interrogator wrote later that the former president put his head

2:00.2

in his hands and groaned when asked why he'd invaded Kuwait. No wonder, Kuwait put Iraq on a

2:08.8

road to hell. War, sanctions, invasion, and then more war. Saddam's journey ended at the gallows

2:16.8

for the people of Iraq. It continued. Saddam Hussein's crimes towards his own people were well known

2:24.7

by the time he invaded Kuwait. He was a tyrant. But for the US and Britain and their Arab friends,

...

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