CNN Live Today

Tanya Gilly is a Kurd from northern Iraq who’s organization, the Iraq-American Freedom Alliance, joined 14 other groups to place that add. She is here with us now from Washington.

Thanks for being with us.

TANYA GILLY, IRAQI-AMERICAN FREEDOM ALLIANCE: Thanks for having me.

NGUYEN: First of all, why was it so important to put this letter in the number thanking Americans?

GILLY: Well, if it was not for the American people and the sacrifices their sons and daughters have made, we would not see this day, a day where Saddam is in court and he’s on the other side of the table, where he is the one who is being tried for his crimes.

NGUYEN: What kind of reaction have you been getting to that ad?

GILLY: People actually have come up to me and said that they do like it, and they believe that it was time that we had said it loud and clear, say thank you to the American people. And for us — and we must ask them to help us to build a democracy in Iraq and not to give up on us so soon.

NGUYEN: Now you of course watched the hearing yesterday with Saddam Hussein, who says he is still the president of Iraq. Is this man delusional, or is this part of his strategy, in your eyes?

GILLY: Of course, it’s part of his strategy. When I was watching the arraignment yesterday, I mean, I was just sitting there and I was hoping that all Iraqis can watch this, and realize that nobody is above the law, and there will be a day where everybody will be tried for their crimes.

NGUYEN: There are a number of things discussed, including the crimes that he’s being charged with, the gassing of the Kurds. And to that, he replied, I saw that on television. What do you think about that?

GILLY: It hurt me very much when I actually heard him say that comment. As a matter of fact, a friend of mine just sent me an e-mail yesterday, she was telling me that she was in Halabja, the town that was gassed by Saddam Hussein, where 5,000 Kurds died. And she said to me, she said, the people were jubilant, the people were very happy, and everybody was in tears. The day has come that he was tried for this. And of course, he’s going to try to dodge all the crimes that have been listed against him, and he’s going to try to blame it on other people or say that they did not happen, which is of course his strategy.

NGUYEN: Despite your feelings about Saddam, he did not have an attorney present yesterday. Is this a sign that he can or cannot get a fair trial in Iraq?

GILLY: I think his crimes really speak for themselves. And they have been very good, the investigative judge and so on, by giving him a chance to speak and say his opinion. I do believe that he will get a fair trial, something that, of course, he never gave any Iraqis. And I’ve been hearing it from many Iraqis, what they have said. It is the first time, it’s something that is new to Iraq, basically, when an accused is given a chance to explain his situation.

NGUYEN: Exactly. And with the world watching, is the Iraq system ready for such a trial?

GILLY: Well, it has to be. There is no option. Failure is not an option, and we have to make sure that it works. And like I said, there is a lot of evidence on basically speaking of his crimes and so on. In this case, we do need the help of the world community to help us to make sure this trial goes well. And it goes according to international law.

NGUYEN: What do you think this is the first order of business for this new government, when clearly, there are other issues, pressing issues such as security?

GILLY: Well, of course, security is the main concern of all Iraqis. And it has been very good on part of the government, especially the prime minister Iyad Allawi, where he said he will definitely make sure that Iraq is secure before anything else. And this will definitely give people a chance to try and rebuild their lives. And also, to give them a chance to kind of, I guess, to move on, and to have closure with everything and all the pain and suffering that they have been through.

NGUYEN: Though with that said, you still don’t want people to forget the sufferings that the people of Iraq have gone through. You want to tell that story. What do you want Americans and the rest of the world to know?

GILLY: Again, I just want to say thank you for helping us, and there is a lot that has not been told on American television, and even in the news media, that talks about the suffering of the Iraqi people, the tortures, the killings, the gassings. And even the ethnic cleansing that happened, especially in Kurdistan, that we are not hearing much of. All this is definitely reason for us to have removed Saddam Hussein.

Tonya Gilly with the Iraq-American Freedom Alliance. We thank you for your time.

NGUYEN: Thank you for having me.