“An energizing city tour in Baghdad”

“Today, artillery fire was nearer and heavier, also from Iraq’s anti-aircraft guns. Around 2 p.m. the civilian neighborhood of Akademia came under heavy fire, as somebody from Ponte per Baghdad, a solidarity group, witnessed. People waited anxiously outside, paralyzed with fear, and there were many civilian casualties. 

This afternoon, I went into town with Colette. As usual, we got a warm welcome at the Yarmouk hospital. “There’s always time for coffee,” the medical director laughed. “I cannot show you any patients,” he explained, “because we are a frontline hospital and, as much as possible, we have to keep beds vacant in anticipation of the arrival of casualties. That’s why we transfer the minor cases immediately to other hospitals and heavily injured are transferred as soon as possible, after initial treatment.” Yesterday they had to accommodate 150 injured and some dead; today 16 injured and 3 dead.

On the way to the new headquarters of the Red Crescent (their old building is damaged by bombardments) we saw 10 to 15 burnt Iraqi vehicles. There were also destroyed American Abrams tanks; not one, as was reported in the western media, but four! Indeed, the U.S. troops went on another ‘incursion’ into the city today but they were met with heavy resistance. Their plans are far from clear because to occupy Baghdad they are much too few. Even in their tanks and armored vehicles they are not safe. They’ll wet their pants when they’ll have to get out of them. Remember Harrie and Claire’s story about how nervous the GI’s at the checkpoint were? The Americans and British can hurt the Iraqis but can they defeat them? Definitely, taking Baghdad will not be a walk in the park!  

While bombs were raining down elsewhere, I saw smiling soldiers in the city. Some of them were drinking tea, others were killing time playing board games, but all of them greeted us enthusiastically. I was recharged with energy and confidence when I came back from this walk in the city.”