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LiveFrom a32 NEWSWEEK M RCH 31 2003

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FIRST PERSON

Dismantling aDictatorshipPresidentialpalaceskeyministriesandmilitarycommandcenterswereblowninto rubbleby the mericanairstrikes

AstheIraqi regimefraysaround her,aNEWSWEEKcorrespondent copes withnervouseditors,abureaucrwithno fingernails and amassivebombing campaigBY MELIND LIU

ATURD AY WASAQU IEspringday inBaghdaEarlyin themorningdrove around towntolookat theeffectsof tpreviousnight's shocandawe airstrikes.Ju

a fewhoursbefore thenightsky hadpulsed with crimsonfireballsandIratracerfire theconcussionhadknocktheplasterfrommyhotel'sceilingsaanentireriverbankofgovernmentbuildingshaddisintegratedas Iwatched fromanupperfloor.Now,tstreetswere mostly empty, exceptfogroupsofIraqi soldiers digging trences andbunkersfor alast stand againtheAmericans.TheJuly14Bridgewstrewn with bits of shrapnel, perhapsthe remains of the huge militarycomplexthat once stood at its southeend.Apalaceon theother side appeaintact, but a water main or hydrant haburstinfrontof it,turningthestreetinto a lake. An acrid, burning smellhungin theair.I sawcoalition aircraflyingoverhead,but theair-raidsirenshadstoppedfornow,and theantiaircraftguns weresilent.Bylateafternoon massive blackP H O T O G R A P H S BY I L KKA U I M O N E N M A G N U M F O R N E W S W E E K

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plumes of smoke were rising from theedgesof thecity. Perhaps Iraqi troops weref inally torching the moatsof oilthat Sad-da m Husseinh adbuilt there. Iwasn't driv-ingout tosee. Darknesswascoming,andm o r e airstrikes along with it. But thebombs didn't worry me aswhat might fol-low: a waking nightmare between theregime's collapseand theestablishmentofU.S. control. Looters. Hostage takers. Out-of-control lynch mobs. The most danger-oustimemaystillbeahead.Ialmost didn'tget to see thewar.Theda y before it off icial ly began, N E W S -W E E K ' S editors asked me to leave thecountry. I wasfurious.I hadspentthepre-vious two months in Iraq covering theshowdown. Now they suddenly decidedthe place was too dangerous. What didthey expect?Whatdidthey supposeI wasdoing in Iraq, anyway,if not reporting ontheactionsof agovernment thattheBushadministration called one of the world'sdeadliestregimes? Frustrated, exhausted,torn an d angry, Idecided to fol loworders

Under theBarricades hestreetsof thecapitala redotted withmakeshiftfortificationsandhastilydugbunkersinpreparationfor afinal showdownagainsttheU.S. invasion

andget o u t a n dthen togive theeditorsm y resignation.Itdidn't workoutthatway. Five hoursbefore Bush's final deadline expired, Icalled N ew York to say I was staying inBaghdad. I wasprevented f rom leavingb yanIraqi bureaucratw ecalledth eGnome,awizened littlem anwith n ofingernails.N oonecould sayjusthow helost them. Soniceman,sonice man, saido nedriverw hoknewthestorybut refusedtodivulgeit. Itwassomethingthathappenedto him in theArmy. We couldn't help being obsessedwith the Gnome's fingernails.He was theMinis t ry o fInformation Press Center offi-cialresponsiblefo rcollectingfees fro mreg-istered journalists. Eachof us had to payhim $225a day foraccessto thePress Cen-

ter andpermissionto use our ownsatellitephones. W ewatched hi m count it , bill bybill. His looks somehow reminded me o fGollum i n Lordof theRings.AGHDAD HAS ALWAYS B E E N Astrange place, but in SaddamHussein's lastdays, it got moresurreal than ever. Ordinary Iraqisgaveuppretending tohavefaithin their government and began talking,quietly at first,abouthowthey reallyfelt.Atabout 5:30 one morning at the RasheedHotel,Ibumped intoa f loorattendant. I'm

soscared,soscared, hewhispered, wring-ing his hands. Please help, he said.Please. He wasobviously lookingfo rsym-pathy and a bit ofeasy cash. But he hadgood reasonto bescared.Thehotel's multi-levelbasement, alabyrinthof VIPbunkersandtunnelsthatreportedly includeagov-e r nme nt c ommand- and- c on t r o lhub, couldm a k e the place acoalition target. (Actualslogan: AlRa sheedIt'sMoreThana Ho-tel. ) Th ehotel's hairdresser, Abboud, left

1thinkyou lllikeour [bomb] shelter, said thenightmanager.It was only a converted parking garage.34 NEWSWEEK M ARCH 31 2 3

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Preparedfor nEmergencyA bom bed o f f ice above);b loodno t icedon aBagh-dad hospifal f loor duringthe dailypresstour farright);theauthor keepsastasho f ropein herhotelroomi ncasesh eneedsto get out in ahurry

him. I tried to calm my nerves by pastingreceipts ont o 8-by-10 piecesofpaper forthemonstrous expense report I would have tofile in NewYork. Isuspected Ilookedsilly.But anyonewho said so could go to hell.Besides,I wasquitting,so I wouldhavetofilemyexpensesimm ediately.SM E O N E FINALLY F O U N D T H EGnomein adifferent office, shov-ing heaps of Iraqi dinars intobags. H e told us to come back lat-er. A ll around us , ministry em -ployees were shouting and hauling away of-ficefurniture and equipment to save themfrom the impending U.S. airstrikes. LarryKaplow,a CoxNew spapers reporter, triedtopersuade a Press Center official to intercedeforus, but that official got intoashoutingmatch with another Iraqi,and we lostourchance. E arly in the afternoon we canceledour convoy.We could never be out of thecountrybeforedark.I had to undo the previous 24 hours ofworkand quickly. Two days earlier, I'dbeen fairly ready to face awar. Now I wasbone tired, frustrated, mycarefully assem-bledsurviva l system scattered all overtown.It was a fightjustto get my room backatthe P alestine. But atleastI was confrontingdangers I had chosen instead of jour ney ing

down a dangerous, isolated highway awayfrom the story.O n T hursday I had dinne r at the Pales-tine with Kadhim al-Taie, anInformationM inistry official who helps run the PressCenter.Hestillhad hissenseofhum or, eventhough he'd gotten onlyanhour's sleeptheprevious night. Thehotel's restaurant, theO rient E xpress, isessentially a tired buffetof execrablefood.W e hadwater}'lam b cur-ryof an unsettling orange hue, with rice. Iasked for bottled min eral water, and thewaiter brought tap water decanted intoanopen plastic bottle, without even the pre-tenseof being sealed. I was jok ing w ith anL . A .Times reporter about the fact that ourvisas had run out. Suddenly another PressCenter official ran overa nd demanded in amock fury: You mustgetanothervisaex-tensiongive me yourpassports "Every-one at the table erupted in laughter. T he of-ficial walked away, chuckling. I felt totallyexhausted, and I said so. Kadh im leaned to-ward me. T he adre naline will come back,he said. Y ou'll see.

The onegood thingwas thesuddenap-pearance at the buffet counter of somefreshlycookedkubba a buckwheat pancakefilled with ground lamb. K adhim grabbed aplatefula ndoffered mesome. They werede-licious, but I'd taken only two bites when he

tipped his head to one side and raised afger forsilence. Ihear som ething, hesaStraining tolisten,Iheard i tandfeltit.distant, almost subliminal thudding, molikewaves of air hitting m y eardrum s thanproper sound. A merican bombs. Then tloud staccato of outgoingantiaircraftfireTheadrenalinewasback.I ran to the cashier, ahead of everyoelsein the room . M y hand was shak ing

I scribbled my name on the bill. Tsound s of bom bing and antiaircr aft fihad become unm istakab ly clear. T hseemed very close, even though I coutellthey wereon the farsideof the riverwas more afraid of misdirected Iraqi dfensive fire than of U.S. bombs. A strantiaircraft shell could easily land on tbui lding. Plenty of Baghdad residenwere killed that way during the Uairstrikesof1991and 1998.And if the ht tookahit, swarmsoflooters w oulddoub t imme diately descend on the plac

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In myroomI had a bagpacked with myessentials,and I wanted it.Itooktheemergency stairsandracedtomy third-floor room. M ydriver,Tlala A l-Jabar, who had the room next door, waswaitingin thehallway.The bombardmentwa slouder than ever.Thedoorof myroomshuddered with each concussion. Fromm ybalconyI sawtracerfireacrosstheriverandone or twospectacular explosions.Afteron eintense blast,ascrumofIraqisrandownthecorridor, shouting, "The ministry's beenhit Theministry's been hit " Someofthemscurried of f to put on their body armor.From mybalconywe sawplumeso fsmokerising on the oppositebank of the river.

"Thesky is on fire, Tlala said. Thenhereal-izedhe hadlocked himselfout of hisroom.W E HA D TO L A U G H .O NLYthat morning, as sunrisemarkedthe end of the firstnight of bombing, Tlalahad encountered a dis-traughtwomanin thecorridor. Bareleggedand barefoot, she wore only a delicatewhite satin nightshirt. Her hair was di-sheveled, and she was cursing inFrench."Please let me back into m y room," sh ebegged, mistaking Tlala for a hotel em -ployee. "I've left my key inside." Tlalahelped hercallthefrontdesk.Thelastwe

sawher,she wascursing louder than eNowTlalahad puthimselfin the sapredicament. W e called th e front dEventuallya manarrived with die makey.Meanwhile Tlala and Iwent out to other guest's balcony, wherethe viewbetter.AnIraqiwasscramblingtofastenbodyarmor. Acrossthewatera biggovement buildingwas in flames. TheIraqiitwas the HallofMinisters,whereth ecne tholds itsmeetings. Fo rhours afterbombing stopped, rumors ra nwild. Sopeople saidth eairstrikeshad hi t thenot

ous interrogation center known as Palaceof theEnd, wherethe torture cred-paintedwallsaresaidto becovered w

A driver overheard one of the guards wisecracking: she needs a place to sleep, let he r com e to m y bed

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graff i t iscribbledbydetaineeswhowere tak-entherea ndnever seen again. Other Iraqislater said coalition cruise missiles hadstruck the residencesofthreeof SaddamHussein'srelatives, along with acomputercenter run by his sonQusay.Dur ing a lul lin thebombardment,Tlalawent back to his room to turn in for thenight.I wasthinkingofgoingto thehospi-tal, to askabout casualties, when an Iraqiacquaintance arrived. He sat quietly for amoment. Then hesmiled. I'm very happyabouttiiisbombing, he said. Nobody willfight to defendhim. He wastalking aboutSaddam Hussein.Igesturedat myvisitortowatch what hesaid.Theroomwasalmostcertainly bugged. M yfriend onlychuckled. Everybodyfeelst hesame way, believe me,hesaid. He'sapatriot,aveteranof twoIraqiwars. But this time he's rooting for theAmericans.H esays Iraqis havenocountrybecause Saddam stolei tfromthem.LaterI gotacallfrom KimSengupta,a ndItrudged up 10fl ightso fstairsto seehim.Ididn'twantto bestuckin theelevatorif theelectricity suddenly went out. Kim's editorsat TheIndependent,theBritish paper,hadcalledhi mhome several days earlier, whentheU.N.inspectorsstartedleaving.Henev-ermadeitpasttheborder. Iraqi authoritiesarrested him and six orseven other West-erners for currency violations. A print

ManningTheir PositionsLastweek s unprecedentedly powerfu lbombardment wasn t overwhelmingenough to dislodge many Iraqi soldiersf rom their posts o n Baghdad s outskirts

journalist inIraqneedswell over$600a dayin fees, bribes andbasic room, board a ndtransportation.But themostyou canlegallybring into the country at any time is$10,000.Anything extraissubjecttoconfis-cation and a s t i f f f ine. TheIraqis detainedKi m and theothers fo rseveral days beforere tu rn ingthemtoBaghdad.

IW AS SUDDENLY GLAD I HADN'T G O Tpast th e Gnome. If I'd leftwith Kim,Imight have faced th e same treatment.Maybeworse. Ki msaidhiscaptorsh adtried to separate the women detaineesfrom themen.Adriver overheardone of theguards wisecracking aboutone of thewom-

en: If she needs aplace to sleep, let hercometo mybed. Thegroup insistedonstay-ingtogether,anddieguardsfinallygavein.I feel safe in my third-floorroom. Tlalaboughtm ethree lengthsofsturdy rope, eachlongenough toclimb downto thefloorbe-low. Hetoldme he had finagled i tfromsup-pliesusually reserved fo r Iraqi counterter-roristcommandos. I've donemvhomework

on th ebuilding,and thenight managerh asbeenmosthelpful.Heagreed thatdiebuilding'slowerfloors aresaferthanit supper stories. And he told medial some windowswere shatteredby the bombingin1991and1998, but mostlyon thewest side, facingthe river,thatis. Myroomfacessouth.Locationisn'teverything.Theroomhadto omuch glass: sliding doors leading intoth ebalcony,framed pictures, mirrors,a TVset, a llpotentially deadlyflying shards if abomb falls nearby. I stowed th e portablestuff in the hall closet and swathed every-th ingelsebalconydoors, bathroom mirrorevendieshowerenclosure induct tapeandSaranWrap provided byMike,the one whojoked about livingin a n Avengers episode.Itippedone ofdiesingle bedson itssideas ashield betweenthewindowanddieotii-erbed.Th ebesttiling isthatmyroomhas anarrow foyer, with doors leading to diebathroomand thetoiletandanotiierdoortotheroom wherediebed is. Ifdiebombingevergetstoobad,I canretreattodie foyerand close the doors. This is where I'vestashed myfood andwater,an ai rmattressand sleeping bag and a l l myessentialbe -longings.Icouldlive,work, bathea ndsleepherefordays, evenweeks,if necessary. Ihavetw ohumongous plastic barrelsof wa-ter incasediep lumbinggoes out.IthinkI'mreadyfo rwhatever comes.

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