Unscathed locals sense hope

Suzanne Goldenberg in Baghdad
Saturday March 22, 2003
The Guardian

The Iraqi government minister punched his nickel-plated AK-47 in the air in
a gesture borrowed from Saddam Hussein and let loose a tide of venom. Shame
on little Bush - a swipe at the US president much favoured by Iraqi
officials since the opening of this war - and shame on Tony Blair. The pair
were gangsters and criminals, and they had made a fatal miscalculation, said
Iraq's interior minister, Mohammed Dimab al-Ahmed
"We all have guns. My son is 12 years old, and carries a gun," Mr Ahmed
raved. He kept his finger on the trigger throughout the tirade, but
thankfully the safety catch was on.

Two direct blows on the Iraqi command - including Thursday night's strike on
the headquarters of Qusay Hussein, son and anointed heir of President Saddam
- appeared to have unnerved Iraqi officials. But so long as the rest of
Baghdad remains almost unscathed, ordinary Iraqis appear relatively buoyant,
as they reach for the possibility that maybe this war will be less punishing
than they had feared. Perhaps, they reasoned, the Pentagon's warnings of
days of shock and awe were merely part of a propaganda war meant to unnerve
Iraqis.

If that was the intent, it appeared to be working its magic on Iraqi
officialdom. By Mr Ahmed's side, the information minister, Mohammed Sayeed
al-Sahaf, similarly attired in olive green uniform, was spitting fury at the
selection of targets in Thursday night's air attacks. "They are a superpower
of villains. They are the superpower of Al Capone," he said. "Their motive
is to assassinate the president so they can invade Iraq. We will show these
villains how that action will backfire."

The strikes destroyed a series of official buildings, thought to be under
the control of Qusay Hussein, near Iraq's red brick planning ministry. The
second son of President Saddam was granted charge of Baghdad on the eve of
the war, in addition to his authority over the Republican Guard, Iraq's
premier fighting force. Other buildings linked to the ruling family -
including private homes - were targeted. Early yesterday, smoke rose from
rubble beside the multi-story ministry.

But on the streets of Baghdad, small signs of confidence emerged, reflecting
the belief that this time the Americans might show mercy to cilvilians,
unlike the confrontation over Kuwait in 1991. That war opened with attacks
on Iraqi power stations and water treatment centres, plunging Baghdad into
darkness during a bombardment that dragged on for more than 40 days, and
inflicting a blow on its infrastructure from which the city has never
recovered.

"This war looks different. When you have light, when you have water, when
you have food, I think you feel more secure. You can feel the change," said
Dhia AK al-Jaddue, a doctor in the casualty ward of al-Kindi hospital. "We
expected something much more severe."

Shrapnel injuries


Dr Jaddue well knows that the reprieves last only hours, until the next wave
of US bombardments. He is also aware that no war can be fought without
civilian casualties. A dozen wounded were brought to al-Kindi's casualty
ward within the first 24 hours of the bombardment. Ahmed Sabbar, a
shocked-looking 18-year-old, suffered shrapnel injuries to his legs and
right arm when he ventured out when the air raid sirens sounded at 9pm. His
father was beside himself. "How could anybody do this to my son?" he said.
"What can be the reason for this?"

Dr Jaddue sighed. But he said he had been expecting far worse. "You don't
feel that panicked state in people," he said.

The prevailing calm does not appear to extend to Iraqi officialdom, and the
government ministers obliged to trade their sharp suits for khaki. In the
last two days, an almost palpable sense of desperation has emerged from
ministers and officials as they struggle to keep up an appearance of
normality, and compete in the propaganda wars with the Pentagon.

Yesterday's television pictures showing American tanks trundling across the
desert and long files of surrendering Iraqi soldiers, seem to have unnerved
officials. "Where is this desert? It can't be in Iraq," said Mr Sahaf. "They
are not Iraqi soldiers."

Mr Ahmed was willing to entertain the possibility that the US forces had
captured the port of Umm Qasr as reported yesterday. "Let us assume they can
take Umm Qasr, but how can they ever take Baghdad? That will be the end of
them," he said.

Few ordinary Iraqis would venture to contradict Mr Ahmed. Though the regime
is rattled, it remains in firm control of Baghdad, with soldiers in tin
helmets on duty at small sandbag posts. But while the message of yesterday's
advance through the deserts of southern Iraq, and the relative selectivity
of the bombing of Baghdad, appears to have been lost on government
officials, it is making sense to their people.

"Bush is trying to show that he is an enemy of the Iraqi government, and not
an enemy of the Iraqi people," said an engineer, venturing out for a few
hours' work in his office. "But we will have to wait and see whether we can
believe him."







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