March 22, 2003	Saturday	Muharram 18, 1424

BAGHDAD, March 21: Baghdadis are bearing up in the face of night-time air raids pounding their city, their ears glued to the radio for the latest news as they try to protect and calm their children.

“We stayed at home, of course, in the safest room in the house,” said Um Hiba, a 45-year-old mother of four, recounting her fitful night in the Iraqi capital.

“Where we live, we cannot see where the bombs are falling nor can we follow developments on Iraq TV channels because they’re not talking about it and we cannot get foreign channels,” the civil servant said.

This sense of domestic disquiet is the lot for most in this city of five million people. In such a sprawling metropolis, it is nearly impossible to pinpoint where the missiles are falling.

And tall buildings offering a sweeping vantage point are rare. The skyscraper Meridien-Palestine and Sheraton-Ishtar hotels have been swarmed by journalists.

On Thursday night, at least three buildings in the heart of the capital were destroyed by missiles or bombs and the impact of the explosions resonated throughout the city.

Iraqi officials said the raid had targeted a residential area and wounded 37 people.

“The only thing left to do is listen to the radio and that’s what we did until 2:00 am,” Um Hiba said.

Samir Mehdi, a 38-year-old English professor at the University of Baghdad, did the same thing, listening to the BBC all night. He weathered the storm with a sense of humour.

“London launched attacks against us but it’s their radio we’re listening to. Even while they’re bombing us,” he said.

The biggest concern voiced by Iraqis was the welfare of their children and their efforts to quiet them when the bombs are falling.

“I have tried to explain war to them” said Louai, a 45-year-old journalist who described the conversation he had with his seven-year-old son Zuheir Thursday evening.

“We were at the table at the moment of the bombing. We talked about the Americans’ plan, that is to say the missiles. And what we can do to protect ourselves. In the end, I was relieved when he said, ‘It’s basically like a video game.’”

But not all the children are taking the war on their doorsteps as well.

“From the time they heard the first missile they have been ready to snuggle up into the arms of the next person they find,” Samir Mehdi said.

“We were expecting the bombing so we prepared the children psychologically,” Um Hiba said. “We were playing count-the-explosions and taught them to recognize the air raid sirens from the all-clear.”

Despite their fear, Baghdadis have found comfort in the belief that this time, unlike in the 1991 Gulf war, civilian infrastructure in the capital will be spared.

“They think that the Americans will not hit the infrastructure,” Louai said.

“If they destroy the water and electricity supply, they know that everyone is armed and that the people in Baghdad will start killing the American soldiers when they approach,” he said.

“For the moment, we have the feeling that the war is against the regime and not against the people,” he said.—AFP