Friday, March 21st, 3:13 p.m.: The most disturbing news today has come from Al-Jazeera, they said that nine B52 bombers have left the airfield in Britain and flying "presumably" towards Iraq, as if they would be doing a spin around the block. Anyway they have six hours to get here.
Last night was very quiet in Baghdad. Today in the morning I went out to get bread and groceries. There were no Ba'ath party people stopping us from leaving the area, but they are still everywhere. The streets are empty, only bakeries are open and some grocery shops charging four times the normal prices. While I was buying bread a police car stopped in front of the bakery and asked the baker if they had enough flour and asked when they opened; the baker told me that they have been informed that they must open their shops and they get flour delivered to them daily.
The Iraqi Satellite Channel is not broadcasting anymore. The second youth TV channel (it shows Egyptian soaps in the morning and sports afterwards) also stopped transmitting. This leaves two channels: Iraq TV and Shabab (youth) TV. They are still full of patriotic songs and useless "news", they love the French here. We also saw the latest Sahaf show on Al-Jazeera and Iraq TV, and the most distressing minister of Interior affairs with his guns. Freaks.
Hurling abuse at the world is the only thing left for them to do.
On BBC we are watching scenes of Iraqis surrendering. My youngest cousin was muttering "what shame" to himself, yes it is better for them to do that but still seeing them carrying that white flag makes something deep inside you cringe.
We sit in front of the TV with the map of Iraq on our laps trying to figure out what is going on in the south.
6:05 p.m.
Two more hours until the B-52s get to Iraq.
Monday, March 24th
4.41 p.m.
The last two days we didn't have Internet access. I thought that was it and started what a friend called a "pblog", what you will read is what should have been the entries for the 22nd and 23rd.
Saturday, March 22nd
4:30 p.m.
Half an hour ago the oil filled trenches were put on fire. First, watching Al-Jazeera, they said that these were the places that got hit by bombs from an air raid a few minutes earlier but when I went up to the roof to take a look I saw that there were too many of them. We heard only three explosions. I took pictures of the nearest. My cousin came and told me he saw police cars standing by one and setting it on fire.
Today, the third in the war, we had quite a number of attacks during daytime. Last night, after waves after waves of attacks, they would sound the all-clear siren only to start another raid siren 30 minutes later.
The images we saw on TV last night (not Iraqi, Jazeera-BBC-Arabiya) were terrible. The whole city looked as if it were on fire. The only thing I could think of was "why does this have to happen to Baghdad". As one of the buildings I really love went up in a huge explosion I was close to tears.
Today my father and brother went out to see what was happening in the city, they say that it does look that the hits were very precise but when the missiles and bombs explode they wreak havoc in the neighborhood where they fall. Houses near al-salam palace (where the minister Sahaf took journalists) have had all their windows broken, doors blown in and in one case a roof has caved in. I guess that is what is called "collateral damage" and that makes it OK?
Sunday, March 23rd
8:30 p.m.
We start counting the hours from the moment one of the news channels reports that the B52s have left their airfield. It takes them around six hours to get to Iraq.
We found out today in the news that the city of Tikrit got the hell bombed out of it. Today the B52s took off at 3p.m., in half an hour we will know whether it is Baghdad tonight or another city. Karbala was also hit last night.
Today's (and last night's) shock attacks didn't come from airplanes but rather from the airwaves. The images Al-Jazeera is broadcasting are beyond any description. First was the attack on (Ansar el Islam) a camp in the north of Iraq.
Then the images of civilian casualties in Basra city. What was most disturbing are the images from the hospitals. They are simply not prepared to deal with these things. People were lying on the floor with bandages and blood all over.
If this is what "urban warfare" is going to look like we're in for disaster. And just now the images of US/UK prisoners and dead, we saw these on Iraqi TV earlier. This war is starting to show its ugly, ugly face to the world.
The media wars have also started, Al-Jazeera accusing the Pentagon of not showing how horrific this war is turning out to be, and Rumsfeld saying that it is regrettable that some TV stations have shown the images.
Today before noon I went out with my cousin to take a look at the city. Two things: 1) the attacks are precise, 2) they are attacking targets which are just too close to civilian areas in Baghdad.
Generally the streets are quite busy. Lots of cars but not many shops open. The market near our house is almost empty now. The shop owner says that all the wholesale markets in Shorjah are closed now but the prices of vegetables and fruits have gone down to normal and are available.
If Um Qasar is so difficult to control what will happen when they get to Baghdad? It will turn uglier and this is very worrying. People (and I bet "allied forces") were expecting things to be much easier. There are no waving masses of people welcoming the Americans nor are they surrendering by the thousands. People are doing what all of us are, sitting in their homes hoping that a bomb doesn't fall on them and keeping their doors shut.
The smoke columns have now encircled Baghdad, well almost.
We still have electricity; some areas in Baghdad don't after last night's attack. Running water and phones are working.
Yesterday many leaflets were dropped on Baghdad, while going around in the streets I got lucky, I have two.
And we have had another email attack, this time I was lucky again and have copies of those, the sender is something called [blablabla@hotpop.com]. I have not checked on that yet. Three of them are to army personnel and two to the general public - in those they gave us the radio frequencies we are supposed to listen to. They are calling it "Information Radio".
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