The View From Baghdad

Looking out the window, you see one area that's dark, but for the most part the lights of the city are still on, and you see some people driving around. Still, security is very tight, especially around the reporters' center (which is about 10 minutes away from the hotel).

The raid has been going in fits and spurts. Around midnight, there were sirens, then nothing happened for quite a while. Then there was a huge barrage, which initially consisted mainly of anti-aircraft fire -- I'm not sure there was anything else up there. Then it got fairly quiet, with the occasional anti-aircraft fire. We haven't really had anything again for a while, and I'm not sure if anything has been hit. We've heard a few thumps, which could be targets in the city getting hit.

We're prepared for round-the-clock bombing over the next three days. While cruise missiles et cetera are more effective in the dark, they seem to feel they have this very small window to get the attack in. The word from the Pentagon is that this raid is actually smaller than the one planned for November, because the White House is very concerned about not attacking during Ramadan, which begins this weekend.

What this means is the end of the UNSCOM inspections. The inspectors have left town. I think that their regime is over. This is now a punishment regime. You hope that you can grind out some of their installations with the bombs.