Iraqis are a very proud people. They have been under siege since 1990. The most notable change is the devastation to the social structure and the breakdown of the ethical and moral values for which the Iraqis were well-known. We met with Umm Reyda, a woman who lost nine family members when two smart bombs blasted the Amariyah bomb shelter. Exits were sealed when the bomb exploded and the temperature rose to 500 degrees centigrade.
Overhead pipes burst, sending water cascading down on innocents who slept.
On 18 February 1998, a vastly different cry was shouted by college students in Columbus, Ohio. They didn't cheer the bombers, and they may well have prevented their deadly missions. Even the liveried workers for Baghdad's leading hotel asked us for food, and turned down a tip in U.S. money. It was useless to them. They signaled us by pushing away our hand and pointing to their mouth and stomach.