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THE DAY BAGHDAD WAS BOMBED

of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan. During this time, we worked
from the home of one of the home-based staf as it was not safe to go to the
embassy. Most times, we experienced electricity cuts and had dif culties in
communicating with the Ministry back in Kuala Lumpur. It was extremely
dif cult as the bombings af ected our work and daily life. We did not have
internet back then, and only depended on the land lines for communication
with the outside world. Even before the attacks, aside from the land lines,
our only way of communicating with Kuala Lumpur was through the use of
a cypher machine, the only reliable way of communication.

When Operation Desert Fox ended a mere 70 hours after it began, President
Saddam Hussein remained f rmly in power – minus some of his infrastructure
– and the Iraqi dictator could claim to his people and to the world that
once again, he had withstood an onslaught from the most powerful form
of America’s and the West’s armed might – air power. While in general the
city’s daily life went on as normal, with the customary adjustments for the
fasting required of Muslims during Ramadan, it was possible to glimpse
heavy damage to several buildings where elements of the Iraqi security and
military establishments were housed.

T e Associated Press reported from Baghdad that President Saddam Hussein
in a statement broadcasted in Iraq on 17 December, called on the Iraqi
people to “f ght the enemies of God, enemies of the nation and enemies of
humanity. God will be only on our side and disgrace will be theirs, now and
on the day of the judgement.”

T e subsequent four months or so we stayed in Baghdad without our
families. Our work and daily life went on as usual. T e New York Times
reported that “Iraq is a nation frozen in time”, and the American and British
bombings seemed to have done nothing to bring the Iraqi regime down
on their knees. T e oddest thing about the bombing campaign, at least as
viewed from Baghdad, is how little it changed anything. Life continued as
if the explosions heard during the four days of bombing were nothing more
than a f reworks show.

For my family and I, our stay in Baghdad will forever be etched in our
memory. We still have fond memories of our time in Iraq, establishing

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