John Irvine, Fernsehjournalist, war gestern um 18 Uhr auf einer "geführten" Besichtigungstour beim Flughafen von Baghdad. Die irakischen Behörden wollten ihm damit beweisen, dass die Alliierten noch meilenweit von der Stadt und dem Flugplatz entfernt seien, als die Attacke begann. Irvine setzte sich ab Richtung Stadt: Our driver sped us back toward Baghdad down a deserted multi-lane highway when the shelling began again. We abandoned the car, ran into a field and took shelter in a ditch, hoping to sit it out. But there was no let-up so we returned to the car and carried on driving. It was now dusk. We drove through thick smoke and saw detonations of some sort at a nearby army base. As we entered the city we veered off onto the side streets, and found a city braced to defend itself. The Fedayin were out in their black uniforms and balaclavas. Men armed with Kalashnikovs were manning sandbag emplacements on the corners. I had never seen so many armed Iraqis on the streets. The Americans and British may say their motivation is to liberate the Iraqis, but these people gave every impression that they were prepared to die for their country.