# What are civilians in Baghdad doing now? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 22, 2003, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-civilians-in-baghdad-doing-now/163358 "2003-03-22T14:13:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![KidCharlemagne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ed8c4c/32.png) [@KidCharlemagne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KidCharlemagne)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2003, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-civilians-in-baghdad-doing-now/163358/1 "2003-03-22T14:13:03Z")
On the news I see alot of cars on the streets of Baghdad. Are these people just chilling in their apartments or are they all hunkered in a bomb shelter somewhere? Do they have that much faith in the precision of US artillery? ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2003, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-civilians-in-baghdad-doing-now/163358/2 "2003-03-22T14:24:07Z")
According to the accounts I’ve heard NPR reporters give, the Iraqis are all kind of used to this by this point. Remember, this isn’t like hitting Washington DC, London, Moscow, or most other national capitals, Baghdad got hit pretty hard in the last war, and by comparison what they’re going through now is a lot _less_. They still have power, water, sewer, etc, etc. No doubt they’re not real happy about it, and many have chosen to leave, but others have stayed. I’ve heard accounts of _shops being open for business!_ No doubt, many of them are simply trying to live life as usual as best they can, while hunkering down in the evenings for the inevitable bombings. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2003, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-civilians-in-baghdad-doing-now/163358/3 "2003-03-22T14:26:54Z")
Sort of like London during the Blitz? Yes, we’re getting bombed, but we’re also getting on with our lives… ---
**Author:** ![grettle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/aeb1de/32.png) [@grettle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grettle)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2003, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-civilians-in-baghdad-doing-now/163358/4 "2003-03-22T15:34:24Z")
[This link might be of interest to you.](http://dear_raed.blogspot.com/2003_03_01_dear_raed_archive.html#90955865) ---
**Author:** ![handy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5a626/32.png) [@handy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handy)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2003, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-civilians-in-baghdad-doing-now/163358/5 "2003-03-22T15:40:10Z")
KidCharlemagne, if you watch the news you can see reporters talking from hotels & they show video of the bombs being dropped from their hotels. One would think a hotel is the safest place there. ``` Guess what? Yep, there is a ``` [http://www.baghdad.com/](http://www.baghdad.com/) ---
**Author:** ![scotandrsn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a4c791/32.png) [@scotandrsn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scotandrsn)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2003, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-civilians-in-baghdad-doing-now/163358/6 "2003-03-22T15:44:15Z")
Watching the first round of attacks, I could not feel the same way I did twelve years ago. We have come under such attacks in the last two years, albeit on a much smaller scale. Iraqi civilians are no doubt living in great fear, just as we were after September 11th, 2001. ---
**Author:** ![kniz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/c37758/32.png) [@kniz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kniz)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2003, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-civilians-in-baghdad-doing-now/163358/7 "2003-03-22T16:06:46Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by handy \* > **& they show video of the bombs being dropped from their hotels.** In past wars bombs were exclusively dropped from airplanes. This new development of bombs being dropped from hotels is actually a secret weapon, that **handy** has just devulged. :eek: [sup] **Rumsfeld is going to be furious!** [/sup] ---
**Author:** ![Moe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moe/32/2972_2.png) [@Moe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moe)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2003, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-civilians-in-baghdad-doing-now/163358/8 "2003-03-22T17:26:06Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Tuckerfan \* > \*\*Baghdad got hit pretty hard in the last war, and by comparison what they’re going through now is a lot _less_. \*\* Unless I’m misunderstanding something this doesn’t seem consistent with what I’ve seen and heard. From all accounts I’ve come across on the news including the actual press conferences with the pentagon, this “shock and awe” campaign is far more intense than anything seen in the past ever. I guess perhaps you might be referring to the reported incredibly high degree of precision of our targeting weapons which, though more abundant than in the past, do far less damage to civilian sites including “power, water, sewer, etc.” Is this what you meant? ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2003, 8:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-civilians-in-baghdad-doing-now/163358/9 "2003-03-23T08:57:10Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Moe \* > \*\*Unless I’m misunderstanding something this doesn’t seem consistent with what I’ve seen and heard. From all accounts I’ve come across on the news including the actual press conferences with the pentagon, this “shock and awe” campaign is far more intense than anything seen in the past ever. > > I guess perhaps you might be referring to the reported incredibly high degree of precision of our targeting weapons which, though more abundant than in the past, do far less damage to civilian sites including “power, water, sewer, etc.” Is this what you meant? \*\* No, what I mean is that we _haven’t_ hit Baghdad with the same amount of ordinance as we did in the last war. In the briefings I’ve seen, the military has stated that they _haven’t_ used the same amount of ordinance in this war as they did the last one, because they didn’t need to. Since over 80% of our ordinance is precision guided and can drop it exactly where they want to. Also, the military has stated that this is only the _beginning_ of “Shock and Awe” and we haven’t even begun to unleash the full blast. (And seeing as how MOAB ain’t been dropped yet, I’d say they were right.) ---
**Author:** ![Snooooopy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee7513/32.png) [@Snooooopy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snooooopy)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2003, 10:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-civilians-in-baghdad-doing-now/163358/10 "2003-03-23T10:25:41Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by kniz \* > \*\*In past wars bombs were exclusively dropped from airplanes. This new development of bombs being dropped from hotels is actually a secret weapon, that **handy** has just devulged. :eek: [sup] **Rumsfeld is going to be furious!** [/sup] \*\* And people who drop bombs off the top of seedy bars are known as dive bombers. ---
**Author:** ![Moe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moe/32/2972_2.png) [@Moe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moe)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2003, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-civilians-in-baghdad-doing-now/163358/11 "2003-03-23T16:58:25Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Tuckerfan \* > \*\*No, what I mean is that we _haven’t_ hit Baghdad with the same amount of _ordinance…_ \*\* Not exactly a nitpick but can I assume you meant _ordnance_? (Though I guess _ordinance_ sorta works since the legality of our action can be seen by some as somewhat debateable in terms of international law.) ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2003, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-civilians-in-baghdad-doing-now/163358/12 "2003-03-23T17:04:50Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Moe \* > \*\*Not exactly a nitpick but can I assume you meant _ordnance_? \*\* Yup. ---
**Author:** ![handy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5a626/32.png) [@handy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handy)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2003, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-civilians-in-baghdad-doing-now/163358/13 "2003-03-23T23:11:20Z")
kniz, it’s catchy, & yes you can look at that phrase in more than one way, but if you are a reporter & you are in a hotel & you can show video of bombs being dropped, then you can show bombs being dropped from the hotel, where you are staying 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Michael\_Ellis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/977dab/32.png) [@Michael\_Ellis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Michael_Ellis)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2003, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-civilians-in-baghdad-doing-now/163358/14 "2003-03-24T00:08:21Z")
This is just a WAG but I’d assume many of them are praying for this whole thing to be over soon. ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2003, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-civilians-in-baghdad-doing-now/163358/15 "2003-03-24T00:22:37Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Michael Ellis \* > \*\*This is just a WAG but I’d assume many of them are praying for this whole thing to be over soon. \*\* The NPR reporter in Baghdad said today that the Iraqi’s aren’t afraid, because of how accurate the bombing’s been, but they are worried that the US isn’t serious about this and might not show up. ---
**Author:** ![barbitu8](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/839c29/32.png) [@barbitu8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/barbitu8)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2003, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-civilians-in-baghdad-doing-now/163358/16 "2003-03-24T01:57:24Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by handy \* > \*\*kniz, it’s catchy, & yes you can look at that phrase in more than one way, but if you are a reporter & you are in a hotel & you can show video of bombs being dropped, then you can show bombs being dropped from the hotel, where you are staying 🙂 \*\* This is a classical case of a misplaced modifier. “You can show from the hotel bombs being dropped (from a plane),” not “you can show bombs being dropped from the hotel.”