(CBS News) CBS News Radio reporter Charles D'Agata was stationed in Baghdad for the past six months and filed this report as he left Iraq: 20 miles outside of central Baghdad you become aware of the "hornet's nest" that surrounds the city - the fabled "ring around Baghdad." Field artillery as far as the eye can see. Anti-aircraft, surface to air missiles. Tank battalions dotted in a straight line. Foxholes and bunkers teeming with Iraqi troops. I saw a trench, stretching for miles, deep and wide - whether it was filled with oil to be ignited, which U.S. intelligence suggests - I could not see. Quietly, most, if not all, Iraqis would like to get rid of Saddam Hussein. But they all fear and object to American rule, however brief, and a great many fear the chaos that may follow Saddam's collapse.
2003-03-19 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive