Iraq War: The beginning

Witness History

BBC

History, Personal Journals, Society & Culture

4.4 • 1.6K Ratings

🗓️ 13 March 2023

⏱️ 10 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

It has been 20 years since the start of the Iraq War. In March 2003, the United States launched its invasion, dropping bombs on Iraq's capital Baghdad. For Iraqis it marked the beginning of three weeks of helplessness as the US and its allies overwhelmed Saddam Hussein's forces. In this programme, first broadcast in 2012, Robin Lustig speaks to Lubna Naji who was a schoolgirl in Baghdad when the war broke out. (Photo: Bombs fall on Baghdad. Credit: Getty Images)

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hi, Namulanta combo here, and I'm excited to tell you that my award-winning podcast,
0:06.3	Dear Daughter, is back for his second season, and it's available now.
0:11.2	Find out more at the end of this podcast.
0:20.2	Hello, thanks for listening to this episode of The Witness History Podcast
0:24.0	from the BBC World Service with me, Matt Pintas.
0:27.6	I'm bringing you a series of programmes to mark the 20th anniversary
0:31.5	of the beginning of the Iraq War.
0:33.5	First up, the bombardment of Baghdad.
0:36.3	For ordinary Iraqis, it marked the beginning of three weeks of helplessness,
0:40.8	as the US and its allies overwhelm Saddam Hussein's armies.
0:44.9	In this programme, first broadcast in 2012, Robin Lustig speaks to Lubna Najee,
0:51.0	who was a schoolgirl in Baghdad when the war broke out.
0:54.0	It's the evening of March 19th, and 17-year-old Lubna Najee is at home with her relatives in Baghdad.
1:00.8	Well, actually, we were all in the living room, we were watching TV,
1:04.4	and the Iraqi TV, which was like the government TV at that time,
1:08.8	was showing like an American movie about monkeys taking over the earth, yeah.
1:15.2	Planet of the Apes.
1:16.4	Exactly, exactly. We were all watching that movie, and we were really interested in it.
1:21.2	And suddenly, the programme changed, and they started featuring patriotic songs
1:26.9	about the regime, about Saddam, so we knew something was wrong.
1:37.2	But, you know, nothing happened.
1:39.2	We went to sleep, and it was like 5am in the morning,
	...

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