Civilians Flee Iraqi Capital
By Anthony Shadid
Washington Post Foreign Service
Saturday, April 5, 2003; Page A01
BAGHDAD, April 4 -- The exodus began before dawn.
Thousands of Baghdad residents piled their possessions today in rickety flatbed trucks, battered orange-and-white taxis, beat-up Volkswagens and minibuses plastered with the message, "God isgreatest." They took colorful mattresses and coarse blankets, pots and pans, bulging suitcases, black-and-white televisions, jerrycans filled with gas and stoves perched in trunks.

And they gazed out on the city as they drove away, past a picture of President Saddam Hussein in black beret, past cream-colored tanks on the outskirts, past the wreckage of a market bombed last week, and past Mufid Jabouri, who watched the traffic as he smoked a water pipe on the curb.

"The war is here," the 70-year-old said, looking out above his thick-rimmed, black glasses.
>>
Some people spoke of the helplessness that has become a constant theme in Baghdad during the past two weeks. Others spoke of God and complying with his will. Many shared rumors that raced through the capital this morning, gaining credibility with every retelling.

Much of the gossip concerned the cause of the blackout. It was the Americans, some said, preparing for their final push into the bastion of Hussein's rule. Others looked to their own government as the cause -- that it was seeking to compensate for the Americans' technological superiority, that it was eager to keep residents from hearing foreign broadcasts.

Other rumors sprang from the fear that has finally gripped Baghdad, as artillery and machine-gun fire reverberated in the distance and fighting sent dozens from villages on the capital's outskirts to overwhelmed hospitals.

Jassim insisted that President Bush had issued a public warning that Baghdad's residents leave within 48 hours. Afterwards, the city would be devastated. Others guessed at how close the Americans had come -- to the village of
>>
"There's a rumor that the Americans are coming into Baghdad," he said, "and the women and children are scared."

As he spoke, his mother in the front seat, Um Abbas, got angry. They were late, she yelled. "Hurry! Hurry!"

He got in the car, leaving his home behind. For how long he didn't know. That depends on God. But it was time to go.

He looked out the window and said goodbye. "God save you," he shouted.