Baghdad, Bombs and Civilians - March 24, 2003

Rescue workers pause to bring in a bulldozer as they search for the body of a woman buried in the rubble of her home after an American bomb struck.  (Carolyn Cole / LAT)

Rescue workers search for the body of a woman buried in rubble after a U.S. bomb struck her home in the Radiha Khaton neighborhood of Baghdad.  (Carolyn Cole / LAT)

Travel postcards lie under broken glass inside an office at Mustansiriya University after an American bomb landed nearby causing heavy damage to the school.  (Carolyn Cole / LAT)

Outside the El Numan Hospital in Baghdad, family members weep over the death of two of their relatives after an American bomb hit three civilian homes, killing five and injuring 27 civilians.  (Carolyn Cole / LAT)

“There is no military site in my house, and there is no gun in my house,” said Aqeel Khalil, 27, weeping in a Baghdad hospital over the death of his sister. His home was leveled by a bomb.  (Carolyn Cole / LAT)

Zina Sabah, 24, and her son Ahmad Mounir. Civilian deaths are fanning passions just when Hussein most needs the loyalty of the population for the upcoming battle for Baghdad.  (Carolyn Cole / LAT)

Shahid Halid, 9, rests, not yet knowing her mother was killed in the Baghdad bombing that injured her.  (Carolyn Cole / LAT)

At the Ministry of Information, a man wipes his eyes as President Saddam Hussein addresses the citizens of Iraq to reassure the country.  (Carolyn Cole / LAT)

At the Ministry of Information, television cameras stand ready for the next press conference on the day President Saddam Hussein addressed the people of Iraq.  (Carolyn Cole / LAT)