Eyewitness account of the bombing a few hours ago:

] Iraqi President Saddam Hussein's main presidential
] palace, a great rampart of a building 20 stories high,
] simply exploded in front of me -- a cauldron of fire,
] a 100ft sheet of flame and a sound that had my ears
] singing for an hour after. The entire, massively
] buttressed edifice shuddered under the impact. Then four
] more Cruise missiles came in.
. . .
] No doubt this morning the Iraqi minister of information
] will address us all again and insist that Iraq will prevail.
] We shall see. But many Iraqis are now asking an obvious
] question: How many days? Not because they want the Americans
] or the British in Baghdad, though they may profoundly wish
] it. But because they want this violence to end: Which, when
] you think of it, is exactly why these raids took place.

] Iraqi President Saddam Hussein's main presidential
] palace, a great rampart of a building 20 stories high,
] simply exploded in front of me -- a cauldron of fire,
] a 100ft sheet of flame and a sound that had my ears
] singing for an hour after. The entire, massively
] buttressed edifice shuddered under the impact. Then four
] more Cruise missiles came in.
. . .
] No doubt this morning the Iraqi minister of information
] will address us all again and insist that Iraq will prevail.
] We shall see. But many Iraqis are now asking an obvious
] question: How many days? Not because they want the Americans
] or the British in Baghdad, though they may profoundly wish
] it. But because they want this violence to end: Which, when
] you think of it, is exactly why these raids took place.