The Moment

1|25|10: Baghdad

As my driver and I left a press conference at the Iraq Oil Ministry and headed back to the Hamra Hotel compound, where I live and work, we saw a dusty cloud rising to our right. "Perhaps a mortar into the Green Zone," he suggested. We had almost arrived when the second bomb exploded. The gunshots started soon after. My driver slammed the car into reverse and wove around cars, people and concrete barriers, right up to the hotel entrance. We ran inside, joining a handful of people sheltering from the gunfire. The last bomb brought down much of the ceiling...

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