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# The smell of war is in the air
- URL: https://www.smdp.com/the-smell-of-war-is-in-the-air/
- Published: 2003-02-04T16:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-23T01:29:08.000Z
- Author: Guest Author
- Tags: local, Santa Monica, #archive-import

*By KELLY HAYES-RAITT Special to the Daily Press*

(Editor’s note: Santa Monica resident Kelly Hayes-Raitt is in Baghdad to investigate how the pending war in Iraq could effect women and children there. The Daily Press plans to publish updates from Hayes-Raitt while she is there. Today is the first report in the field.)

BAGHDAD — After 42 straight hours of traveling and barely nine hours of truncated sleep, I arrived at our hotel in Baghdad.

From the federal security guards at LAX to our fellow airline passengers, we’ve received enthusiastic and heartfelt wishes for our mission.

The last leg of the trip was a grueling 18-hour car trip from Amman, Jordan to Baghdad, with a two-hour “lay-over” at the Iraqi border. The border guards bent over backwards to facilitate our border crossing, serving us tea, allowing us to rest on couches in their lounge — they did everything but serve us Girl Scout cookies.

During our seven-hour lay-over in Amsterdam, an American man approached our pink-clad group and offered a cup of coffee if someone would explain what we were doing. Bleary-eyed and caffeine-deprived, I immediately volunteered.

He has been training soldiers in Kuwait. Until a year ago, their training had been in defense; now it is in attack. He says Iraqi dissidents are being trained in Turkey to maintain civilian systems (electricity, water) in the event of war. I said it sounded as if we were going to war. He said he was tired and has seen too much.

“I’ve seen things that get replayed and replayed,” he said.

I awoke the next morning in the car on the desolate road between Amman and the Iraqi border to a sky alive with stars and a mezmerizingly bright Venus low on the horizon, a blaze of light bathing this ancient holy land.

Venus. The Morning Star. Goddess of Love.

I hope Nathan is wrong.

(Kelly Hayes-Raitt is one of nine American women traveling in Baghdad to meet with Iraqi women about the effects of war on women and children. She returns to Santa Monica on Feb. 12.)

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/55/9f/559f9abc-8372-4a2e-8c2d-27386da4e363/content/images/2026/10/020403-04_01.jpg)

(Photo: BY KELLY HAYES-RAITT Special to the Daily Press)

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/55/9f/559f9abc-8372-4a2e-8c2d-27386da4e363/content/images/2026/10/020403-04_03.jpg)

(Photo: BY KELLY HAYES-RAITT Special to the Daily Press)

*Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on February 4, 2003.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/020403.pdf?ref=smdp.com)