On Friday, the U.S. led the heaviest bombing assault that Baghdad had ever seen. “Shock and Awe” was how the Pentagon described the overwhelming attack. The London Mirror newspaper described it as shocking and awful.

During the campaign the U.S. and Britain flew a combined 2,000 sorties and launched 1,000 cruise missiles that pummeled Baghdad, as well as the northern Iraqi cities of Mosul and Kirkuk and Saddam Hussein’s hometown of Tikrit.

The number of casualties are unknown.

We reached Mei Ying Welsh, one of the few independent journalists left in Baghdad, just after the first round of the “Shock and Awe” bombing on Friday.

• Mei Ying Welsh, independent journalist in Baghdad.