The father of the two boys imports used cars from Canada, buying them there and then shipping them back to Iraq to sell. His children have not known a life without UN sanctions, which killed as many as a million of Iraq’s infants.

“Kids in other countries had places to go and have fun,” the father said. “But all these two had were old bumper cars, and even they didn’t work most of the time. Suddenly the world is starting to care about us, but what it made us suffer over the past 12 years!”

The children went to the Al Mansouria school, one of the best in Baghdad. It is a huge institution with about 1,000 children enrolled.

The 400 or so children of diplomats living in Iraq, and those who came from the wealthy local families, paid in US dollars — and they had the best books, best classrooms and even a special, fully-equipped private playground.

As the children were talking about life in the school, a local vigilante group opened fire outside in the street. The gunfire was very loud but the children did not even react. “We have just been through three weeks of intensive bombing,” the father said by way of explanation. It was so intense that the house would shake at all hours of the day and night. During the first week we were all scared, but slowly we got used to it.”

On the first night, he recalled, the younger boy was hysterical, and in his confusion asked if he could sleep underneath the father’s bed.

“I had to tell him that if the concrete of the house didn’t protect him, the wood of our bed surely wouldn’t,” the father said. “In the end, both the boys climbed into bed with us, and we all slept together.”

The mother said that she remained unsure of what the future holds.

“We are not happy about a non-Muslim, non-Arab country coming in to invade or occupy our territory, but what choice did we have?” she asked. “But we have to remain optimistic.”

The 90-year-old grandmother spoke of her life before Saddam Hussein came to power 25 years ago. She had never really known any peace, she said. She got married to her current husband 30 years ago, and their life was always a struggle.

Her husband worked in the oil plant for many years, but did not get any retirement benefit because he had some bad dealings with “some high-up officials”.