"How much warning time do the inhabitants get that a rocket is headed for their region?"
"In Iraq, we've always gotten exactly...none."
In Balad, the first BOOM signaled that we were under attack, and 15 seconds of silence usually signaled that it was over.
The Israelis seem to occasionally get a few seconds warning, but that's only because the rockets are in the air so long (10 miles transit) and because the Iraelis seems to have decent local radar systems.
One news clip I saw, the locals were running for shelter under siren, when the first one hit and the folks still had about 50 yards to go. Fortunately the first strike was about 200 or 300 yards away, so they made it to the shelter safely.
Yep. When I was on the coalition bases at Victory and Taji, mortar attacks were almost always three to four hits. They figured they could get that many off before anyone vectored in on them.
Here in central Baghdad, single shots are more common because the area is too populous and congested. They just launch and run in this area.