In many cases, only impartial and neutral actors can achieve results for those caught up in armed conflict. For example, when the fighting in the Iraqi capital, Baghdad, was at its most severe in March and April 2003, ICRC delegates working with staff of the Iraqi Red Crescent were able to continue supporting hospitals and provide drinking water to civilians. After the car-bomb attack on its Baghdad headquarters in October 2003, the ICRC rejected military protection in order to maintain its neutrality and independence but operations had to be scaled back in some areas.