VirtualGlobetrotting: Iraq: Baghdad

VirtualGlobetrotting Live View

Frightening Blood-red Reservoir in Baghdad
Pdunn (VirtualGlobetrotting)
By: Pdunn.
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I hate to speculate what the cause of this might be

Camp Victory North
romulusnr (VirtualGlobetrotting)
By: romulusnr.
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Camp Victory North, formerly known as Abu Ghurayb Palace. Site where Saddam Hussein and the Ba'ath Party members were arraigned in 2004.

Abu Ghraib Prison
romulusnr (VirtualGlobetrotting)
By: romulusnr.
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Camp Redemption, formerly Abu Ghraib Prison. Site to thousands of political prisoner executions in 20 years under Saddam, as well as hundreds of sexual abuses in 2 years under the U.S.

Radwaniyah Palace
trecherus (VirtualGlobetrotting)
By: trecherus.

Another Blood-red pool in Baghdad
Pdunn (VirtualGlobetrotting)
By: Pdunn.

Giant Running Man near bomb craters
pdunn (VirtualGlobetrotting)
By: pdunn.
That's what it looks like to me. But you may have a better explanation.

Camp War Eagle
neotrix (VirtualGlobetrotting)
By: neotrix.

Possible IED in Baghdad
Pdunn (VirtualGlobetrotting)
By: Pdunn.
This appears to be a crater from a recent IED. Follow the road back and you'll find a number of Humvees blocking traffic, creating a huge backup.

IED Attack in Baghdad

Al Salam Palace
trecherus (VirtualGlobetrotting)
By: trecherus.

Baghdad Presidential Palace
darkhorse219 (VirtualGlobetrotting)
By: darkhorse219.

Al Taji Airport
cmike77 (VirtualGlobetrotting)
By: cmike77.

Baghdad Bomb Craters
pdunn (VirtualGlobetrotting)
By: pdunn.
Carpet bombing of military base in Baghdad

Alwiya Club
trecherus (VirtualGlobetrotting)
By: trecherus.

Baghdad Bomb Craters II
pdunn (VirtualGlobetrotting)
By: pdunn.
Fighting positions appear to be the target here

International Baath Party Headquarters

Al-Tuwaitha Nuclear Center
Pivotal to Iraq's Nuclear Program, Al-Tuwaitha was largely destroyed during the first Gulf War.

Tethered Aerostat in Iraq
kjfitz (VirtualGlobetrotting)
By: kjfitz.
Tethered aerostats are unmanned non-rigid lighter-than-air vehicles (a.k.a. blimps), which remain anchored to the ground by one or more ropes. They are used for various surveillance tasks, where a low-cost long-endurance (up to a month) stationary aerial platform is needed. In all tethered aerostat systems, the main tether not only holds the blimp in position, but also provides electrical power to the vehicle's systems as well as a data link (via fiber optics in all modern systems) to communicate with the on-board sensors. The main envelope of an aerostat is filled with helium, while the stablizing tail fins are normally filled with air. The payload is located in a ventral dome under the envelope. The aerodynamic shape of the envelope and the tail fins provide a stable platform in the presence of modest winds and gusts. However, for each aerostat system there is a maximum wind speed in which it can safely operate. Loss of blimps to suddenly deteriorating weather conditions can be a problem for operators of tethered aerostat systems. When moored to the ground, large aerostats are anchored to a rotating mast so that they can freely weathervane in the wind.

Saddam's heads
kjfitz (VirtualGlobetrotting)
By: kjfitz.
Replicas of Saddam Hussein's head, which once adorned the roof of one of his palaces, now gather dust in a vacant lot in Baghdad's International Zone.

Bagdad 'roundabout'
vonbergenDOTnet (VirtualGlobetrotting)
By: vonbergenDOTnet.
Traffic jam on a junction in Bagdad

Baghdad International Airport (BGW)
formerly called Saddam International Airport

Al Sijod Presidential Palace
Located within the "Green Zone," the coalition has renamed Al Sijod Camp Al-Tawheed Al Awal" or, Camp Union I

Grand Saddam Mosque
Construction halted indeffinately. The dome of the Grand Saddam mosque would be the size of a football field. It would rise from the center of an artificial lake in the shape of the Arab world.

Baghdad Air Museum

Al-Rahman mosque
Grand Mosque under construction

'Saddam Hussein Gymnasium' by Le Corbusier
kkeps (VirtualGlobetrotting)
By: kkeps.
Saddam Hussein Gymnasium is a sports complex in Baghdad, Iraq adjacent to the Al-Shaab Stadium. Designed by Le Corbusier under the commission of King Faisal II in 1956 for potential use in the 1960 Summer Olympics. After Faisal II was overthrown in a military coup in 1958 the project was abandoned.
Saddam Hussein's revolutionary government revived the project by building an indoor 3,000 seat stadium and an adjacent, open-air amphitheater linked by an enormous sliding door which, when opened, integrates the two stadia.

Sadr City

Bomb damage in Baghdad

M1A1s near Sadr City

Aircraft far from airstrip
Baghdad International Airport is to the south, but quite a distance.

Insignia of US Army's 1st Cav in Baghdad
Painted on the roof of a building within camp Iron Horse on the outskirts of Baghdad.

Destroyed Buildings in Baghdad

Teathered Aerostat over Baghdad Int'l

The Baghdad Hotel
jbottero (VirtualGlobetrotting)
By: jbottero.
The Baghdad Hotel is a large hotel in Baghdad, Iraq, favored by Westerners after the 2003 invasion of Iraq. The hotel overlooks the Tigris on its eastern bank.
The Baghdad Hotel Bombing Terror Attack occurred on October 12, 2003, when a car rigged with a bomb drove past a checkpoint near the hotel. It drove down a side street before it was fired on by guards and exploded, killing the suicide bomber and six Iraqis. 32 other people were wounded, including three US soldiers. Security officials said that concrete barriers absorbed much of the blast, and prevented the car from destroying the hotel. Western journalists, workers, and American and Iraqi members of the Iraqi Governing Council frequently stayed at the hotel.
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I've stayed at this *dump*. NEVER again. The Ishtar Sheraton, the Al Rasheed , or I'm not going at all...

Agargouf Ruins

Nicola Calipari death place
giove (VirtualGlobetrotting)
By: giove.
Nicola Calipari (June 23, 1953 – March 4, 2005) was an Italian SISMI military intelligence officer with the rank of Major General. Calipari was killed by United States soldiers while escorting a recently released Italian hostage, journalist Giuliana Sgrena, to Baghdad International Airport.
http://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicola_Calipari

Airplane, downtown Bagdad
Far from the nearest airport, evidently someone parked it here for safe keeping.

2005-08-31 - Al-Aaimmah bridge: Hundreds die in stampede
focusfree (VirtualGlobetrotting)
By: focusfree.

Tethered Aerostat in Baghdad

Map of Iraq
kuressaare (VirtualGlobetrotting)
By: kuressaare.

Saudi Arabia / East Africa shaped pool
kjfitz (VirtualGlobetrotting)
By: kjfitz.
From GE Forums
The "Umm al-Mahare Mosque [meaning "Mother of All Battles Mosque"] on the outskirts of Baghdad has four outer minarets, shaped like Kalashkinov assault rifles, and four inner minarets shaped like Scud missiles. The surrounding reflecting pool is shaped like the Arab world. The mosque also featured a Koran written in Saddam's blood (28 liters, said to have been donated over two years). The "Al-Rahman Mosque" [meaning "the most merciful"] featured no fewer than 14 domes, and was schedule to be completed in 2004. The "Saddam the Great Mosque" was a construction site with skeletal columns, and was schedule to be completed in 2015.

1st Cavalary in Baghdad

Al-Kazimiyah Mosque

National Museum of Iraq
kuressaare (VirtualGlobetrotting)
By: kuressaare.

Bombed Buildings In Baghdad

Airplane in flight over Baghdad

Al-Rasheed Hotel

Two helicopters flying in formation
neotrix (VirtualGlobetrotting)
By: neotrix.

Clock Tower
Baghdad Clock Tower

Archaelogical Ruins near Baghdad?
There's something about the facilities surrounding this site that seem nefarious, but the rounded corners on the rectangular chambers have an ancient feel.

Tanks
Tanks near airbase north of Baghdad. Not sure if they are coalition or Iraqi.

People Manning Impromptu Checkpoint in Baghdad

Baghdad Parade Grounds
TexasAndroid (VirtualGlobetrotting)
By: TexasAndroid.
With arches at each end made to look like arms holding crossed swords

Martyr's Monument
The Shaheed Monument, opened in 1983, commemorates Iraqi soldiers killed in the Iran-Iraq war.

Cratered Dispersal Area in Baghdad International Airport
The holes are much smaller than most bomb craters I've come across. Perhaps this is the result of artillery or are objects placed on the tarmac rather than holes at all.

Al-Ghazali Cemetery

Lake near Abu Ghraib Prison
darkhorse219 (VirtualGlobetrotting)
By: darkhorse219.
Found it on Google Earth. Looks almost like a giant partially buried

Ma'amoon Telecommunication Center
kkeps (VirtualGlobetrotting)
By: kkeps.

Bombed Building

Wingless Airplane at Baghdad International

Boeing 747SP-09
Rene73 (VirtualGlobetrotting)
By: Rene73.
YI-AOX

Palestine Meridian Hotel

Imam Al-Adham Mosque

Airliner missing wing in Baghdad
Look closely, and the left wing is missing the last quarter of its wingtip.

University of Baghdad

Iraqi Aircraft In Revetments
Within an airbase north of Baghdad.

Al Sina'a Stadium
adrbr (VirtualGlobetrotting)
By: adrbr.

Mustansiriya Madrasah
Xeba73 (VirtualGlobetrotting)
By: Xeba73.
Mustansiriya Madrasah is a historical building in Baghdad, Iraq. It was the premises of one of the oldest Islamic universities in the world, established in 1227 as a Madrasah by the Abbasid Caliph al-Mustansir making it one of the oldest universities in the world. Today it's part of the Al-Mustansiriya University.

Decoy Aircraft Painted On Airstrip

Al-Shaab Stadium
1956
Architect = Le Corbusier

Bombed Warehouse in Baghdad
The complex to the north took a much greater beating.

Smoke in Baghdad

Unknown Soldier Monument

Ishtar Sheraton

Mickey Mouse Pool
Mike1989 (VirtualGlobetrotting)
By: Mike1989.

CIA car (x4)
kuressaare (VirtualGlobetrotting)
By: kuressaare.

Iraqi Ministry of Irrigation
jbottero (VirtualGlobetrotting)
By: jbottero.

Helicopters on airstrip
Three U.S. missiles on an airstrip in Baghdad, Iraq

1st Cavalary
adrbr (VirtualGlobetrotting)
By: adrbr.

Iraqi Interior Ministry
jbottero (VirtualGlobetrotting)
By: jbottero.

More Iraqi Beagle Sightings
These were found along with some smaller fighters and a bomber to the southeast, on an airstrip near Al-Tuwaitha

Imam Palace
doranchak (VirtualGlobetrotting)
By: doranchak.

Spiral Minaret in Baghdad

Al-Sarafiya bridge
hhgygy (VirtualGlobetrotting)
By: hhgygy.

Taboulih Mosque

Al Karkh Stadium
adrbr (VirtualGlobetrotting)
By: adrbr.

King's Cemetery

Baghdad soldiers

More Helicopters near Al-Tuwaitha

Rasheed Air Base

Khan Bani Sad Air Base
doranchak (VirtualGlobetrotting)
By: doranchak.
Looks like this airport was heavily bombed. Check out the big hole in the roof of one of the buildings.

Hope Amid the Rubble
Amid all the destruction in Baghdad, at least one person has sown a seed of hope. Lets hope it takes root.

Neigborhood Arrange in Half a Circle (Seen Better Up Close)
10xAnyone (VirtualGlobetrotting)
By: 10xAnyone.
This is a neigborhood arranged in half a circle in Baghdad, Iraq.

Al Kashafa Stadium

Fancy Park in Baghdad

July 12 2007 - US Helicopters Kill Reuters Journalists, 2 Children Wounded
romulusnr (VirtualGlobetrotting)
By: romulusnr.
Today, Wikileaks.org made (and scooped) the news by releasing a confidential video from a US military helicopter showing an air assault on July 12, 2007 of a group of people that included two Reuters photojournalists, and on a van which contained two children who were wounded in the assault.
This is the location the assault took place, identified by the MGRS coordinates announced by the men heard in the video.

Iraqi air search radar mound

Helicopters in Al-Tuwaitha
I imagine these are Iraqi helicopters, but someone who knows better should confirm.

Taking picture

Camouflaged Warehouses In Baghdad