Two scenes from the fall of Baghdad in 2003 are burned into historical memory.
The first is the choreographed toppling of Saddam Hussain's statue in Firdos square by US marines, who covered it first with their flag.
The second is the chaos of the looting of museums and state property.The first was a declaration of military victory and "mission accomplished". The second was a declaration of the start of the erasing of Iraqi culture, history and identity.
Baghdad was a microcosm of what befell Iraq as a whole, violated time and again by US troops, mercenaries, special forces, proxies and militias, scarred over and over by human and physical destruction.It is a bitter irony for a city known historically as Madinet al Salam, the city of peace.
Baghdad is seen by Iraqis as the ultimate symbol of their unity, their modernity and their multicultural identity.Baghdad's past glories - a diverse capital of science, arts and music at a time when Europe was crawling in the semi-darkness of Middle Ages - were in revival for much of the 20th century, despite the coups and the dictatorships.
Then came the occupation.Baghdad today is physically scarred by multiple checkpoints, concrete segregation walls and open sewers. Full story...
Related posts:
The first is the choreographed toppling of Saddam Hussain's statue in Firdos square by US marines, who covered it first with their flag.
The second is the chaos of the looting of museums and state property.The first was a declaration of military victory and "mission accomplished". The second was a declaration of the start of the erasing of Iraqi culture, history and identity.
Baghdad was a microcosm of what befell Iraq as a whole, violated time and again by US troops, mercenaries, special forces, proxies and militias, scarred over and over by human and physical destruction.It is a bitter irony for a city known historically as Madinet al Salam, the city of peace.
Baghdad is seen by Iraqis as the ultimate symbol of their unity, their modernity and their multicultural identity.Baghdad's past glories - a diverse capital of science, arts and music at a time when Europe was crawling in the semi-darkness of Middle Ages - were in revival for much of the 20th century, despite the coups and the dictatorships.
Then came the occupation.Baghdad today is physically scarred by multiple checkpoints, concrete segregation walls and open sewers. Full story...
Related posts:
- No Mr Blair. Your naive war WAS a trigger for this savage violence in Iraq...
- Saddam Hussein was right: Iraq blows wide open...
- Iraq is starting to look a lot like Vietnam (if it wasn’t already)
- Once an Arab model, Baghdad now world’s worst city...
- The truth about the criminal bloodbath in Iraq can't be 'countered' indefinitely...
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