Misplaced Pages

#565434

21-669: The Green Zone Café was a restaurant in the northeast corner of the Green Zone (International Zone) in Baghdad , Iraq . The restaurant was housed in a fabric and metal-frame building established in the parking lot of a former filling station . It was a popular and successful business, primarily serving the Western inhabitants of the Green Zone and featuring Arab cuisine . It also sold alcohol and hookahs . On October 14, 2004,

42-484: A USA Today article, a high percentage of the rocket and mortar fire originated in Sadr City . On April 6, 2008, two U.S. soldiers were killed and 17 more wounded when a rocket or mortar attack struck inside the Green Zone. On July 22, 2010, three Triple Canopy security guard contractors (two Ugandans and one Peruvian ) were killed and 15 more wounded (including two U.S. nationals) when a rocket attack struck inside

63-519: A Republican Palace. Al Salam palace is located on the site of the former Republican Guard Headquarters, which was destroyed in Desert Storm. Construction has been ongoing since then and was completed in early 1999. As-Salam Palace was taken over by coalition forces during the 2003 invasion of Iraq . The palace was significantly damaged during the shock and awe campaign, sustaining several airstrike attacks. The palace served as headquarters for

84-458: Is surrounded by a sequence of square tiles bearing the initials of Saddam Hussein (S & H); the Arabic letters are " Saad " & " Haa "." The tiles are clearly visible from the top of the palace. Iraqis report that the palace dome used to be topped with a life-sized statue of Saddam. Fireplaces around the lake in front of the palace are actually vents used to provide fresh air to bunkers below

105-417: The assassination of Qasem Soleimani and Abu Mahdi Al-Muhandis , two Katyusha rockets struck within the Green Zone. 33°18′27″N 44°23′25″E  /  33.307577°N 44.390259°E  / 33.307577; 44.390259 FOB Prosperity The as-Salam Palace ( Arabic : قصر السلام ), previously a home of former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein . Since 2012, the palace has been certified as

126-588: The Green Zone the safest area of Baghdad, and gave its name colloquially as "the bubble". The southern and eastern side of the zone is protected by the Tigris River – the only entrance to the zone from this side is the Arbataash Tamuz (July 14) Bridge (named for the date that the former regime came to power). The Green Zone was frequently shelled by insurgents with mortars and rockets , though these attacks caused few casualties. In October 2004 it

147-529: The International Zone (formerly "Green Zone") was handed over to Iraqi security forces, though the Zone remained off-limits to the public. This changed on 4 October 2015, when it was opened to the public with certain restrictions, and again on 10 December 2018, when parts of the Green Zone were opened to the public without restrictions for the first time in over 15 years. On 8 January 2020, following

168-526: The International Zone. Since the handover of sovereignty to Iraqis, many of the facilities in the Green Zone have been turned over to the new Iraqi government. A number of embassies are located there. The largest embassy in the world, namely, the U.S. embassy is located in the southern part of the International or "Green" Zone overlooking the Tigris River. On 1 January 2009, full control of

189-580: The Iraqi capital that served as the headquarters of successive Iraqi regimes. It was the administrative center for the Ba'ath Party . The area was not originally home to the villas of government officials though it was the location of a number of military bases, government ministries, and presidential palaces inhabited by Saddam Hussein and his family. The largest of these was the Republican Palace that

210-695: The Joint Area Support Group - Central (JASG-C) 32nd Infantry Brigade Combat Team (IBCT) from Wisconsin . In 2012, the FOB was occupied by the Iraqi Government , which took over operations after the U.S. military drawdown. This Baghdad -related article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . This article about a building or structure in Iraq is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . This article about

231-570: The Joint Area Support Group, and was known to coalition forces as Camp Prosperity and Forward Operating Base (FOB) Prosperity. As-Salam palace has 200 rooms with approximately 1,000,000 square feet (93,000 m ) of floor space. There are six floors, three of which are usable (others serve as 'false floors'), and two large ballrooms . The palace is internally lined with marble floors decorated with hundreds of thousands of hand-cut pieces, granite walls, and ceilings also adorned with thousands of hand-carved and inlaid hand-painted flowers. The palace

SECTION 10

#1732775854566

252-423: The anticipated aerial bombardment of the area by US forces. Most of the remaining residents fled as US ground forces closed in on the Iraqi capital out of a fear of arrest by Coalition forces or possible reprisals by disgruntled Iraqis. Some of the original inhabitants who did not flee continued to live in the area but many are also undocumented squatters referred to as the "215 Apartments". Coalition airstrikes at

273-428: The area. The abandoned buildings were not only attractive to Coalition forces, but also to homeless Iraqis. Among these were individuals who had lost their homes in the conflict, but most were urban poor who had been homeless or lived in slums before the war and saw moving into the abandoned houses as a sizable increase in their standard of living. They felt that since they were not Ba'athist, they had as much right to

294-547: The command of the Multi-National Division – Baghdad . Additionally, a battalion of coalition soldiers from the Republic of Georgia also manned the entry checkpoints. The Green Zone was completely surrounded by high concrete blast walls , T-Walls and barbed wire fences with access only available through a handful of entry control points, all controlled by Coalition troops. It is this security that made

315-404: The lake. The bunkers are now inaccessible, having been flooded and sealed off by coalition forces. In the palace basement lies an entrance to one of many concrete tunnels running beneath the city of Baghdad . These ventilated tunnels were built to provide access to other palaces, government facilities and Baghdad International Airport . From April 2009 to January 2010, FOB Prosperity was run by

336-521: The outset of the fighting left a sizable number of buildings in central Baghdad abandoned. The Coalition Provisional Authority administrators who arrived on the heels of the forward invading forces decided they were ideal for use by Coalition administrators. Jay Garner , head of the reconstruction team, set up his headquarters in the former Republican Palace ; other villas were taken by groups of government officials and private contractors. Eventually some five thousand officials and civil contractors settled in

357-540: The public administration of the country from April 2003 until June 2004, when it was succeeded by the Iraqi Interim Government . The latter facilitated the first elections held after the US-led invasion, in 2005. Entry to the Green Zone was under the control of a small garrison of American troops who manned the various checkpoints. They were typically a battalion of soldiers at FOB Prosperity , under

378-508: The restaurant was destroyed, one patron was killed, and five wounded by a backpack bomb . The restaurant reopened briefly a year later, along with a liquor store that was primarily patronized by security contractors in October 2005, but was closed when the Iraqi government confiscated the property. Green Zone The International Zone was a heavily fortified zone in the center of

399-696: The vacated houses as the Coalition authorities. As of 2009, there continued to be some five thousand of these Iraqis living in the International Zone. The area came to be known as the Green Zone during the occupation to refer to an area under the full control of the Coalition Forces , in contrast to the Red Zone . The Green Zone was the governmental headquarters of the Coalition Provisional Authority that oversaw

420-514: Was President Saddam Hussein's primary seat of power. The area is also known as Karradat Mariam , so named for a locally famous woman who helped the poor people of Baghdad. The area was taken by US military forces in April 2003 in some of the heaviest fighting during the capture of Baghdad. In the lead-up to the US invasion of Iraq, Saddam and many high status residents of the area were evacuated because of

441-672: Was hit by two suicide bombings , which destroyed the bazaar and the Green Zone Cafe . On April 12, 2007, a bomb went off in the Iraqi Parliament cafeteria, killing Mohammed Awad (a member of the Sunni National Dialogue Front) and injuring 22, including one of the vice presidents. The Green Zone was shelled with rocket and mortar fire almost daily from March 23, 2008, until May 5, 2008, causing numerous civilian and military casualties; as stated in

SECTION 20

#1732775854566
#565434