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Then and now: Revisiting Iraqi sites a decade later
NBC News Clone summarizes the latest on: Then Now Revisiting Iraqi Sites Decade Later Flna1C8934167 - Breaking News | NBC News Clone. This article is rewritten and presented in a simplified tone for a better reader experience.
This Wednesday, March 13, 2013, photo shows a general view of Firdous Square at the site of an Associated Press photograph taken by Jerome Delay as the statue of Saddam Hussein was pulled down by U.S. forces and Iraqis on April 9, 2003. Ten years ago on live television, U.S. Marines memorably hauled down a Soviet-style statue of Saddam, symbolically ending his rule. Today, that pedestal in central Baghdad stands empty. Bent iron beams sprout from the top, and posters of anti-American Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr in military fatigues are pasted on the sides.
In this Friday, March 15, 2013, photo, a woman and her child look at a camel at the Baghdad Zoo as Abdullah, 8, poses with a photograph taken on July 20, 2003, at the same site by Niko Price of the Associated Press, showing a U.S. soldier visiting the newly opened zoo. The zoo was decimated during the 2003 U.S.-led invasion, when the staff fled and looters gutted the zoo and the park surrounding it. Only a handful of animals survived, and later the grounds were used as a holding facility for looters detained by U.S. soldiers. The zoo reopened in July 2003 after being rehabilitated under the care of U.S. Army Capt. William Sumner and South African conservationist Lawrence Anthony. Today, it houses more than 1,000 animals and is a popular destination for families.Maya Alleruzzo / APIn this Saturday, March 16, 2013 photo, shoppers walk in Baghdad's busy shopping district of Karrada, at the same site of an Associated Press photo taken by Hadi Mizban on Monday, Sept. 29, 2008 after a bombing that killed 22 people. Bloody attacks launched by terrorists who thrived in the post-invasion chaos are painfully still frequent, albeit less so than a few years back, and sectarian and ethnic rivalries are again tearing at the fabric of national unity.Maya Alleruzzo / APThis Tuesday, March 12, 2013, photo shows a general view of Abu Nawas Park in Baghdad, at the site of a photograph taken by Maya Alleruzzo showing Iraqi orphans playing soccer with a U.S. soldier from the Third Infantry Division in April 2003. The park, which runs along Abu Nawas Street, named after an Arabic poet, is now a popular destination for families who are drawn by the manicured gardens, playgrounds and restaurants famous for a fish called mazgouf. Ten years ago, the park was home to a tribe of children orphaned by the war and was rife with crime.Maya Alleruzzo / APIn this Saturday, March 16, 2013, photo, motorists fill the main street in Baghdad's busy shopping district of Karrada at the site of an Associated Press photo taken by Hadi Mizban on Friday, March 7, 2008, after a bombing that killed 53 people and wounded 130. Bloody attacks launched by terrorists who thrived in the post-invasion chaos are painfully still frequent, albeit less so than a few years back, and sectarian and ethnic rivalries are again tearing at the fabric of national unity.Maya Alleruzzo / APThis Tuesday, March 12, 2013, photo shows a general view of Abu Nawas Street in Baghdad, Iraq, at the site of a photograph of Iraqi orphan Fady al-Sadik waking on the street taken by photographer Maya Alleruzzo in April 2003. The street abuts the well-manicured Abu Nawas Park, popular with families.Maya Alleruzzo / AP
