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Green Zone

Coordinates: 33°18′27″N 44°23′25″E / 33.307577°N 44.390259°E / 33.307577; 44.390259
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For the film, see Green Zone (film).

33°18′27″N 44°23′25″E / 33.307577°N 44.390259°E / 33.307577; 44.390259

Aerial view and map of the Green Zone in Baghdad

The Green Zone (Arabic: المنطقة الخضراء) is the common name for the International Zone of Iraq— a 10-square-kilometer (3.8-square-mile) area in central Baghdad, Iraq, that was the center of the Coalition Provisional Authority and remains the center of the international presence in the city. Its official name beginning under the Iraqi Interim Government is the International Zone, though Green Zone remains the most commonly used term. The contrasting Red Zone refers to parts of Baghdad immediately outside the perimeter, but is also loosely applied to all unsecured areas outside the off-site military posts. Both terms originated as military designations.

Pre-invasion

The Green Zone was a heavily fortified zone in the center of the Iraqi capital that served as the headquarters of successive Iraqi regimes. It was the administrative center for the Ba'ath Party.[1] The area was not originally home to the villas of government officials, though it was very important and was home to many military bases, several government ministries, and a number of palaces of Saddam Hussein and his family.[2] The largest of these was the Republican Palace that was Saddam's primary seat of power. The area is known as Karradat Mariam, named for the famous woman who helped thousands of poor people in Baghdad.[citation needed]

Post-invasion

The region was taken by American forces in April 2003, in some of the heaviest fighting in Baghdad. In the lead-up to the invasion, Saddam and most of the other residents of the area fled fearing arrest by Coalition forces or reprisals by Iraqis.[3] Some of the original inhabitants who did not flee also continue to live in the area. Many are undocumented squatters in the area referred to as the "215 Apartments".[4]

Coalition airstrikes at 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 this left them ideal for use by Coalition administrators. Jay Garner, head of the reconstruction team, set up his headquarters in the Republican Palace; other villas were taken by groups of government officials and private contractors. Charlie company 3/124 infantry of the Florida Army National Guard settled among the orange groves behind the palace and provided security for the palace and a large portion of the sector from April 2003 to February 2004. Eventually some five thousand officials and civil contractors settled in the area.

The abandoned buildings were not only attractive to Coalition forces, but also to homeless Iraqis.[4] Among these were individuals who had lost their homes in the conflict, but most were urban poor who had been homeless or 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 the vacated houses as the Coalition authorities. There continue to be some five thousand of these Iraqis living in the Green Zone.[5]

The Green Zone was also home to a small garrison of American troops who guarded it and manned the checkpoints leading to it. They were typically a battalion of soldiers at FOB Prosperity, under the command of the Multi-National Division - Baghdad. Additionally, a battalion of coalition soldiers from the Republic of Georgia used to man some of the checkpoints in the International Zone.[6]

The Green Zone is completely surrounded by high concrete blast walls, T-Walls and barbed wire and access was available through a handful of entry control points, all of which were controlled by Coalition troops.[7] It is this security that makes the Green Zone the safest area of Baghdad,[7] and is referred to colloquially as "the bubble".[8] 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 Bridge (known as the July 14th Bridge by Iraqis, the date that the former regime came to power.)[9] This has led the insurgents to frequently shell the Green Zone with mortars and rockets, though these attacks cause few casualties. In October 2004 it 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 Easter 2008 until May 5, 2008, causing numerous civilian and military casualties; As stated in a USA Today Article [10] " 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.

Since the handover of sovereignty to Iraqis, many of the facilities in the Green Zone have been turned over to the new Iraqi government. It is still a base for western private military contractors, and home to the U.S., British, Australian, and Egyptian embassies. The permanent U.S. embassy is located in the southern Green Zone, overlooking the Tigris River.

On 1 January 2009, full control of the Green Zone was handed back to Iraqi security forces.[11]

Notable sites in the Green Zone

  • The Baghdad Green Zone
    The Baghdad Green Zone
  • Republican Palace Baghdad
    Republican Palace Baghdad
  • Unfinished addition to Baath Party Headquarters. Location of Saddam Hussein's Trial.
    Unfinished addition to Baath Party Headquarters. Location of Saddam Hussein's Trial.
  • Baghdad Mosque
    Baghdad Mosque
  • Baghdad Red Zone
    Baghdad Red Zone
  • Baghdad Red Zone
    Baghdad Red Zone
  • Assassin's Gate.
    Assassin's Gate.

Notes

  1. ^ Allawi, Ali (2007). The occupation of Iraq: winning the war, losing the peace. Yale University Press. p. 371. ISBN 978-0300110159.
  2. ^ Johnson, Chalmers (2006). Nemesis: the last days of the American Republic. Metropolitan Books. p. 160. ISBN 978-0805079111.
  3. ^ Langewiesche, William (November 2004). Welcome to the Green Zone. The Atlantic.
  4. ^ a b Dabrowska, Karen; Hann, Geoff (2008). Iraq Then and Now: A Guide to the Country and Its People. Bradt Travel Guides. p. 208. ISBN 978-1841622439.
  5. ^ Filkins, Dexter (2009). The Forever War. Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group. p. 279. ISBN 978-0307279446.
  6. ^ Nordland, Rod; Williams, Timothy (July 28, 2009). Iraq Force Soon to Be a Coalition of One. The New York Times.
  7. ^ a b Baghdad Green Zone. GlobalSecurity.org.
  8. ^ Lipman, Jana (2008). Guantánamo: A Working-Class History Between Empire and Revolution. University of California Press. p. 221
  9. ^ Holihan, Michael (2007). The Epiphany Deception. Xulon Press. p. 74.
  10. ^ http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/iraq/2008-05-01-iraqrockets_N.htm
  11. ^ Londoño, Ernesto (January 1, 2009). "At Midnight, U.S. Leaves Republican Palace, Green Zone to Iraqis". The Washington Post. Retrieved 2009-08-23. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
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