Hi all,

This attachment contains a polyline which shows the border of the famous "Green Zone" in Baghdad, Iraq. Also included are polygons of palaces and placemarks of locations often cited within the zone.

The Green Zone (called the International Zone under the Iraqi interim government) is a heavily guarded 4 square mile (10 square kilometer) area in central Baghdad where US occupation authorities, Iraqi citizens, Coalition partners and private contractors live. The precise boundaries are difficult to determine and change with time.

The area was originally home to the villas of government officials, several government ministries, and a number of palaces of Saddam Hussein and his family. The largest, the Republican Palace, was Saddam's primary seat of power.

The region was taken by American forces in April 2003 in some of the heaviest fighting in Baghdad. The Coalition Provisional Authority administrators decided to use the abandoned buildings which were in relatively good condition as their base of operations. Some five thousand officials and civil contractors settled in the area. The decision to locate the Coalition headquarters within the most prominent symbols of Ba'athist power has since been criticized.

Take care,

-RockyRaccoon

Inside the Green Zone, Baghdad:


An American soldiers patrols a marketplace inside the Green Zone:


American Troops stand amongst flames and debris following a car bomb explosion at an entrance to the Green Zone:


Suicide bomb attack inside the Green Zone: