"We must be over the rainbow!"

*NOTE: For some reason I am having a hard time getting this post to format properly. Sorry if it looks weird on your screen, but I am tired of trying to fix it.

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It's only about 5 square miles, but there is plenty to see inside the IZ.

A few weeks back I was given a personal tour of the most notable sites by an Iraqi-American working for the Department of State. He fled Baghdad with his family decades ago and returned after the fall of Saddam to help rebuild his country. I was the only civilian in the group of about a dozen on the small bus that rolled out of the Palace compound parking lot. It made me a little nervous that I was the only person in the tour group not wearing body armor. When I said that I had not been told I needed to bring it, I was assured it wasn't a requirement. Somehow that didn't make me feel any more secure.

The first stop is the #1 tourist picture spot in the IZ. The official name is "The Hands Of Victory", but most people here just call
them "The Crossed Swords."

These are bookends to the massive "Grand Festivities Square" where Saddam would do his infamous handwave and blasting of the shotgun for big rallies. Despite the history surrounding them, the swords are very cool to see. The two sets of swords are mirror images. On each end, two fists rise out of the ground each gripping a massive sword, the tips of which touch at a peak about 130 feet high.

The bases are said to have been cast from Saddam's own arms and hands. As with most Saddam era memorials work began to tear down the swords. But even as the first parts came off Iraq's Ministry of Interior stopped the project. Since this is actually a war memorial and not a Saddam memorial there is growing support to preserve the swords and just replace the arms and hands.

At the bottom of each monument helmets of Iranian soldiers killed in the Iran/Iraq war are piled as if they are spilling onto the ground from large nets. Some have graffiti scribbled on them, others show the bullet holes made by the soaring slug that presumably precipitated the demise of its owner.

The next stop is the MASSIVE "Tomb of the Unknown Soldier". It's a giant circular structure with a clamshell top that covers the tomb holding the reported remains of an Iraqi soldier. This site is so big you can reportedly see it from space, much like the Great Wall of China.

There is a room below the tomb where dozens of glass cases stand empty in darkness. This was one of the sites looted during the coalition invasion. Many important and priceless artifacts were taken from here. When I asked about this during our tour an Iraqi guard swept his arm across the room and then moved it above his head in a swirling motion. He said in rough english, "Awll thees...Ali Baba." That's how Iraqis describe stealing, a reference to the character in the story of Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves.

When we were told our guide was going to take us to Believer's Palace, I was excited to think about getting a close up tour of this bombed out building. But, I had no idea how close. When you pull up next to the palace the damage is really incredible to see. We were all just milling around looking at the massive holes blown through the sides of the thick marble walls when our guide said, "Ok, let me go get the key so we can get inside."

I almost squealed like a schoolgirl. We were actually going to get to walk right through the devastation...the centerpoint of destruction...ground zero.

It's a pretty eery place inside. Silent and dark with musty, dank air. But the damage is INCREDIBLE! This was one of the first sites we hit in 2003 because of an extensive bunker system built beneath it.

The 1000 lb. bombs definitely destroyed the palace, but the bunker was mostly untouched. I read somewhere the designer said the bunker was built to withstand a nuclear blast. We carefully weaved our way through the debris from one end of the destroyed palace to the other.

We were given free reign, allowed to walk wherever we wanted and I took advantage of it. While most in the group kept together and stayed in the main rooms I explored the more obscure routes and examined the handiwork of good old American destructive ingenuity.

I was pretty surprised we were able to walk around in here. It's very dangerous. You're stepping over and climbing onto debris just to make it a few feet at a time. But it was SO F'n COOL!

Just when I thought the tour couldn't get any better our guide asked "Who wants to go up into the tower?" I was first in line.

The tower stands just behind Believer's Palace. There are a lot of rumors about what it was used for during Saddam's time, the most prevalent being a sniper's tower. It's a hazardous climb of several hundred feet. In places the spiral steps and railing were ripped apart by flying debris from the explosions in Believer's Palace, punching huge ragged holes into the heavy steel. As you get to the top of the circular stairs, your head starts to spin from the climb and the height.

But the view made it more than worth it. Normally Baghdad's skyline is very murky, but a strong storm had blown through the night before clearing the air and allowing us an unprecedented view for miles around. Here is what Believer's Palace looks like from above.

You get a great view of the Embassy up here as well.

It was easy to see across the entire IZ, this is the distant view of The Tomb of the Unknown and behind it the giant Grand Mosque that is under construction in Baghdad.

The tower was the end of our adventure for the day.

We all had to get back to work and stop pretending to be tourists in the IZ.

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Still to come...My one man hearts and minds campaign.

Tinman

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