The Iraqi Monument to the Unknown Soldier

Wednesday, on our way back to our compound from one of the other FOBs in the Green Zone, we stopped at the Iraqi Monument to the the Unknown Soldier, where we met a couple of Iraqi soldiers who showed us around and let us take pictures.

Many of the monuments in Baghdad were built after the Iran-Iraq War, or during the 1990s during sancations as a way of glorifying the regine, rather than honoring its people. Most seem to be falling into disprepair now, but I hope that some day soon, they can be rehabilitated, as this monument was by US forces in time for Iraqi Armed Forces Day in 2006.

The words in italics below are from a publish guide to monuments and palaces of the former regime in the International Zone.

The repeated circular and elliptical motifs are thought to echo the ancient city walls of Baghdad, which were circular. The 550-ton cantilevered dome represents the dira’a and is 42m in diameter and follows an inclination of 12 degrees. Its external surface is clad with copper, while its inner surface features a sofitt finished with pyramidal modules of alternating steel and copper.

Beneath the dome is a red glass cube sheathed in sculpted aluminum. Most visitors mistakenly believe the body of the Unknown Soldier lies within this cube. Actually,the coffin-shaped metal box inside the cube represents the Unknown Soldier.

The steel sculpture to the left of the dome is meant to resemble the Minaret of Samarra. The Minaret of Samarra was one of the most ancient and famous sites in Islamic architecture and was patterned after the ziggurats of ancient Mesopotamia. The sculpture at the Monument to the Unknown Soldier is entirely covered with Murano glass panels fixed on stainless steel arms which light up at night in the national colors of Iraq (White, Green, Red and Black). Before the 2003 war, a spotlight shone skyward from the central tube.

(What we didn't know at the time was that just a few hours earlier, the minarets at the Al-Askariya Mosque in Samarra, just 60 miles north of us in Baghdad, were destroyed in an attack -- a reprise of the February 2006 attack that collapsed the Golden Dome of this Shia shrine and launched the current sectarian violence that grips so much of Baghdad.)

Ayuf, an Iraqi soldier, guided us through the Monument. He only speaks a few words of English, and my Arabic barely extends beyond common greetings and courtesies, but somehow, we managed to understand each other. We came back later that afternoon with two cases of cold water and some MREs for him and his fellow soldiers, along with copies of the pictures we took. Looking at this photo now, it strikes me that a few short years ago, this man would have been my enemy. I've been thinking about that quite a bit.

Where there's an anchor, there's a sailor!