18 replies to this topic

[architect2004]

Here are some pictures of Iraq before the war....Enjoy!
Iraq....Rich in oil.....culture....architecture.....and natural beauty!

Edited by architect2004, 16 April 2005 - 05:40 AM.

[satalac]

looks a lot like miami in the 70s. well except for the snow picture  

[Urban_Legend]

satalac, on Apr 19 2005, 04:04 PM, said:

looks a lot like miami in the 70s.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Yeah, especially like Opa Locka, FL with its Middle-Eastern architecture, lol.

Nice pics!

[moonshield]

Jewel of the Middle East? Come on. It looks nice and all but underneath the exterior is also death, poverty, .... I don't really think of Iraq as a cultural center. Sorry for hijacking this thread

[satalac]

moonshield, on Apr 19 2005, 04:35 PM, said:

Jewel of the Middle East? Come on. It looks nice and all but underneath the exterior is also death, poverty, .... I don't really think of Iraq as a cultural center. Sorry for hijacking this thread

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

it was when it was called babylon. now, eh, not so much. haha. if it weren't for the wars there, i think it could reclaim its glory.

[orulz]

I've heard/read that Iraq was one of the more prosperous and developed countries in the middle east before the wars of the 80's, 90's, and 00's. Hussein's government, while totalitarian and brutal, was secular and effective, and did a pretty good job at promoting things like infrastructure and education. Oil money helped a lot, too.

The wars took their toll, but the embargos were the proverbial nail in the coffin. Some hoped that with Saddam gone, the country could go back to being prosperous, minus the brutal totalitarian regime. However, with the continuing daily suicide bombings you have to wonder if things will ever get better.

[moonshield]

being pessimistic (and off topic) about this whole ordeal, I don't think things will get better soon. UNLESS we provided a full pullout of Isreal. I think that is the root of violence.

[Urban Catalyst]

iraq has potential... rebuilding of babylon

[mercuex]

orulz, on Apr 19 2005, 09:28 PM, said:

I've heard/read that Iraq was one of the more prosperous and developed countries in the middle east before the wars of the 80's, 90's, and 00's. Hussein's government, while totalitarian and brutal, was secular and effective, and did a pretty good job at promoting things like infrastructure and education. Oil money helped a lot, too.

The wars took their toll, but the embargos were the proverbial nail in the coffin. Some hoped that with Saddam gone, the country could go back to being prosperous, minus the brutal totalitarian regime. However, with the continuing daily suicide bombings you have to wonder if things will ever get better.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Actually Baathist management was notoriously awful. If you don't believe me look at the fellow Baathists next door in Syria. If it weren't for the fact that Iraq was sitting on unbelievably huge energy reserves there would be none of that modernish veneer. It's all cosmetics really, hiding a society that was basically tormented by a minority of power-hungry Sunnis. And it was almost exclusively Sunnis - how's that for your secularist state, eh?

(Not to mention Saddam, especially in his later years, used to pull an Arafat - who was once a marxist pan-arab nationalist - by invoking Islam in some random way to justify his cruelty and meglomania. The 'Allahu Akbar' on the Iraqi flag was originally put there by Saddam.)

Another good example of a similar system might be Egypt (though as far as being a danger to its own people, Saddam Hussein committed far worse and frequent atrocities) where there was basically no growth and employment was basically kept down by hiring unimaginably large amounts of people to work for the civil service. Sort of like France actually, hahaha.

Things there are a mess now but if it ever gets resolved (And that remains to be seen, of course), I'm confident Iraq will basically be the economic engine for the region - alongside Israel and an increasingly assertive and confident Lebanon (Which, being the arab world's first halfway decent version of democracy, is starting to really take steps towards real self determination).

[Raintree21]

satalac, on Apr 19 2005, 06:56 PM, said:

it was when it was called babylon. now, eh, not so much. haha. if it weren't for the wars there, i think it could reclaim its glory.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Yeah,  they say that is where the Garden of Eden was, in between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers.

[Ruso]

Iraq could not be compared with other third world nations because of its historical  culture. Many might see it as an underdeveloped nation, nevertheless they forget about the incredible heritage they give to the world.  

[ZachariahDaMan]

Great pictures, thanks for posting them.  I didn't know Iraq had such beautiful places.

[dpbaker]

moonshield, on Apr 19 2005, 05:30 PM, said:

being pessimistic (and off topic) about this whole ordeal, I don't think things will get better soon. UNLESS we provided a full pullout of Isreal. I think that is the root of violence.

Not gonna happen, and that shouldn't at all matter, though I understand why it does.

Urban Catalyst, on May 17 2005, 09:16 PM, said:

iraq has potential... rebuilding of babylon

Indeed. I don't know about rebuilding Babylon, but Iraq really could be something. In fact, the entireity of the Middle East has such overwhelming potential, at least the UAE seems to have figured that out. Let's hope it spreads. I honestly think the situation in Iraq will get better, but perhaps not before getting even worse than it is now. Let's hope and pray for the best for ALL in that region...

[Australian1]

Every time I see the news,
A bomb struck Iraq.
So I call this "Bomb country"
Anyway, Great pic's!

[southernyank]

architect2004, on Apr 16 2005, 06:02 AM, said:

Here are some pictures of Iraq before the war....Enjoy!
Iraq....Rich in oil.....culture....architecture.....and natural beauty!

What are these two green gumdrops?

[john_denver]

Yeah, it's too bad the country is suffering so much.

[johnnydr87]

architect2004, on Apr 16 2005, 05:02 AM, said:

Here are some pictures of Iraq before the war....Enjoy!
Iraq....Rich in oil.....culture....architecture.....and natural beauty!

Where are the after pictures?

[Raintree21]

Urban Catalyst, on May 18 2005, 01:16 AM, said:

iraq has potential... rebuilding of babylon

I had read somewhere a while back that there was talk of undamming some of the rivers so that the marshlands could return and bring back with it all of the lush vegetation. Apparently Saddam Hussein dammed the rivers as a penalty to some of the ethnic groups in the region or something.

[JerseyBoy]

Thank you for the photos! I never realized it snowed in Iraq.