A general view of the crossed swords monument at the site of a photograph by Karim Kadim of US soldiers in 2008. The archway was commissioned by Saddam Hussein during Iraq’s war with Iran. Iraqi officials began tearing down the archways in 2007 but quickly halted those plans and then started restoring the monument two years ago.
A general view of Abu Nawas Street in Baghdad at the site of a photograph taken by Maya Alleruzzo of Iraqi orphan Fady Al Sadik in April 2003. The park that runs along Abu Nawas Street is now a popular destination for families who are drawn by the manicured gardens, playgrounds and restaurants famous for a fish called mazgouf. Ten years ago, the park was home to children orphaned by the war and was rife with crime.
A general view of Abu Nawas park in Baghdad at the site of a photograph taken by Maya Alleruzzo showing Iraqi orphans playing football with a US soldier in April, 2003.
Iraqi policeman Ahmed Naji stands on the grounds of the Iraqi National Museum at the site of a photograph taken by Anja Niedringhaus of US soldiers on guard outside the museum in November 2003. Tens of thousands of artifacts chronicling some 7,000 years of civilization from Mesopotamia are believed to have been looted from Iraq in the chaos of the invasion.
Iraqi policeman Ahmed Naji stands on the grounds of the Iraqi National Museum at the site of by Murad Sezer's photograph showing a U.S. Army tank parked outside the Iraqi National Museum in Baghdad in May 2003. Despite international efforts to track down looted items down, less than half of the artifacts have so far been retrieved.
Street photographer Raad Mohammed poses with a photograph taken by photographer Khalid Mohammed in Baghdad's Tahrir Square showing an Iraqi soldier manning a checkpoint on June 9, 2006, after the Iraqi capital was subjected to a vehicle ban in an effort to prevent reprisal attacks from suicide car bombs after the killing of Abu Musab Al Zarqawi. Today, the square is the site of anti-government protests and a place for candidates in the upcoming election to display their campaign posters.
A general view of Firdous Square at the site of a photograph taken by Jerome Delay as the statue of Saddam Hussein is pulled down by US.forces and Iraqis on April 9, 2003. Today, the pedestal in central Baghdad stands empty. Bent iron beams sprout from the top, and posters of anti-American Shiite cleric Muqtada Al Sadr in military fatigues are pasted on the sides.
Ten years after the US-led invasion of Iraq, Associated Press photographer Maya Alleruzzo reshoots and frames the contrast today to the memorable photographs taken during the Iraq war by her colleagues.
