A few days ago I remarked that downtown Baghdad was probably going to look different soon. I didn’t suspect that DigitalGlobe would go on publishing free images of the changing face of Baghdad, but they have done just that with this Baghdad Region Image Gallery. It’s really pretty remarkable the kinds of things you can see. For example, here’s something you couldn’t easily do in any other war before this one: independent verification of bombing accuracy. We say our bombs are accurate. Are they?
This close-up view of the region across the river from the al Sijud palace shows at least one impressive example of accurate targeting. Click on the small picture to the left to see a bigger view. You’ll see two rows of buildings, eight of which have been reduced to rubble-strewn craters, punched out of existence as though with a paper hole-punch. We are entering an era when bombing inaccuracy will refer almost entirely to faulty designation rather than faulty delivery. No matter how good a surgeon you are, you can still take out the wrong kidney from time to time. Oops!
As Matthew noted in a follow-up comment to my last post, Space Imaging hosts similar pictures at their site. Here is a shot of Baghdad on April 1st with oil trenches smoking away. Elsewhere on their site you can see pictures of the (former) Saddam International Airport. Just think, all the Iraqi Information Office would need is a web browser and a high-bandwidth connection to verify that the troops on the ground are not actually theirs.
Rambles Blog at Star Chamber 
