Mansur Hotel Bombed

The Mansur Hotel was bombed an hour ago by a suicide vest bomber who detonated himself inside the lobby while a Sunni Arab tribal conference was taking place. Initial reports indicate that seven people are dead and the entire lobby is completely destroyed.

Atop The Mansur Hotel

The beginning of Haifa Street, until recently one of the most dangerous areas in the city.

I got a chance to climb up onto the roof of the Mansur Hotel and get a good look at the Baghdad skyline from a few different perspectives. Haze hangs over the city like a brown cloud, mixing seamlessly with the khaki landscape of the city. There is very little color; the occasional green of grove of palm trees, the splash of heavily watered lawn, even the river runs brown.