Baghdad International Airport and the Green Zone

The Baghdad Airport Road is a 12 kilometer (7.5 mi) stretch of highway in Baghdad, Iraq linking the Green Zone to Baghdad International Airport (BIAP). It is sometimes referred to as Route Irish. The passengers are ferried with rhino runners on what often is referred to as the rhino run. Image File history File linksMetadata Baghdad_-_airport_and_green_zone. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Baghdad_-_airport_and_green_zone. ... Inside view of the terminal, showing an abandoned FIDS in front of empty check-in desks and passport control. ... The Green Zone is a 10 km² (4 mile²) area in central Baghdad that is the main base for coalition officials in Iraq. ... Baghdad (Arabic: ) is the capital of Iraq and of Baghdad Governorate. ... The Green Zone is a 10 km² (4 mile²) area in central Baghdad that is the main base for coalition officials in Iraq. ... Inside view of the terminal, showing an abandoned FIDS in front of empty check-in desks and passport control. ... Rhino Runner is a type of armoured bus used extensively in Iraq, especially on the infamous Route Irish between Baghdad International Airport and The Green Zone. ...

Though most references to "Route Irish" concern the east-west corridor road from BIAP to the International Zone in downtown Baghdad, this is an incorrect label. This corridor is actually two routes: Irish, which runs from the BIAP Entry Control Point (ECP) and curves south past downtown to join Highway 1 (Route Tampa); and Route Aeros, which merges with Irish at the curve and runs into the International Zone.

The section of highway from the Aeros merge to the BIAP ECP is a four-lane road with a 50 meter (165 ft) wide median; the remainder of the route is a four-lane limited access with a high concrete median approximately a meter wide.

Name

Route Irish is named after the Fighting Irish of the University of Notre Dame. Many of the main supply routes (MSRs) and alternate supply routes (ASRs) in and around Baghdad are named after sports teams. Examples of other MSRs in Baghdad with sports-themed names are Route Predators, Route Cardinals and Route Senators. The University of Notre Dame IPA: is a Roman Catholic institution located in Notre Dame, Indiana, immediately northeast of South Bend, Indiana, United States. ...

The name 'Route Irish' has frequently and incorrectly been attributed to the unit which patrolled the route in 2005, the Irish Brigade, or the 69th Infantry Regiment of the New York National Guard, which is descended from an American Civil War unit composed predominantly of Irish immigrants. This article is about the unit of the United States Army during the Civil War. ... The 69th Infantry Regiment (Mechanized), New York National Guard is a combat unit out of New York City and part of the 42nd Rainbow Division. ... The United States National Guard is a component of the United States Army (the Army National Guard) and the United States Air Force (the Air National Guard). ... This article is becoming very long. ...

However, Route Irish and the other MSRs and ASRs in Iraq were named during the invasion planning period; long before the 69th began patrolling the route.

The shootings of the Italians on March 4, 2005

Main article: Rescue of Giuliana Sgrena

The military report on the shooting of Nicola Calipari and Giuliana Sgrena explains the procedure for shutting down route Irish to Iraqi traffic, so that it is empty for Coalition convoys.^[1] Coalition soldiers are dispatched, without warning, to each of the on-ramps to route Irish, where they establish a roadblock, or blocking point. Their job is to turn back all traffic. As of the date of the incident the soldiers who man the blocking points take no steps to lay out portable speed bump strips, or warning signs. Image File history File links Unbalanced_scales. ... The car used in the rescue, being transported back to Italy as evidence in the investigation. ... Nicola Calipari Nicola Calipari (June 23, 1953, Reggio Calabria - March 4, 2005, Iraq) was an Italian SISMI military intelligence officer with the rank of Major General. ... Giuliana Sgrena Giuliana Sgrena (born December 20, 1948) is a well-known Italian journalist and author who works for the Italian communist newspaper Il Manifesto and the German weekly Die Zeit. ... The Seal of the CPA in Iraq The Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) was established as a transitional government following the invasion of Iraq by the United States, United Kingdom and the other members of the multinational coalition which was formed to oust the government of Saddam Hussein in 2003. ... A convoy is a group of vehicles traveling together for mutual support. ... For the film see Offramp and for the graphic novel see Off-ramp. ... A roadblock is a temporary installation set up to control or block traffic along a road. ... Speed bump made of asphalt A speed bump (British English a speed or road hump, sometimes colloquially a sleeping policeman) is a traffic calming tool designed to slow traffic or reduce through traffic. ...

The on-ramps are overlooked by highrise buildings, which provide potential observation posts for snipers and artillery spotters. Therefore, the soldiers are not supposed to be left in these exposed positions for longer than fifteen to twenty minutes, to deny the resistance forces time to organize an attack.

It also revealed that the equipment the soldiers at the blocking points had for stopping traffic consisted of a green laser pointer, a portable, handheld spotlight, and warning shots from their weapons. They were not equipped with the kinds of sirens and flashing lights an ordinary police vehicle would have. Further the procedure allowed the gunner responsible for firing the warning shots, to also aim the spotlight. In the incident in question the gunner was also responsible for shining the spotlight on the driver, prior to firing warning shots.

The report says that the Italian vehicle was going faster than the other vehicles they had stopped that night. The soldiers had stopped between 15 to 20 vehicles during the hour and a half they had been on station. Several of them had to screech their brakes in order to stop. The gunner had to fire warning shots to warn seven other vehicles which did not respond to the laser pointer and handheld spotlight. The road curved as it approached the on-ramp, preventing the roadblock being visible far in advance.

The report says eleven bullets struck the vehicle, and that 58 bullets had been fired by the gunner that evening. It is not known how many of the other 48 bullets had been fired to warn the other seven vehicles, and how many were fired to warn the Italian vehicle, prior it coming under fire.

References

1. ^ Military report (DOC).

• SmoEasy Sailing Along Once-Perilous Road To Baghdad Airport