19 Mar 09 Flying 300' above Baghdad and what's the vertical range of an AK-47?

19 Mar 09  Flying 300' above Baghdad and what's the vertical range of an AK-47?

 

I flew back from Baghdad to Balad the other day and was able to take some pretty good pics above the city.  Most of these pics are bigger so if you click on each to see the real size you can easily make out details on the houses below.  In a few of the pics you can see one of Sadaam's palaces.  The river is the Tigris and the bend that you see is the south end of the IZ in central Baghdad.  For the most part, life in Baghdad is unremarkable.  People go about their business, go to school, play soccer, etc.  Most of the 'palm' trees are actually date palms and produce some great figs which we eat when available as well.  The T-walls are meant to separate neighborhoods that may still not be 'getting' along very well.

Also I am reminded by many to be 'careful'.  But I actually have very little control over much of my environment.  If I need to go from point A to point B, the Army/AF directs when and how I may travel.  I pretty much do what I'm told, show up, strap in and hang on.  For the most part, what happens is what happens (if that makes any sense).  Having said that,  I used to know this pilot on the west side, who flew Kiowa attack helicopters.  We used to meet for coffee and kept in touch via email.  About a month back I stopped hearing from him.  I've emailed several times with no luck. I really wonder what happened but I suspect I'll never hear from him again.  What happens, happens.

Oh and what is the vertical range of AK-47, it's about 300'.

R/Chris