Then and now: Revisiting Iraqi sites a decade later This Wednesday, March 13, 2013, photo shows a general view of Firdous Square at the site of an Associated Press photograph taken by Jerome Delay as the statue of Saddam Hussein was pulled down by U.S. forces and Iraqis on April 9, 2003. Ten years ago on live television, U.S. Marines memorably hauled down a Soviet-style statue of Saddam, symbolically ending his rule. Today, that 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. In this Friday, March 15, 2013, photo, a woman and her child look at a camel at the Baghdad Zoo as Abdullah, 8, poses with a photograph taken on July 20, 2003, at the same site by Niko Price of the Associated Press, showing a U.S. soldier visiting the newly opened zoo. The zoo was decimated during the 2003 U.S.-led invasion, when the staff fled and looters gutted the zoo and the park surrounding it. Only a handful of animals survived, and later the grounds were used as a holding facility for looters detained by U.S. soldiers. The zoo reopened in July 2003 after being rehabilitated under the care of U.S. Army Capt. William Sumner and South African conservationist Lawrence Anthony. Today, it houses more than 1,000 animals and is a popular destination for families. In this Saturday, March 16, 2013 photo, shoppers walk in Baghdad's busy shopping district of Karrada, at the same site of an Associated Press photo taken by Hadi Mizban on Monday, Sept. 29, 2008 after a bombing that killed 22 people. Bloody attacks launched by terrorists who thrived in the post-invasion chaos are painfully still frequent, albeit less so than a few years back, and sectarian and ethnic rivalries are again tearing at the fabric of national unity. This Tuesday, March 12, 2013, photo shows a general view of Abu Nawas Park in Baghdad, at the site of a photograph taken by Maya Alleruzzo showing Iraqi orphans playing soccer with a U.S. soldier from the Third Infantry Division in April 2003. The park, which runs along Abu Nawas Street, named after an Arabic poet, 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 a tribe of children orphaned by the war and was rife with crime. This Thursday, March 14, 2013, photo shows a general view of the crossed swords monument at the site of an Associated Press photograph by Karim Kadim of U.S. soldiers taken on Nov. 16, 2008. The crossed sword archways Saddam Hussein commissioned during Iraq's nearly eight-year war with Iran stand defiantly on a little-used parade ground inside the Green Zone, the fortified district that houses the sprawling U.S. Embassy and several government offices. Iraqi officials began tearing down the arches in 2007 but quickly halted those plans and then started restoring the monument two years ago. In this Saturday, March 16, 2013, photo, motorists fill the main street in Baghdad's busy shopping district of Karrada at the site of an Associated Press photo taken by Hadi Mizban on Friday, March 7, 2008, after a bombing that killed 53 people and wounded 130. This Tuesday, March 12, 2013, photo shows a general view of Abu Nawas Street in Baghdad, Iraq, at the site of a photograph of Iraqi orphan Fady al-Sadik waking on the street taken by photographer Maya Alleruzzo in April 2003. The street abuts the well-manicured Abu Nawas Park, popular with families. Follow @NBCNewsPictures