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بدالة السنك-"AT&T Building"In Baghdad(First Building Damaged during the Desert Storm First Night) 33°19'52"N 44°24'7"E


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Posted (edited)

Location:

33.33123306109569N, 44.40220347485344E

33°19'52"N 44°24'7"E

 

If you know anything about the Gulf War, you have surely heard the following: On the first night, the “AT&T Building” in downtown Baghdad was destroyed by a guided bomb dropped by an F-117A. I was very interested in where the “AT&T Building” was, what it looked like today, and what its history was.

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Through my search on Google, I finally found the approximate location of the "AT&T Building" in a file named ADA514938 - next to the Sinak Bridge, on the east bank of the Tigris River.

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https://apps.dtic.mil/sti/tr/pdf/ADA514938.pdf

In this document, "AT&T Building" is also called "Rasheed Street telephone exchange". But I searched for "Rasheed Street telephone exchange" and found no useful information. So I turned my attention to the satellite map, and on the satellite map, I found a building that looked like a communication center.

https://www.google.com.hk/maps/place/بدالة+السنك,+Al-Rashed+St,+Baghdad,+Baghdad+Governorate,+Iraq‭/@33.3306837,44.4016943,454m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m15!1m8!3m7!1s0x15578201ce22de49:0x3e3ac3065ca71fcc!2z2KjYr9in2YTYqSDYp9mE2LPZhtmDLCBBbC1SYXNoZWQgU3QsIEJhZ2hkYWQsIEJhZ2hkYWQgR292ZXJub3JhdGUsIElyYXE!3b1!8m2!3d33.3311834!4d44.4020197!16s%2Fg%2F11h0t2n16!3m5!1s0x15578201ce22de49:0x3e3ac3065ca71fcc!8m2!3d33.3311834!4d44.4020197!16s%2Fg%2F11h0t2n16?hl=en&entry=ttu&g_ep=EgoyMDI1MDEwOC4wIKXMDSoASAFQAw%3D%3D

The Arabic name is called(بدالة السنك)

After consulting with professionals fluent in Arabic, they believed that the English name of the building, "Al Sinak Telephone Exchange", was more appropriate in the relevant context and based on the local Iraqi dialect.

Then, I continued to search the Arabic name of the building on Google, and added Arabic keywords such as "Gulf War" and "1991". I was almost 100% sure that this building was the "AT&T Building" destroyed by the F-117A on the first day of the Gulf War.

 

According to Iraqi locals on Instagram, this building was used for international calls and local telephone exchanges during Saddam's time.

https://www.instagram.com/srt.rq/reel/C9-qMXRIMqy/

https://www.facebook.com/Iraqipalac/posts/خلال-قصف-بدالة-السنك-تركز-القصف-على-الطابق-السادس-اعتقد-البدالة-كانت-به-متانه-بن/1134408944796221/

 

(I can't send a screenshot, so I'll just show the key information in the post)

——————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

Instagram:

e.eex2:

شنو وظيفتة ؟

_70iq:

@e.eex2 تسجيل جميع المكالمات لضمان جودة الخدمة التحكم والسماح لعدد معين من الموظفين بإجراء مكالمات خارجية أو دولية توفير العديد من التقارير التفصيلية لضمان الجودة تنظيم الاتصالات في ساعات الذروة

 

Translate:

 

e.eex2:

What is his job?

_70iq:

@e.eex2 Record all calls to ensure quality of service Control and allow a certain number of employees to make external or international calls Provide many detailed reports to ensure quality Organize communications during peak hours

——————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

Facebook:

Farouk Alnuaimy:
قصف بناية مركز الإتصالات في السنك كان أول ثلاثة أهداف مركزية ليوم العدوان 17 كانون الثاني
1991 ( قيادة ق ج دج - مركز الإتصالات السنك - قاطع دج \1 ) وتم 
إصلاحها وأفتتحت عام 1993

Translate:

Farouk Alnuaimy:
The bombing of the communications center building in Al-Sinak was the first of three central targets on the day of the aggression, January 17, 1991 (the leadership of the Iraqi Air Force - the communications center in Al-Sinak - Sector Daj_1) and it was repaired and opened in 1993.

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user "_70iq" said "to make external or international calls"

That’s why, in (https://www.defensemedianetwork.com/stories/gulf-war-the-air-war/),

this building is called "Baghdad International Telephone Exchange".

Not only that, I also found out through various channels that this building is also one of the important buildings in Baghdad. It was designed by designer Rifaat Al-Chadirji and construction began in 1971. It was bombed during the Gulf War and the Iraq War, but the building has been restored. So I think there is no reason not to add it to the DCS:Iraq map.

(https://iraqdirections.com/العراقي-رفعت-الجادرجي-أحدث-ثورة-في-مفه/)

 

Here are some pictures of this building:

%D8%A8%D8%AF%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%A9_%D8%A7%D9

 

Some design sketches and historical photos.

https://www.instagram.com/archi_sketchs/p/CsB62c1KKUz/?img_index=6

 

462712990_2542540662607350_4942579969478

 

Edited by hitotose
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  • hitotose changed the title to Al Sinak Telephone Exchange-"AT&T Building"In Baghdad(First Building Damaged during the Desert Storm First Night) 33°19'52"N 44°24'7"E
  • hitotose changed the title to بدالة السنك-"AT&T Building"In Baghdad(First Building Damaged during the Desert Storm First Night) 33°19'52"N 44°24'7"E
  • 5 weeks later...
Posted

In one F-117 cruising over Baghdad, a stealth pilot carefully kept the crosshairs of his laser designator on a building the principal master
attack planner had dubbed the AT&T building: a telecommunications center vital to Iraqi military command and control. The weapons bay
snapped open, disgorging a 2,000-pound laser-guided bomb (LGB), which sank away from the black arrowhead, streaming wisps of vapor
off its fins as it maneuvered to pick up the “basket” and plunge at high speed toward a little spot of laser light fixed unerringly on the top of
the center. In Riyadh, Gen Charles Horner and his Black Hole staff were waiting for Cable News Network (CNN), broadcasting via
telephone from Baghdad, to go off the air. In Washington, planners and senior defense officials alike counted the minutes, fascinated at
the irony of events about to unfold. If all went well, the first bomb-damage assessment (BDA) would be inadvertently transmitted
in real time directly to the people most responsible for executing the strike as well as to the world at large. In Baghdad, CNN correspon-
dents Bernard Shaw and Peter Arnett were reporting the antiaircraft fire over the city to American audiences. Observed Shaw, “We have
not heard any jet planes yet, Peter.” To which Arnett responded, “Now the sirens are sounding for the first time. The Iraqis have informed
us. . . .” Nothing but abrupt static. CNN’s link went off the air. The US Air Force had delivered the first air weapon to strike into the heart
of Saddam Hussein’s city. In both the Black Hole and in the depths of the Pentagon, wild cheers erupted.

Source: AIRPOWER IN THE GULF WAR - ESSAYS ON AIR AND SPACE POWER, VOL. II - Air and Space Power Mentoring Guide Essays (Volume 2)

  • Like 1
Posted (edited)

THIS PICTURE FROM 1991 GULF WAR:

74f7e2e7-7007-473e-bd90-d30376b715ec.png

image.png

481904974_3009355632545735_3938398205106887387_n.jpg

481077161_3009355709212394_7223832266523837344_n.jpg

481504444_3009355612545737_7603044487426689516_n.jpg

481676280_3009355765879055_1590070221780307149_n.jpg

 

 

 

_________________________________________________________________

THIS PICTURE FROM 2003 IRAQ:

没有照片描述。

没有照片描述。

没有照片描述。

没有照片描述。

没有照片描述。

@Huilque151

Edited by hitotose
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  • 1 month later...
Posted

photo

Makeshift repairs to the roof of the international telephone exchange on Rasheed Street in downtown Baghdad. The so-called "AT&T Building" was one of two main international exchanges in the capital, and a hub for Baghdad telephone communications.

  • 1 month later...
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