Fallujah stands in readiness. 15000 Troups. One Division. The clam before the storm !! . Take a quick step back into the WW1 scenario , a band stand. Do the Army Camps in Iraq have Band Stands ?? The old war style was hecka kewl eh ??
This is an interesting picture. In the old days, the officers had a 'hostel' on a boat !! A mini vaccation kinda thing... correct ??
..and this is inside intel stright from the field. Kevin gives some good insight !!
Archive :BlackBook
762 AD, the city of Baghdad was built up by Jafar al Mansur., the 2nd Caliph. !!!
Take a look a the picture of streets of Baghdad, Do you see the sign with "restuarant" there ?? It kinda funky that nearly 100 years ago, they had people who actually water'ed down the streets of Baghdad. Today, its raining Bomb and one needs the mine clearing devices !!!
Mode of Transport, the good old cart and Horse.. I'll leave the current status to your own imaginations!
Archive :BlackBook
I like this photo of St.John tomb. Ifyou look carefully, you'll see a black horse, regally standing in front of the tomb. 
. You should also take a look the second picture, its one of the 7 wonders of the World. The "arch of Cteslphon".
For this commentary I just flipped just page on the blackbook and then posted it. 
The story of Baghdad circa 1900’s. James Bernard Rebeira (JBR) handwrites the memories!! He spent a couple of years in the British Army (I Dun’ no the rank and all the blah blah stuff ok!!). Yep, JBR is no more on this planet, so if you have any questions, I’ll try to answer them as best as I can.
Commentraty#1
“Baghdad as we know it retains but little to suggest the city in its prime. Though even now,of no mean importance, the present city is but the melancholy reminder of a vast metropolis, which included within its limits the now detracted suburb of Abu-Asham. It was replete with gardens and palaces, and in the middle ages was indisputably the second city in the world,Constantinople (Istanbul) being the first. For a time Baghad 
ranked first, as a centre for culture and education.
The origin of the settlement which was to become the fairy city of Arabian Nights is shrouded in obscurity. Only as recently as 1848 did it become known through the discoverries of Sir Henry Rawlinson, that a city propably existed here in the Babylonian times. Bricks bearing tbe names, titles and conquests of NebuchanezzarI (605-562 BC) were unearthered on the right banks of the Tigris, above tbepresent North Bridge"em>
Just a note, me is still having problems with my camera. So bear with me as I try to cut the glare out of the pictures. I think I should still be obtaining better quality.
Well, at least I’ll try!! :)-
/pd
Achieve: Blackbook
This is James Bernard Rebeira, 
someplace in Iraq (Baghdad) and sometime in early 1900’s. He is the photographer of these old pictures and the author of the commentary.
I can’t answer all your questions, but I’ll try!!
Achieve: Blackbook
James Bernard Joesph Reberia !! Who the heck is that ?? Well that's my Grandpa !! Check out the old family the Parchment !! (He's the last on the list)
So he traces his geneology back to 1728(?) . I must actually try to check this out with the archives in Mexico. There should be some sort of histroy and records correct ??
What fascinates me is that the old man was also a photo geek and a keen observer as he walked thru the Mesopotamia. Just think, his BlackBook actually has over 100 odd photographs along with notations against many of them. It reminds me of a blog in paper !!!
I’ll digitize each page and hopefully, this will give my readers and idea of how Iraq was in the early 1900 !! Trust me these very old black and white pix’s are awesome !!
Ok Ok, now that makes my ethnic backgroung mexian, dutch, english and what not !!
BlackBook will be released in digital form. Striving for an about 3 Posts /week. "BlackBook" titled "Memories of Mesopotamia", Baghdad, 1918. It's the chronical's of Grandpa's observations, during his tenure in Mesopotamia (aka Iraq).
More follows, need a get a better digicam !!!
Update: 06/02/19 : Release as Edgeio listing too
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