Red Zone (Iraq)

Red Zone
Term/Designation
Partial view of the Red Zone taken from the Baghdad Corniche hotel, across the Tigris River, 2010
Map showing the Baghdad Airport and the Green Zone outlined red.
The other areas of Baghdad were considered to be within the Red Zone.
First designatedafter Occupation of Iraq (2003)
Named afterAreas outside of Green Zone, Baghdad Proper in Iraq

“Red Zone” was a term used during the occupation of Iraq to designate the unsafe areas of Baghdad, namely all parts of the city outside the Green Zone.[1][2][3] It came into use following the 2003 invasion and subsequent occupation by the United States, the United Kingdom, and allied forces (MNF-I).[4][5][6] This area was generally off-limits to most US citizens, as well as to U.S. military personnel, due to security concerns.[7][1][8][9][5]

Terminology

The name "Red Zone" originated from the military designation used to describe an unsecured area, which in the case of Baghdad was every other area other than the Green Zone (also known as the International Zone[8][9]), which is a high-security area in Baghdad.[1][10][5] Foreign residents of Baghdad, as of 4 October 2015, still sometimes refer to it as such.[11][12]

Works about the Red Zone

U.S. journalist Steven Vincent, who was murdered in Basra in August 2005, published a book titled In the Red Zone: A Journey into the Soul of Iraq (2004), based on his blog by the same title.[13][14][15]

Oliver Poole, a British journalist and author, published the book Red zone: Five Bloody Years in Baghdad in January 2008.[10]

In October 2011, My war in Iraq: Red Zone Baghdad was published by Marcus Fielding.[16]

See also

External videos
A video about the Green and Red Zones
"Inside Iraq's Green Zone", Discussion
– Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars

References

  1. ^ a b c Chandrasekaran, Rajiv (2008). Imperial Life in the Emerald City: Complete and Unabridged (PDF) (Large Print ed.). Leicester: Charnwood. p. 24. ISBN 978-1-84782-230-7. OCLC 191891249. OL 35334977M. [...] that I lived in what he and others called the Red Zone, that I drove without a security detail, that I ate at local restaurants, that I visited Iraqis in their homes. 'What's it like out there?' he asked. I told him about living in the decrepit Ishtar Sheraton Hotel, [...].
  2. ^ Chapman, Bruce K. (9 October 2004). "Bringing a Turbulent Land Into Focus". Discovery Institute. Archived from the original on 2007-11-02. Retrieved 2026-03-17. We've all heard of the Green Zone, the heavily fortified district in Baghdad where the American embassy is housed and all manner of diplomats, aid-workers and support-staffers live and go about their busy days, assuming the fortifications hold firm. But what about everything outside the Green Zone's perimeter? Our sense is that busy days in the Red Zone, as it is called, involve bombs and chaos, violence and fear.
  3. ^ Owles, Eric; Hilmi, Karim; Abbas, Mudhafer (4 March 2008). Owles, Eric (ed.). "Answers About Baghdad's Red Zone". Baghdad Bureau. At War: Notes From The Front Lines. Baghdad, Iraq: The New York Times. Archived from the original on 2025-02-28. Retrieved 2026-03-17.
  4. ^ Boussel, Pierre (21 July 2022). "Iraqi army operation in the red zone". trendsresearch.org. Trends Research and Advisory. Archived from the original on 2026-01-22. Retrieved 2026-03-17. The Iraqi army launched a complex operation in Nineveh province in April 2022, with the aim of restoring Baghdad's authority in this unstable "red zone". [...] The term "red zone" originated with the American intervention in Iraq in 2003 to designate dangerous regions.
  5. ^ a b c Curry, Colleen (2014-06-16). "Inside the U.S. Embassy in Iraq Under Threat". ABC News. Archived from the original on 2026-03-17. Retrieved 2026-03-17. Behind the blast walls of the compound are more than 1,000 employees who rarely venture outside Baghdad's international, or "green," zone. The "red zone," where Baghdad residents live, is considered too dangerous for U.S. employees. The green zone is protected by security forces.
  6. ^ "After years, Baghdad's emblematic 'Green Zone' reopens". The New Arab. The New Arab & agencies. 4 June 2019. Archived from the original on 2026-01-22. Retrieved 2026-03-17. When US-led troops captured Baghdad, [...]. It became the "Green Zone" – distinguishing it from what was then seen as the dangerous, no-go "Red Zone" that formed the rest of Baghdad.
  7. ^ Bednarz, Dieter (2008-03-31). "Iraq's Last Safe Haven : Baghdad's Green Zone Under Attack". Der Spiegel. Archived from the original on 2025-02-23. Retrieved 2026-03-17.
  8. ^ a b Korb, Lawrence J. (17 April 2007). "Greetings from the Red Zone: Dispatches from a Five-Day Trip to Iraq". Center for American Progress. Archived from the original on 2025-10-15. Retrieved 2026-03-18. But the Green Zone is now referred to as the International Zone [...]. The other thing that struck me was the lack of American soldiers patrolling the neighborhoods. In fact, in my whole time here I did not see one American soldier outside the Green Zone.
  9. ^ a b Cameron, David (6 September 2012) [2006-09-30 (first published)]. "Opinion: Red Zone, Green Zone -- proceed with caution". The Globe and Mail. Archived from the original on 2017-03-19. Retrieved 2026-03-18.
  10. ^ a b Poole, Oliver (January 2008). Red zone: Five Bloody Years in Baghdad. London: Reportage Press. pp. ii, 19, 37. ISBN 978-0-9558302-5-9. OCLC 280567885. OL 26407694M.
  11. ^ "Baghdad's Green Zone open to public for first time in 12 years". The Guardian. Agence France-Presse. 5 October 2015. ISSN 0261-3077. Archived from the original on 2015-10-12. Retrieved 2026-03-17. The Green Zone is home to the offices of the president, prime minister, parliament, the country's top courts and the US embassy, which is the world's largest. The area's foreign residents still sometimes refer to what lies beyond the miles of concrete walls and concertina wire as the Red Zone.
  12. ^ "Iraq opens Baghdad's Green Zone to traffic". Al Arabiya English. Baghdad, Iraq. 20 May 2020 [2015-10-02 (publication date)]. Archived from the original on 2022-01-23.
  13. ^ Vincent, Steven (2004). In the Red Zone: A Journey into the Soul of Iraq (PDF). Dallas, Texas: Spence Publishing Company. ISBN 978-1-890626-57-0. LCCN 2004114371. OCLC 57119708. OL 3316534M. Archived from the original on 2013-05-03.
  14. ^ Muncy, Mitchell (24 November 2004). "The Blog". spencepublishing.typepad.com (Blog). In the Red Zone. Archived from the original on 2005-04-19. Retrieved 2026-03-17 – via Spence Publishing Company.
  15. ^ Chrenkoff, Arthur (30 November 2004). "Steve Vincent goes "In the red zone"". chrenkoff.blogspot.com (Blog). Chrenkoff. Archived from the original on 2005-05-29. Retrieved 2026-03-17.
  16. ^ Fielding, Marcus (October 2011). My war in Iraq: Red Zone Baghdad. Newport, NSW: Big Sky Publishing. ISBN 978-1-921941-17-7. LCCN 2015509468. OL 26128426M.
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