Iraq - March 19, 2019 (CCTV - No access Chinese mainland)
1. Various of port
2. Various of ruins along road
3. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Khaled Ibrahim, a Basra Media worker:
"Government hasn't made any plan for Basra. Many resources have been wasted in mending and repairmen, but no result has been shown with money spent."
4. Various of river, bridge
5. Museum
6. Relic of Urs City, tourists
7. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Khaled Ibrahim, a Basra Media worker:
"Not only Nasiriyah, Mosul faces the same condition, also the people who face the same condition have lost chance for development and education."

FILE: Iraq - November, 2018 (CCTV - No access Chinese mainland)
8. Various of Green Zone being demolished

The invisible impact of the Iraq war appears hard to be removed in terms of the country’s long-term development and the mentality of the citizens 16 years on as chaos, terrorist attacks and religious conflicts still constantly happen.

On March 20, 2003, the U.S., against widespread opposition from the international community, launched the war against the country on false ground of Iraq secretly possessing mass destruction weapons.

Basra, a vital town in southern Iraq, was the confrontation ground between the Iraqi army and British armored forces, where intensify combat was carried out due to the rich oil resources.

Over ten-minute-drive from its center, there are still large areas of war ruins.

Here was the site of a military base during Saddam’s ruling. Since 2003, it has remained such desolate and little changed as the post-war reconstruction is not moving forward much.

"Government hasn't made any plan for Basra. Many resources have been wasted in mending and repairmen, but no result has been shown with money spent," said Khaled Ibrahim, a Basra media worker.

Not far away from Basra is Nasiriyah, a confrontation ground between the U.S. and Iraqi forces.

Tourism and archaeology used to be important precious industries for Nasiriyah, but they are now facing an imminent threat.

The famous ancient Urs City in Nasiriyah has a history of 4,000 to 6,000 years, yet due to lack of regular maintenance and management, irreversible damage is still being done to it.

"Not only Nasiriyah, Mosul faces the same condition, also the people who face the same condition have lost chance for development and education," Ibrahim added,

The rigorously guarded Green Zone set by U.S. and Britain in Baghdad has basically opened with deconstruction of an important checkpoint in March 16. Perhaps, the final traces of war in the capital are slowly being erased.