It's been a rare day when all those "Breaking" Diary monikers are actually valid. Lots of eye candy, so please be patient while it loads, but I'll start off with a News Tribune report that is sure to put a smile on all of our faces:
Cheered wildly by U.S. troops, President Barack Obama flew unannounced into Iraq on Tuesday and promptly declared it was time for Iraqis to "take responsibility for their country" after America's commitment of six years and thousands of lives.
Now to the photos - first of Pres. Obama's surprise Baghdad visit to the troops:
Below is the top US Commander, Gen. Odierno pointing something out to Pres. Obama:
Now it's on to Camp Victory to talk with the troops
Getting up close and personal with the troops to press some flesh
Meeting with the dignitaries
From left to right below is National Security Advisor, James Jones; Gen. Odierno; Pres. Obama; Charge de Affairs, Patricia Butenis; and Chief of Staff, Rahm Emanuel:
VISITING TURKEY
Blue Mosque
The Sultan Ahmed Mosque - more commonly known as the Blue Mosque for the blue tiles decorating its interior - is the national mosque of Turkey. Construction of the mosque began in 1609 and took seven years to complete. Oddly enough, Sultan Ahmed died one year after its completion at the age of 27, and is buried on the grounds.
An interesting note is that the Blue Mosque has six minarets (Turkish: minare; from Arabic manāra for "lighthouse"). This was actually a scandal as that's the same number as at the mosque of the Ka'aba in Mecca.
Legend has it that the Sultan actually had directed his architect to make gold (altin) minarets, which was misunderstood as six (alti) minarets. To overcome this problem, the Sultan paid for a seventh minaret at the Mecca mosque.
President Obama Visits the Blue Mosque
As reported by Anatolia News Agency:
The president smiled when Turkish Prime Minister, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, showed him a dome scripture mentioning the Prophet Mohammed's grandson Hussein, Obama's middle name, and read as "Barack Hussein Obama", Mustafa Çağrıcı told. He also said, the president told him "I am very impressed spiritually. This is one of the most important instances in my life", Anatolia news agency reported.
Hagia Sophia (Holy Wisdom)
One of the greatest existing examples of Byzantine architecture is the Hagia Sophia (Holy Wisdom) which was rebuilt as it currently stands between 532 and 537 by Emperor Justinian I.
Both in its earlier state and as it now stands, the Hagia Sophia served as the seat of the Orthodox Patriarch of Constantinople for over 900 years. However, in 1204 the cathedral was ruthlessly attacked, desecrated and plundered by the Crusaders.
But Hagia Sophia remained a functioning church until May 29, 1453, when Sultan Mehmet the Conqueror conquered the city of Constantinople. Amazed at the beauty of the Hagia Sophia, he converted it into his imperial mosque. Hagia Sophia served as the principal mosque of Istanbul for almost 500 years until 1934 when Turkish president Kemal Atatürk, turned it into the Ayasofya Museum.
President Obama Visits Hagia Sophia