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The mosque is the center of our field of vision.

It frames our day and night, and gives perspective to the size of things, and lets us see how much the camera is zoomed in or out.

Here are some moments with the mosque. There will be many more, no doubt.

The mosque, with a plume of smoke from a recent strike in the background.	The mosque, with a digital banner in front proclaiming a lack of incoming audio and video (to some computer in the CBS Baghdad offices).
Baghdad at night. The light blooms are car headlights. There's a lot of traffic within view (and earshot) day and night. I'm not sure I could sleep either. But safer to be on the road or at home?	What I take to be a mosque. You'll see more views of this mosque in upcoming notes...

As a clue, I have found other images including what I'm pretty sure is this mosque. It's been described as being on the outskirts of Baghdad, rather than in the city center.

Hopefully someday somebody will tell me exactly where it is, and then I'll be able to plot its location and the angle of this viewpoint on a map for this page.

Five times a day I can very clearly hear the appointed Muadhl'n of the mosque performing the Adhaan, the call to prayer. Facing the Qiblah, the sacred mosque in Makkah, he calls out:

Allahu Akbar (Allah Is The Greatest)
Ash-Hadu Anla Ilaha Illallaah (I Testify That There Is No God But Allah)
Ash-Hadu Anna Muhammadan Rasuulullaah (I Testify That Muhammad Is Allah's Messenger)
Hayyaa Las Salaat (Come Fast To Prayer)
Ha Yyaalal Falaah (Come Fast To Success)
Allahu Akbar (Allah Is The Greatest)
Laa Ilaha Illallaah (There is no god but Allah)

0004 Friday 4 April 2003 - First booming sounds like mortar rounds and then small arms fire. What's going on? Are our forces in downtown Baghdad? This is the first direct, live, sounds of war I've heard. I think Baghdad is eleven hours ahead of us, making it an hour before noon. The people I hear on the balcony continue chatting away (in Arabic) without even a pause. My ears strain to hear the sounds of a tracked vehicle, or jet fighters, but nothing of the like can be heard. The stream is down to 20 kbps so I don't get that real-time flowing view of cars driving by, but I can hear them, and honking horns. 0008: more mortars. 0010: boom, boom, boom, boom. Nothing in view, though. I wish someone on the balcony would say something narrative in English. It's quiet out there now. 0150: Life is strange. Mortars there, rolling thunder here. I flinch several times. (The photo at left shows an explosion in the distance, in central Baghdad.)

2200 Friday 4 April 2003 - News is that we've got tanks in Baghdad. I just heard mortar booms. 2230 - More booming. Car alarms go off afterward, each time.

1212 Saturday 5 April 2003 - For the first time in many days I hear the call to prayer. Midnight? Did I get the times of prayer wrong? Is this something else I hear?

2215 Sunday 6 April 2003 - I'm sure that what I'm seeing and hearing is a thunderstorm, but I check the weather for Baghdad and it shows no precipitation. Then I hear two or three really loud nearby booms. A half-dozen car alarms go off. Cars and busses still move through the view. I really wish I knew the location of this mosque...

Even later - here are some more images of the mosque in a variety of environments, several with plumes of smoke wafting behind from coalition bombing