New Baghdad (Location)

New Baghdad is a city in the Republic of Iraq featured in Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare. It is at the pinch-point between the TIgris and Euphrates Rivers. It is controlled by the Atlas Corporation.

History
Baghdad was established in the mid 8th Century AD and served as the capital of the Abbasid Caliphate for almost five hundred years. During this time Baghdad was the center of global trade, science, and culture. It was destroyed in 1258 by the Mongol Empire and never recovered to its former glory. Since becoming a Republic some seven hundred years later, the nation of Iraq had suffered numerous conflicts both internally and externally. The regime of Saddam Hussein formed Iraq into a more hostile country, culminating in the 2003 Invasion by the United States.

The U.S. Military would spend eight long years in Iraq. With the collapse of the national government, military, civil societies, businesses, infrastructure and other institutions, the conflict in Iraq only intensified. Fundementalist militants poured into Iraq to challenge U.S. forces and wreck genrall havoc in Baghdad and other cities. The U.S. attempted to stabilize the region by supporting the new Iraqi Government with funds and weapons. Unfortunately, as Jonathan Irons believed, inefficiency, corruption, and lack of motivation prevented any real progress. American combat troops left Iraq in 2011 despite a deteriorating situation.

In 2032, it is likely that Baghdad underwent a major rebuilding process. Iraq's vast energy reserves in oil wealth and investments made from Persian Gulf states may have enabled this reconstruction. Many new towers and infrstructuree were built, including a nearby solar field and hydroelectric dam to power Baghdad. Unfortunately, the city remained volatile and by the 2050s the region had again descended into chaos.

Some time around 2054 the Atlas Corporation came into a contract with Iraq. Atlas began a massive campaign to revitalize the city and clear it of dangerous elements. Jonathan Irons took a particular interest in the project as he hoped to turn Baghdad into a model of the success of the private military industry. He was also inspired by the history of might the City and others like it. Atlas managed to crack down the the militant factions throughout the city, placing their defeated members in a large prison facility on the outskirts that was possibly once part of Abu Ghraib. By 2057, there had been significant improvement to the City. Citizens could now walk outside without fear of violence.

In 2059 Baghdad was thriving. Business had returned to the City and Atlas had greatly modernized its infrastructure. The citizens of Baghdad were settling into a more peaceful existance when on November 9th, Jack Mitchell and Ilona escaped Atlas forces in what became a very loud operation. After hearing the presentation of evidence collected by Sentinel was presented to the United Nations, Iraq was further shocked when Jonathan Irons declared his intentions to subjugate world powers. However, due to Atlas controlling large swaths of their area, infrastructure, resources, and population centers, Iraq was likely forced to concede to Atlas control. Access and communications into and out of Baghdad were cut off due to the tension between Sentinel and Atlas.

On the morning of January 8th, 2061 Sentinel launched a massive assault against Atlas out of an airbase in Kuwait. They managed to reach New Baghdad via a canyon guarded by Atlas forces. After pushing into the City and closing in on the Atlas command building, Sentinel was abrubtly halted by the release of the Manticore biological weapon. Most of Sentinel's troops were wiped out by the WMD and the rest were forced to evacuate. Hours later Jack Mitchell, Ilona, and Gideon managed to escape from Baghdad's prison facility and returned to the nearly completely destroyed origin air base. That evening they launched a final attack against Atlas to prevent Irons from releasing Manticore on a global scale.

Backing up the remnants of Sentinel, American military forces initiated a complete invasion of New Baghdad. Due to earlier attacks and the isolation of the City, Atlas forces began to collapse after a few hours. New Baghdad was once again reduced to a city in conflict as it had been six decades earlier. Unfortunately for the citizens of Baghdad, the progress they had made over the past few years had been undone. Baghdad's future is now in question as its established institutions were broken upon the removal of Atlas.