Hands of Victory

The Arc of Triumph; (Arabic: قوس النصر‎; qaūs al-naṣr), also called the Swords of Qādisīyah، and Hands of Victory in some Western sources, are a pair of triumphal arches in central Baghdad, Iraq. Each arch consists of a pair of hands holding crossed swords. The two arches mark the entrances to a parade-ground constructed to commemorate then Iraqi President Saddam Hussein's declaration of victory over Iran in the Iran-Iraq war (though the war was considered by many to have ended in stalemate). The arches were opened to the public on August 8, 1989. It is one of Baghdad's sights and monuments. In 1986 (two years before the war's end) the government of Iraq began the construction of a festival and parade ground in Zawra Park, near the...