SAMARRA, Iraq – It was my first time at Iraq’s ground zero.

View of the al-Askari Shrine missing the golden dome and rubble on side of the road.

Al-Askari Shrine in Samarra, one of Shiite Islam’s holiest sites, has been bombed twice. It was the first bombing on February 22, 2006, which destroyed the shrine’s golden dome and changed Iraq forever.

The U.S. Military and the Iraqi Government blamed the attack on al Qaeda in Iraq; Shiites blamed Sunnis. Reprisal attacks against Sunnis quickly escalated into a bloody sectarian war claiming tens of thousands of lives.  Chills ran down my spine as I thought of the lives lost since that day.

The U.S. Military organized our media trip to the city after it was recently listed as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO.

The security situation in Iraq – including the predominantly Sunni city of Samarra – has changed for the better over the past few months, but little looked like it had changed at the Shrine.

Rubble from the bombings was still piled high on the sides of the road leading to the shrine. The few workers on site looked unenthused.

The shrine is protected by Shiite guards deployed by the prime minister. The tough looking guards asked our U.S. Military escorts to stay outside as they took us into the complex.  Citing orders from the P.M., they hurried us through parts of the shrine.

However, just a few months ago a similar tour might not have been possible. “You couldn’t walk here without taking fire,” one soldier said.

The security situation in Samarra has drastically improved in recent months and U.S. commanders attribute that to a number of factors including the Sons of Iraq, former Sunni fighters who have turned against al Qaeda.

Following our visit to the shrine, soldiers from the 101st Airborne drove us back to their base just a few minutes drive from al-Askari compound.

What once was “The Samarra Resort Restaurant” is now U.S. Patrol Base Olsen. We were taken on to a building rooftop for a joint press conference by U.S. and Iraqi commanders.

The view from the roof was breathtaking … it was one of the very few times I have had the chance to admire the beauty of Iraq. A panoramic view of a Samarra landmark — the 9th century minaret (al-Malwiyya), al-Askari shrine and the lush farmlands on the banks of the Tigris. 

Lieutenant Colonel J.P. McGee, the charismatic U.S. commander in Samarra, said the fact that we were standing on the roof was evidence of the city’s security transformation.

But like the rest of the country these remarkable security gains are fragile and that is why McGee and his men have shifted their focus to rebuilding the city. They are working with local leaders to provide residents with essential services like power and water.

McGee believes by getting services to the people of Samarra they will have no reason to fight the government.

Up until a few months ago Samarra was a stronghold of al Qaeda in Iraq. One local resident said insurgents had terrorized the population with bombings, kidnappings and public executions. Until recently the city was paralyzed.

Also paralyzed up until six months ago was the reconstruction of the shrine.

Samarra’s mayor now expects it to be rebuilt in two years.

Captain Josh Kurtzman, commander of Charlie Company, smiled when I asked him how it feels to have such an important shrine as part of his area of responsibility.

“It’s a great responsibility, the most important thing that I think I have been able to do in my life so far and the most interesting time of my life has been in this city. I would say just because of all the history … both old history and history being made,” he said standing in the shadow of the destroyed shrine.

As our chopper took off, I gazed at the shrine and wondered if the wounds it left in Iraq would ever heal.