The Most Iconic Images Of The Decade (PHOTOS)

Images form one of the foundational ways in which we come to remember the people and events that shaped a particular period of time. They become part of the collective consciousness, with many of them lingering there for some time, while others, like so much of history, slowly but inexorably fade from memory.

For example, when it comes to Iraq, the photos of abuse at Abu Ghraib will most likely serve as that war's equivalent of Vietnam's "Napalm Girl": a bracing image that reminds those thousands of miles away of the agony and horror of foreign wars that we, from a safe distance, can only scarcely begin to understand.

From Bush to Bin Laden, Mumbai to Madrid, Elian to Zidane, the decade now coming to a close produced countless images that, if they aren't already, may someday be regarded as iconic representations of the first ten years of the 21st century. Take a look at the collection below and vote for the photos you think best capture the decade that was.

Bin Laden Broadcasts

Osama bin Laden is seen at an undisclosed location in this television image broadcast October 7, 2001. Bin Laden praised God for the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and swore America "will never dream of security" until "the infidel's armies leave the land of Muhammad."

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Comments

[waldopepper]

01:58 PM on 03/04/2010

Quite pleased that my country did not make it into this list of suffering.

[blueccaadd]

10:02 PM on 03/02/2010

For the Beslan massacre the caption reads "[...]Four children and a woman were killed as commandos stormed a school in southern Russia where hundreds of hostages were held for three days by Chechen rebels strapped."

Please correct this as Chechen rebels took more than 1,100 people (including 777 children), and left 331 people dead, including 186 children. This was an atrocity, and it's only fair to report the true story. Please check your facts next time.

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/04/25/world/europe/25iht-beslan.html?_r=1&scp=3&sq=beslan%20massacre&st=cse

[stylembe]

03:48 PM on 02/22/2010

Huffpost neglected to include this one,

http://stylembe.wordpress.com/2010/02/09/iran-prepares

[Jake Spain]

02:06 PM on 02/18/2010

No mention of the Virginia Tech massacre either.... but don't worry, a head butt in a soccer game made it on the list.

[LeroyJenkins]

12:10 AM on 02/18/2010

you gotta credit Bush credit for being able to laugh at himself though,

i miss that little e vil ba sterd

[politisophical]

02:12 AM on 02/16/2010

what a decade from hell.. we as americans should be ashamed.. i voted republican from 2000 to 2007.. we failed our youth, we failed to participate in the process.. we have given our money and our power to corporations and the rich .. i only hope we have learned from our mistakes .. im on board for higher taxes for the rich and more restrictions for corporations

[cocl]

10:35 AM on 02/09/2010

Where's Bush ducking for shoes, and where is Neda Agha-Soltan? And the starving in Darfur and the raped women of Kongo?

Also, why the falling man, instead of the falling towers?

And lousy photo from the election night. There are much better. Or choose one from the inauguration.

[chedet]

09:54 PM on 01/27/2010

Disturbing images....

[Lex10]

11:24 AM on 01/25/2010

In your face, Huffington Post! I didn't shoot myself after looking at them!

[BCALM]

02:18 PM on 01/05/2010

So you don't think there will be any iconic pictures in the last year of the decade,,,, Surely Barack and Mcihelle will do some photoshoots that will be messianic

[sviolette]

11:08 PM on 01/05/2010

The last year of the decade was 2009. It goes from 2000 to 2009 then the next one is 2010 to 2019. Each decade is ten years long.

[AllenFromAtlanta]

03:15 PM on 01/14/2010

LOL...

[cocl]

10:22 AM on 02/09/2010

Actually, it shouldn't! When you count your fingers you don't count 0 to 9, you count 1 to 10. Similarly, there is no year 0. The first year AD is 1 AD. The first decade AD is 1 AD to 10 AD. So if you count 2000 to 2009 as one decade, then you have a nine year decade somewhere, and I for one would be interested to know which one it is...

[juicyju]

05:12 PM on 01/01/2010

I stopped at the man falling from the towers, NO Class!

[Lark Winner]

08:09 PM on 01/09/2010

I couldn't agree more.

[Denise Rodriguez-Tavakolinia]

12:58 PM on 02/05/2010

I agree that is is a disturbing photograph but it exists and it tells a story about a horrific day in the most simple yet haunting and horrifying way. A scene we, fortunately, did not see from those on the planes. I certainly don't like seeing many of those depressing images especially since we lived through them but they are there for a reason...

to help us REMEMBER.

[mtracy9]

08:25 PM on 12/31/2009

Unfortunately, many Americans just could not stand the prosperity of the Clinton years,

so they decided to vote for Bush.

[Sirdi]

11:13 AM on 01/11/2010

In case you were asleep, the Clinton years ended with his Dot Com bubble (yes, it was his and Alan's) bursting and 7 Trillion wiped from ordinary investors purses.

In case you were asleep, the Clinton years ended with a recession.

In case you were asleep, the Clinton years ended with the soon to be deadly NAFTA agreement that opened the door for US jobs to flee south of the border, wiping out more than half of US manufacturing base since.

In case you were asleep, the Clinton years ended with the parting gift - repeal of Glass-Steagall Act. Do I have to tell you how that turned out?

WTFU. Dubya was awful, pitiful. But in the end, Clinton years is bringing down the US as you knew it. Bye bye middle class, thanks to William Jefferson Clinton.

[patrickmcdougal]

12:37 AM on 01/22/2010

actually Clinton gave us a reprieve from the Failed RayGun economics
Bush reinstated the tax breaks for the wealthy

[LeeCalif]

05:56 PM on 12/31/2009

The US has committed another atrocity.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article24290.htm

[Sirdi]

11:14 AM on 01/11/2010

Another day, another atrocity.

[Donatella]

05:26 PM on 12/31/2009

The "Saddam Falls" photo was a staged event by the U.S. military. The Iraqis did not bring the statue down, a U.S. tank pulled it down and then a few Iraqis took part. Propaganda nothing more. Good job PSYOPS.

[KIVPossum]

01:30 AM on 01/02/2010

We know that, but the list was 'Most Iconic Images' and it certainly qualifies.

[patrickmcdougal]

12:39 AM on 01/22/2010

I think the point was they should of corrected the description.
Plus those "iraquis" were flown to all the photo ops as part propaganda machine

[elfNW]

03:37 PM on 12/31/2009

No photo of the plane crashing into the World Trade Center tower? No photo of Nick Berg being beheaded on video?

[mtracy9]

04:35 PM on 12/31/2009

No photo of Building 7's inexplicable collapse.

[Sirdi]

11:16 AM on 01/11/2010

Just Bldg 7? The other two had no more reason to collapse either.

And all three are explicable.

Controlled Demolition, with high-tech military technology in the case of WTC 1&2.

[Paula Ann]

03:32 PM on 01/17/2010

no nick berg pictures because there are too many questions such as why is he in a an orange "gitmo" prisoner jumpsuit and why do the captors have lily white skin to name a few.