The Camp David of Iraq

Hello again from the desert! I am now on the day shift and enjoying the non-nocturnal world, even if it is in Iraq. Here are some pictures I took about a month ago when I went to a few more places. They are of the Victory over America and Victory over Iran palaces. I am located on the Victory Base Complex which basically includes the Baghdad International Airport (BIAP) and Saddam's version of Camp David. These picture are of an area of the complex where I do not work, but are still considered on VBC.

Generally, Saddam considered it a victory when he wasn't killed during a war. While there is no debate as to who won the Iraq-Iraq war, as evidenced by the Iranian helmets in previous photos, Saddam had a way of re-writing the history books in his country. He never actually completed the Victory over America palace, in fact, we bombed it just as the initial Shock and Awe campaign started even though no one was in it, just to make a point. One thing you will notice in many of these pictures is that many of the buildings are still standing and not as demolished as you would think based on the amount of bombs we dropped. I have come to realize that Hollywood has given us a very warped view of war. Artillery shells and grenades don't cause explosions or fire unless they hit something that will explode, ie gas tank. So when we dropped bombs on these buildings we were just taking out their structural supports so they would collapse on their own or the bombs would send shrapnel flying. There is an exception to this in one of the photos below (I'll explain later).

This first picture is of the grounds near the two palaces. Walking around you really get a sense of what this place was like during Saddam's reign. Speed boats zipped around the lake, Uday and Qusay had their own mansions. Saddam would have massive state dinners. Then you see other things to remind you what horrible people they were. The sons' houses had slave chambers for their women. They even had a building which acted as a brothel when they wanted to trade out for new ones. The artwork is above the fireplace for one of the son's mansions. The writing on the wall is outside of the Victory over Iran palace. The words are from the Koran, but the gaps are where Saddam had placed his own name into the text. The Iraqi's removed it once he was gone. His name and initials are all over every structure he had built. Serious egomaniac.

This first picture is of me covering Saddam's eyes on one of his murals. I thought he was staring at me and I didn't like it. Notice he is in a military uniform with medals, yet was never in the Iraqi military. That would be like President Obama, who also never served in the military, having his portrait taken in uniform. Odd. The second photo is from the balcony of the Victory over America palace looking out on neighboring farm lands. Many Iraqis have toured the grounds since the US invasion and were astonished at the amenities Saddam had built for himself. Next door, the farmers had said they often lost crops due to drought, yet Saddam always made sure his man made lakes were full for fishing and water sports. He also would air condition outside balconies and patios. Chalk this genius right up there with the man who put screen doors on submarines. The two photos below are of the Victory over America palace.

The picture above is of the first building that was bombed. Some 200 of Saddam's Ba'ath Party members were meeting here, waiting for him to arrive. Bush had gone on air saying we were going to bomb in 48 hours, but when we found out they were all meeting in one place they bombed earlier. Unfortunately, Saddam had not yet arrived, but it did kill almost everyone else that was there. The picture below is of the conference room in that building. The one below that is of the room where all of the Ba'ath Party members were meeting and were ultimately killed. Supposedly, when ground forces were finally able to get to the site they found a tv projector and VCR playing "Pretty Woman" in the room where the bodies were found. Believe it, don't, either way it is a funny story.

This next photo is also in the same building. It looks like a pool, but it was never filled in because this is where they would torture dissidents. Blood stains could be found all over the room. That is me standing behind it.

And finally, this picture is of the tower where SFC Paul Smith fought off many Iraqi soldiers during the initial invasion of this area. Not only was this area the "Camp David" of Iraq, it was all home to the Iraqi Army. When US and Coalition soldiers stormed the gates, Iraqi soldiers came pouring out of the barracks. SFC Paul Smith held them off almost single handedly while reinforcements moved to support. He was killed in action and awarded the Medal of Honor posthumously. More about his story can be read at this site: http://www.army.mil/medalofhonor/smith/