Palace Visit
Task Force Olympia and Stryker Brigade Headquarters is housed in Sadamm's old palace in the city of Mosul. It's called Camp Freedom. The palace is not as grand as it once was but it is in a lot better shape than most of Saddam's 59 other palaces.
When US Soldiers converged on the palace during the opening stages of the war the Iraqi troops stationed here dropped their weapons and ran. So the grounds weren't destroyed by artillery, mortars and rockets. But when the Iraqi military left Iraqi citizens came in. They carted off all of the furniture, light fixtures, appliances - even the toilets and sinks. They pulled the electric wires right out of the walls. Given enough time they would have even chipped away the walls to get at the rebar inside.
Here is a description of what one Soldier saw when he was there.
"There's some scribbling on one wall - it's not ink, it's actually carved right into the stone. It's a drawing of what he (Saddam) wanted his new palace addition to look like. A worker chiseled it into the stone after he drew it. They said that was so if the addition didn't turn out right somebody would pay for the mistake.
The place has an indoor and an outdoor swimming pool. The only person who could swim in it was Saddam - anybody else would have been killed. There's no water in either of them now so the guys can't swim either. The indoor pool is being used as a temporary barracks for guys in Mosul.
It's amazing, we spent months training in the rain and heat. Living out of our Strykers when we first got here and there are guys who get to sleep in the palace bedrooms every night. Not really fair but then life's not fair. One office is in Saddam's old bedroom - it's huge, with 20 foot ceilings and windows that look out over the city.
There are pictures made from little stones (mosaics) that show him. In one he has his hand on top of a woman's head while she's kneeling and another is of a little girl sitting on his lap - the kid doesn't even look happy in the picture. Why would they even make it like that?
Saddam Mosaic
There are two dorms on the other side of the grounds. The Soldiers here said that they were for the woman in the palace so that the party members could, well, party. The main palace must be about 100 rooms. There are also troop barracks near by but not on the palace grounds."
When US Soldiers converged on the palace during the opening stages of the war the Iraqi troops stationed here dropped their weapons and ran. So the grounds weren't destroyed by artillery, mortars and rockets. But when the Iraqi military left Iraqi citizens came in. They carted off all of the furniture, light fixtures, appliances - even the toilets and sinks. They pulled the electric wires right out of the walls. Given enough time they would have even chipped away the walls to get at the rebar inside.
Here is a description of what one Soldier saw when he was there.
"There's some scribbling on one wall - it's not ink, it's actually carved right into the stone. It's a drawing of what he (Saddam) wanted his new palace addition to look like. A worker chiseled it into the stone after he drew it. They said that was so if the addition didn't turn out right somebody would pay for the mistake.
The place has an indoor and an outdoor swimming pool. The only person who could swim in it was Saddam - anybody else would have been killed. There's no water in either of them now so the guys can't swim either. The indoor pool is being used as a temporary barracks for guys in Mosul.
It's amazing, we spent months training in the rain and heat. Living out of our Strykers when we first got here and there are guys who get to sleep in the palace bedrooms every night. Not really fair but then life's not fair. One office is in Saddam's old bedroom - it's huge, with 20 foot ceilings and windows that look out over the city.
There are pictures made from little stones (mosaics) that show him. In one he has his hand on top of a woman's head while she's kneeling and another is of a little girl sitting on his lap - the kid doesn't even look happy in the picture. Why would they even make it like that?
Saddam Mosaic
There are two dorms on the other side of the grounds. The Soldiers here said that they were for the woman in the palace so that the party members could, well, party. The main palace must be about 100 rooms. There are also troop barracks near by but not on the palace grounds."
posted by deesci | 6:41 AM
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