Though I have much to tell you, my readers, about my experiences so far in Iraq, time to blog has been short. Fortunately, it looks like I'll soon have the time to put up a post every few days. I have some amazing stories to tell, so please check in from time to time for fresh entries.
I have visited some of the buildings and museums Saddam Hussein built to honor his self. I've also been inside some of his former palaces. Unfortunately, since many of those buildings now house Iraqi Government and Coalition offices, security in them is extremely tight and photography, forbidden. Nevertheless, I was able to slip into Saddam's former reviewing stands and spend time poking through the ruins of a museum attached to it. A friend and I spent an hour rummaging through its bombed out interior and exploring the once palatial gardens behind it. Unfortunately, I had forgotten to bring my camera so I have no pictures of that visit.
I went to the site briefly a second time but my time was limited so I only snapped a few shots. Below are some of them. I have written a short description beneath each one.
Detail of the "Hands of Victory," the crossed-swords monuments to Iraq's "victory" in its war against Iran. That "victory" cost the lives of nearly 1/2 million Iraqi men. It ended in a stalemate, and severely damaged both Iraq's and Iran's economies. The monuments are located at both ends of Saddam Hussein's former Presidential Parade Grounds in Baghdad. The hands holding the swords are modeled after a photograph of the former dictator's hand. The metal in the swords comes from melted down steel from the guns of Iraqi soldiers who fought in the war. That metal was alloyed with, most likely, nickel. The swords were manufactured in Germany.
Spilling out of nets attached to the hands holding the swords are helmets of Iranian soldiers collected from the Iran-Iraq War's battlefields.
Many of the helmets have bullet holes in them. They are either the result of actual "coup de grace" gunshots to the heads of captured and wounded Iranian soldiers or were made to look like they are. No one I've so far met seems to conclusively know the truth of the matter.
At both ends of the parade grounds there are speed bumps comprised of Iranian soldiers' helmets embedded in concrete. Their symbolism is grotesque. It means this: even after they have been killed, we must defile our enemies. We must hate them forever. We will continue celebrating their deaths. There can be no forgiveness.
I was instantly chilled to the bone when I saw these "monuments." They are glaring testaments to the warped psychology intrinsic to totalitarianism.
Above is a picture of the bombed-out remnants of the Baath Party headquarters at the far end of the parade grounds.
View of the front of Saddam Hussein's former Presidential Viewing Stand, where the Iraqi Republican Guard once marched under the approving eye of the "Great Uncle."
View of the pulpit where Saddam Hussein once addressed his soldiers and cronies while preening for the Arab world and Western media, rifle in hand.
Standing where one of the world's most brutal dicatators once stood. ( As a souvenier, I took a small piece of the naugahyde fabric covering the pulpit's prow.)
Above is a picture of one of two banks of seats flanking the rear of the pulpit. During parades and ceremonies, they were filled with the thugs who comprised Hussein's inner circle.
Above is a picture of the entrance to the museum at the back of the building housing the reviewing stand. The marquee reads, "Museum Of Presents To The President." The museum was once filled with gifts that had been sent to Hussein, most of which had been ordered--one way or another--to be sent to him. The bombed-out museum is filled with destroyed plaster busts of the dictator. Unfortunately, earlier visitors had apparently absconded with their heads. However, I did manage to salvage a few small, interesting items bearing the name of the once "Great Uncle."
I stand in wreckage of a totalitarian's monument to his self.
----------------------My current best friend and I, under the swords
I wish you all a wonderful Thanksgiving. Please take a moment to give thanks to the brave men and women who serve in our military, and who will not be able to celebrate the holiday with their families. They really do hold the line between us and the unimaginable savagery of those intent on destroying our way of life. If you saw how the vast majority of them carry themselves here, you would be proud of them.
Though I will miss being home with my family this Thanksgiving, I will be honored having a Thanksgiving meal with some of the men and women who help protect them. I will be equally honored sharing a meal, and some laughs, with my courageous Iraqi friends.
