Day 6- Baghdad, Pt 2
posted 10.25.10 at 12:00 am
This is the second half of Day 6 of our USO/National Cartoonists Society drawing tour of the Middle East. Today we're in Baghdad.
To go to the beginning of the tour, click here...
Our tour of Baghdad continued from the bombed out nursery school to other parts of the 'Green Zone', the old presidential compound.
Our next stop was probably the most shocking stop on our tour/history lesson: The headquarters of the Ba'ath political party, the ruling party of the country, and the epicenter of all that was bad in the region.
This place is off limits to most all visitors.
Sometime during his reign, Saddam declared that Allah couldn't see sin if it occurred above water. Therefore, the palaces where bad things happened were all built... above the water. Note the stilts holding up the Ba'ath house.
Our tour guide, Ami, walked us through the building... (I hope I get all my facts straight, or she'll let me know!)
In all these palaces, the ornate plaster designs on the ceilings and walls were painted by slave children, all in a paint-by-numbers scheme. Upon closer inspection, this really becomes evident, as the paint edges are oftentimes sloppy and haphazardly finished.
The interior of the palace, me standing in one of the blown out windows. Note the water...
Back in 2003, George W. told Saddam he had 48 hours to surrender, or the allies would invade Baghdad. Well, 24 hours later, the Americans got word that the majority of the leaders of the party (the bad guys) were all hold up in one area, in the Ba'ath house. So, we went in and bombed the particular area of the building our sources told us everyone was, the movie theater! Some of the info was true, as there were many higher ups there at the time. But, Saddam and his sons had left some 15 minutes before, and all 250 people in the theater were killed instantly, most completely incinerated. (To add insult to injury, the movie they were watching was Pretty Woman.)
What's left of the theater.
Note the theater seats, still unmoved since the bombing.
From the theater, we moved to various rooms in the palace...
This was the dining hall. At one time, the gaudy brass chandelier up there was the biggest in the world. That bombings took care of that.
More bombed out ceilings.
It's interesting to note that all the lavishness of these palaces was mostly an illusion: The chandeliers were not gold, but polished glass to look like gold, and there was no marble, only rocks and stones polished to look like marble.
Another hallway. Bill, the guy in blue facing right is standing in what would be the far window in the earlier picture of me standing in silhouette, across the water.
This is the remains of the round table room, where all the big decisions were made.
More round table room...
Saddam was a major germophobe. As I mentioned earlier, the man made ponds throughout the city were all purified to a crystal clear blue. This germophobia lead to another curiosity of this palace....
This pool is right next to the round table room, and was never filled with water. Instead, this is the place where all the tortures and interrogations took place. The reason is simple: any blood and body parts could easily be cleaned up, washed right down the drain into the water below.
When the allies took over, there was still a wood chipper in the pool, close to where those guys are walking.
Yup, I got in the pool. Very eerie feeling in there.
Forensic testing was done, and it turns out that stain by the ladder (NOT the ladder I used to get into the pool) is human blood and brains. Lovely.
Saddam's initials.
More in the palace.
and, on the roof.
From here, we went to go eat, then to draw our funny pictures. Two things that didn't come easy after an afternoon in the Ba'ath house.
After all that, we got a tour of main presidential palace. This tour had to be quick, as it was late, and though there's a presence in there 24 hours a day, the night crew wasn't use to having tours come through.
Palace doors.
That was it for Baghdad. It occurred to me that I have very little shots of the drawing that we were actually brought there to do! Hopefully tomorrow...
Early the next morning, after breakfast, we had one last chance to take in the views from our lodge.
Then, off to our last day in Iraq!
Tomorrow: Day 7- Balad!
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6 comments so far...
Most intriguing photos yet! Would love to see some drawings....
Posted by Alex on October 25 at 2:16 PM
Wow that's really fascinating... I didn't realize they gave tours like that...
Posted by Sophy T on October 25 at 7:53 PM
Very surreal...really takes your breath away.
Posted by Kim D. on October 25 at 11:11 PM
I so admire you for taking the trip Ed! More power to your elbow my friend!
Posted by Steve Hearn on October 27 at 8:02 AM
Amazing, Ed.
Posted by Anthony on October 28 at 7:44 PM
All the shots have been fascinating and sobering! Great job Ed! Also, we all wish to convey our great admiration to you and all the guys who went on this latest trip!
Posted by Tom Stemmle on October 29 at 5:23 PM
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