Victory Base Complex, built on the grounds of Saddam's
personal resort, offers plenty of sights. The central feature of Camp Victory is
Al-Faw Palace, which survived the war without much damage and now houses the
headquarters of all Coalition forces in Iraq.
 |
 |
 |
|
The enormous chandelier in the rotunda has hundreds of
light bulbs and thousands of (plastic) crystals. |
In some rooms, ventilation grilles are integrated
skillfully into the geometric patterns of the art. |
The top floor of the palace features an expansive balcony
that affords amazing day- and
nighttime
views of the palace lake and the
camp beyond. |
Other palaces, however, were destroyed
almost completely.
 |
 |
 |
|
Saddam's "Victory over America" [sic] palace was still
under construction when the final curtain fell for his regime. |
Broken furniture in what once was
Uday Hussein's lakefront villa |
Visitors can still tour the destroyed palaces, but have
to watch out for unstable floors and dangling debris |
The artificial lakes of the complex,
fed with water from the Tigris river, make Camp Victory much greener than the
surrounding desert and scrub lands.
 |
 |
 |
|
Artificial islands with small "love houses" dot the lakes
- this is where Saddam and his cronies kept their mistresses |
A star-shaped minaret next to Al-Faw Palace |
This bridge connects Camp Victory with Camp Liberty |
While we worked hard, there was always
enough time to have more fun!
 |
 |
 |
|
Hookah pipes lined up at the Oasis bar downtown |
My RC boat, the "Carpe Diem", on a sunset cruise on one of
the lakes |
In early June 2009, the
Colbert Report comedy show transformed the palace rotunda into a TV
studio, courtesy of the
USO |
Please contact me if you want full-resolution versions or if you
want to use any of these pictures.
