I sat on Saddam's throne

The Sun (U.K.) ^ | 04/07/03 | TERRY RICHARDS

[Pokey78]

You loos, Saddam ... Sun's Terry Richards
perches on tyrant's golden throne

I JOINED British troops yesterday as they stormed Saddam Hussein’s palace in Basra — and sat on the despot’s golden throne.

The garish loo, painted in gold leaf, was in one of the 18 marble bathroom suites we found in the palace.

Everywhere you looked there was gold. The taps had tags proclaiming they were 24-carat gold. It even had a gold-plated loo brush.

It felt strange to perch there, imagining who may have sat in the same spot in the past.

Everything appeared to be in working order — but I did not test the flush or taps for a real fear of booby traps.

The rose-coloured summer palace was seized by 42 Commando Royal Marines as they consolidated their hold on Iraq’s second city. And they were stunned by the Arabian Nights-style interiors.

Trooping the colours ... Royal Marine Stuart
Lawley, 20, stands in a palace corridor

Corporal Lee Waters, 28, from Portsmouth: said: “It really is an eye-opener.”

The grandeur is in stark contrast to the squalid shanty towns nearby where people live a hand-to-mouth existence.

Major Kev Oliver added: “The palace in all its splendour provides a very interesting contrast to the towns. Here you have mansions bedecked in gold and pine. There they have absolutely nothing.”

Saddam lavished millions on the three-building complex in southern Basra, which is about the size of Buckingham Palace.

Amazingly, he only stayed there once or twice — in the months after it was finished in 1992.

But for a decade it was kept fully staffed with servants 24 hours a day, just in case Iraq’s feared president should deign to make another visit.

Luxurious ... a highly-decorated Islamic-style ceiling

Yesterday Our Boys marvelled at the sumptuous carved wooden stairways, friezes and landings, all ornately carved to match the arched doorways.

Ceilings are just as detailed, with tiles and carvings — and yet more gold fittings.

Everywhere you turn, you see lions. On the vast entrance gates, in bronze carvings, picked out in mosaic floors.

The lion is the symbol Saddam chose to represent himself. A beast to represent a beast.

In the palace gardens, once a public park, are swimming pools, tennis courts and a huge man-made lake.

The Marines advanced warily on the palace yesterday, fearing booby traps and mines. But they found no Iraqi troops opposing them — the only occupants were a flock of doves.

Inside, a thin layer of desert dust coated the floors. The buildings had been stripped of furniture, possibly by looters.

Gold boast ... tags on the taps

It looked as if Saddam’s forces never intended to defend it.
The Marines found only a few rusty bundles of barbed wire and a small cache of abandoned weapons.

Like so much of Saddam’s regime, the Basra palace was a propaganda tool designed to send a crude message to Iraq’s people — a message that they were ruled by an all-powerful tyrant.

Yesterday, even after it had fallen into British hands, few locals dared to venture into the carefully-tended palace gardens.

[Larry Lucido]

I sat on Saddam's throne

File this under "More Information Than I Needed."

[RippleFire]

bump

[yooper]

"It felt strange to perch there, imagining who may have sat in the same spot in the past."

Uh, shouldn't "sat" be "shat"? Typo?

[Publicus]

He really went all out on himself- DIRECTLY at the expense of the Iraqi people. What a parasite!

Thanks for the post!

[saluki_in_ohio]

[Enduring Freedom]

He was a ruthless, evil despot. A lying scumbag. He neutralized his enemies with false charges, faked suicides and murder.

He stole from the treasury and enriched himself with every corrupt deal and cheap scam.

In typical Socialist Liberal fashion, he indoctrinated the populace with fables of social justice and collectivism, duping them with his false piety while instead living a life of undeserved luxury as a privileged class.

His name was Clinton.

[Nita Nupress]

This just in:

AP Breaking... Baghdad Bob called an impromptu press conference today to announce that Saddam Hussein spent the entire weekend in the White House sitting on President Bush's loo while Bush was as Camp David.

[Nita Nupress]

at

[ChemistCat]

I'm glad you posted this. That photograph is the perfect "foil" to Baghdad Bob's not-so-straight-poop.

[gov_bean_ counter]

So how many billions do you think this guy pi$$ed away on houses, tunnels, food, etc. during his reign of terror.

[Texas dog]

Saddam Hussein spent the entire weekend in the White House sitting on President Bush's loo while Bush was at Camp David.

(Laughing uncontrollably)

[Cicero]

I like the Sun's style.

[McGavin999]

This ought to make a fabulous hotel. Hopefully, the locals can turn it into a tourist spot that will bring needed dollars to the town. All these palaces will have to have something done with them to make them useful for the people.

[cricket]

Thanks for the 'new take'. . ."GO Troops" . . . .Go, go, go. . .USA!

[ex-Texan]

*BUMP* ... !

[ChemistCat]

I'm a little bit bothered by stories mentioning that our guys and the Brits are picking up ashtrays, pillows, other mementos. I don't know how the laws of war are written on this topic, but I do know that a lot of Iraqis suffered so Saddam could buy that crap, and it would be nice if THEY got to sell it on Ebay.

[tutstar]

ping

[lambo]

Why am I not surprised to see a bidet next to the "throne"?

(Hi Pokey!)

[vigilante2]

maybe a library