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.

[honeygrl]

What kind of egomaniac puts tags on his furnishings to prove to everyone they are real gold? Everyone knows he's rich, so I doubt anyone would think it was fake gold.

[honeygrl]

Bahahahaha I never thought I'd enjoy a photo of someone peeing in public..

[bootyist-monk]

Notice the bidet in the picture. Wonder who supplied him with those, hmmmm?

[Ditter]

A hotel, just what I was thinking or at least open for tourist to visit.

[Mo1]

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[Robert A Cook PE]

They were never used.

Those were manufacturor tags from the factory.

What a criminal waste! And his people were dying at the same time.

[Billy_bob_bob]

That picture puts a whole new spin on the phrase "Go Troops!"

[homeschool mama]

Wow...while innocent Iraqi's live in absolute poverty, Saddam has a gold crapper to do his business in. What a pig.

[NotJustAnotherPrettyFace]

Notice the bidet in the picture. Wonder who supplied him with those, hmmmm?

Possibly Spanish - the tag reads "baño oro de ley". Manufacturer, anyway - of course the fixtures could have been imported from anywhere.

[Publicus]

You would probably be able to venture a more accurate guess.

It's obvious he leeched off and starved his own people so he could then be able to defecate into golden toilets and wash his stinky, hairy ass on golden bidets. What a trooper! Kind of reminds you of some democrats- they too are ALWAYS scamming schemes to sponge off America's productive citizens so they can enrich themselves at everyone elses expense. Same evil, just a matter of degree...and time.

[P.O.E.]

So that's where all the UN's oil-for-food money went.

[Howie]

Don't forget the use of chemical weapons on his own people (Waco texas)!

[TX Bluebonnet]

When this war is over, the Iraqi's can have the Mother of All Home Tours.

[Dr.Deth]

Oh. My. Goodness.

[Enduring Freedom]

It is hard to imagine America with the Sink Emperor Clinton at the helm.

Note to America - what the hell were you thinking?

P.S. Never again.

P.O.S. Clinton.

[stlnative]

I think this is the new palace and the interior construction was not complete yet on it. I think he was still furnishing it and he may have been living in only part of it. Plus remember he did not sleep in one place any longer than a couple days at a time, and then moved to on to another place. He was paranoid of being killed even by his own people.

[stlnative]

The tag clearly says 24k gold PLATED

CHROMED (first price)
24K GOLD PLATED (second price)

6200* 5 PIECES SET (marked with *) US$88.70 US$119.40
6202* SOAP DISH US$15.90 US$24.36
6203* ROBE HOOK US$6.94.. US$9.52..
6204* TOOTHBRUSH HOLDER US$19.60 US$26.88
6205* TOWEL BAR (21") US$26.88 US$37.50
6206* SHOWER SHELF US$24.64 US$34.90
6207* TOWEL RAIL US$18.14 US$25.20
6209* PAPER ROLL HOLDER US$17.36 US$24.16