Today was Sunday, so we didn't have to come in until 11 AM. There's another new Major in the office. She got here the day after me. The boss let us go down to Camp Slayer for the Sunday tour. Slayer was the location of many of Saddam's palaces and included the Ba'ath Party headquarters.
We got to tour all the bombed out buildings that were struck the first night of the second war (2003). The palaces are unbelievable - so much opulence. It's easy to see how Saddam kept the loyalty of his confidants. They lived like kings. All the palaces are surrounded by man made lakes and segregated on the outskirts of Baghdad.
Water is power in the middle east, so Saddam had water diverted from the Tigris River to this area we're in to create all the lakes. The general population of Baghdad never knew of these lakes (the whole compound is walled off). All they knew is that the city would go without fresh water for long periods of time. People were dying of thirst and Saddam was using 8 of the 9 city main water pumps to keep his lakes filled.
Anyway, it was a very interesting tour. Kinda' sad in a way. I got to see first hand one of the ways Saddam abused his power.
167 days to go.
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