Evan at the Al Faw Palace

Evan and Damon Baggs flew down to Camp Victory on business last week and had the opportunity to tour the Al Faw Palace. Al Faw, also known as the Water Palace, and one of Sadaam's 99 palaces, is located about 3 miles from the Green Zone. This palace was declared off-limits to UN arms inspectors in 1998, and both of Hussein's sons had villas nearby. 

Damon and Evan

The 450,000 square foot palace has been converted to offices and serves as the headquarters of the Multi-National Force and Joint Operations. Evan was told that Hussein's vacation palaces were always constructed as islands due to the fact that Allah was not able to see their actions if they took place on water. 

Al Faw from the air

The palace was built to commemorate the sacrifices made by the Iraqi Army in regaining the Al Faw peninsula located in southern Iraq during the Iraq-Iran war.

Al Faw from land

While known for its ornate fixtures, much of Al Faw is fake. Walls are paper thin, gilded metal work covers the inside and the elaborate chandelier is part plastic.

Evan and the famous chandelier

Sadaam's throne, given to him by Yasser Arafat, has become a famous photo op for soldiers as they pass through.

The emblem in middle is representation of the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem, also know as the Dome of the Rock. The inlay says “Holiness to us.” On the sides and on the top it says “victory from God and success is near.” The book at the top has a verse from the chapter of the Koran entitled “The Israelites.”

Used as a hunting and fishing resort for Saddam's cronies, Al Faw's artificial lake is filled with fish. Rumors that the lake contained bodies of victims of Hussein have not been proven – nor has the lake been drained to find out. The large and elusive “Saddam Bass” are a specially bred fish with diamond scales and a green color. 
 

Thanks to the abundance of catfish, carp, and the Sadaam Bass, which are actually asp, the Baghdad Angler's Club and School of Fly Fishing has been established to encourage fishing at Camp Victory.

I couldn't find any information on this thing, but I am sure that Evan had to resist the urge to jump on the back of the horse.