The Ronin Road

I’m finally getting settled in here in Kirkuk.  The guy I’m replacing is here until Friday, so I’ve been busy following him around and trying to learn as much as I can from him before he takes off.  I wanted to put down my thoughts on Baghdad - mainly the Palace Compound on the IZ - before I start forgetting things.

First off, the IZ is huge.  I only spent time in a small area of the IZ known as the Palace Compound.  This is  Saddam’s Presidential Palace which currently houses the US Embassy in Baghdad along with the surrounding area.  When I arrived in the IZ, I was given a room in one of the transient trailers close to the palace.  This was a small hooch about the size of a walk-in closet with a small bed, and wooden wardrobe box, and that’s it.  This is the room where I spent my 4 nights in the Palace area.  Despite being small and not having a TV, radio, or even a mirror, the only thing that really annoyed me was that I had to walk about 50 yards or so to get to the community bathroom.  This was especially bad in the middle of the night.  After putting on my shoes, and stumbling around outside in the dark for 10 minutes I could never fall back asleep.

The Presidential Palace is very big.  It’s just about a city block long, and houses the largest US Embassy contingent in the world.  While doing my check-in I managed to walk around and see most of the palace and it was fascinating and sad at the same time.  Fascinating because of all the hustle and bustle, and the fact that I was standing in Saddam Hussein’s palace.  Sad because some of the history and originality of the palace is lost to the various additions that we (the USA) have put in since our occupation.  I’m not saying that Saddam deserves to have his stuff preserved for history.  I’ve just always been interested in old or historic things and I saw a lot of Saddam’s old furniture torn or broken in corners of rooms, and walls, or doors that appear to have been recently altered. 

The palace is full of marble (floors, walls, stairs).  The ceilings have ornate arab style decorations with massive chandeliers in almost every room and hallway.  If you could look past the various signs of the embassy, it was a pretty amazing place.

There are tons of people wandering around the embassy at all times.  Lots of gun-toting military, people in suits, various government agencies, and even Peruvian guards (the US uses a lot of third-country nationals in Iraq for security reasons.  Near Sully Compound I think the guards were S. African).  People seem to work long hours in the embassy - from what I gather people are often there from 8 am until late into the night (11pm).  There is a large military dining facility (DFAC - the military loves acronyms) right outside the palace that serves buffet style food.  The palace pool is right next to the DFAC, and there is a gym and PX (general store) close by as well.

Most of the embassy employees enjoy better accommodations than I had, but almost everyone has to share a bathroom with at least one other person.  They are in the process of moving people over to the new embassy compound (NEC, pronounced like “neck”) which is just about complete.  I think everyone is excited to move over there.  At the NEC people will be living in apartments rather than trailers.  These apartments are hardened structures unlike the trailers so people will sleep much easier (a few people have been killed in their trailers during mortar or rocket attacks - one embassy employee was just killed a couple months ago).  I think the plan is to have everyone over at the NEC by late this year or early next year.  At that point I believe they plan on turning the palace over to the Iraqi government, which I think is for the best.

I wanted to get a ride with motor pool and see some of the monuments in the IZ, but was too busy or too jet lagged to do it.  Maybe I’ll have a chance during my time here.  I also didn’t get a chance to take any pictures.   I’m sure I’ll be back sometime over the next few months - maybe even at the NEC.