Saddam's Palace (20 Pics)

Graffiti on Mrs Saddam's palace

Gun Emplacement
The palace we visited is close to the Turkish and Iranian borders. As you can see, shit is still going down here.
The Palace
It was used for a while as a Kurdish TV station, that's what the writing is on the red tank. The palace was bombed by Turkish and US forces and subsequently looted. This is what remains.
Satellite / TV equipment
The writing on the wall says ZAGROS - it's the name of the mountain range and also the TV station.
Bombed Out
Some of the damage done to the structure
Building
Not sure there's anything too interesting here, included for completeness
Detail
Some of the decor - almost nothing survived the bombs and looting
Roof
Graffiti
It says PDK which is the Kurdish Democratic Party - not sure what the Arabic letters say
View
From inside the main building
Another view
Another view

The Town Below

So here's the connection with Mrs Saddam's palace. The tunnel in the next pic is at the top of the mountain, next to Saddam's palace. Mrs Saddam's shack is a good 5km away at the bottom of the valley, in the town pictured. Mr S wanted to build a cable car from one to the other. When I asked our guide if he thought it was possible he just looked at us and said "It's Saddam - anything is possible"
An Interesting Tunnel
The cable car never got built due to artistic and creative differences between Saddam and the rest of the world
The mouth of the Tunnel
Gun Emplacement