Al Faw Palace and Aussie Football
Baghdad is quite an interesting place. The base is actually comprised of several sub-camps named Slayer, Victory, Liberty, etc. I never thought living conditions in Iraq could get much better than Camp Fallujah, but Baghdad has us beat hands down. All you haters can direct your aggression at them, because they are living high on the Iraqi horse. Some live in berthing trailers, just like most bases, but many people live in actual houses on the base. Many of these houses are built on the side of a manmade lake, providing a pretty spectacular view. The house I stayed in had three functional heads (restrooms), each with its own shower. It was air-conditioned, had AFN television, and the residents had just negotiated a wireless internet access point for the house.
Another interesting feature of Baghdad is the multitude of water features. Manmade lakes and canals are everywhere. From any given point on the base you are probably no more than 500 meters from the nearest standing water. Reeds and other greenery grow by the side of canals, and workspaces (much like houses) are often situated on a lake.
History of Al Faw Palace
Al Faw Palace
Built to commemorate a victory over Iran in the Al Faw Peninsula.
Entrance to Al Faw Palace. Yep, that’s a person out front to use for scale.
While there I visited, among other places, Al Faw Palace. Fortunately, I was able to photograph the inside, so I won’t spend a lot of time with a flowery description as I did with the Perfume Palace. Let it suffice to say I was stunned. One thing of note inside Al Faw is a chair that I am told belonged to Saddam. It is customary to have your picture taken sitting in the chair, and I decided to do just that.
It is an unspoken rule that you must get your photograph taken in
Saddam’s chair, located in Al Faw Palace.
The Foyer at Al Faw. This place is swank! Along with the rest of Baghdad.
Another view of the main foyer at Al Faw
Chandelier at Al Faw main foyer
Staircase at Al Faw
A view from the Al Faw Palace
Baghdad is a multi-service base, and I saw representatives of every service except the Coast Guard. There are a lot of civilians working there as well. One thing of note is that the population of the base is probably 25% female in my estimation. This was a noticeable increase from the ~5% female composition of Camp Fallujah. I suppose it can be attributed to the multi-service environment, and possible restrictions on where females can be stationed.
On my final night in Baghdad the Australians invited us to their house to watch Aussie football. This is an interesting combination of rugby and American football. They explained the game to us using a dry-erase board, and then we watched a game on DVD. I found it pretty entertaining. While in Baghdad I also bought several iced lattes from Green Bean Coffee and had Pizza Hut for lunch. I made sure to let my boss know that anytime there’s business for us in Baghdad I’ll be happy to jump on that grenade.
The Australians invited us over for an introduction to Aussie football.
They explained the rules to us and then we watched a game.
It was quite entertaining.
Bruh, I support you 100%. I got 2 cousins who were/are Marines and i think ya’ll got the Balls to get things done.
Merci man!!!!!!
Thanks for fighting to keep this world cool.