Welcome To The District Six Website

 

Visit to Iraq

Palace Compound

101st Airborne

Iraqi Police

Turning Over Vests

Kurdistan

Kuwait

"We've been living in jail for three decades. Now, we are free. Help is coming. Day by day, life is for the better."
Saddam Agil, grandfather of five and resident of Basra

 

 Palace Compound
Covering 4.0 square kilometers, this is the largest and most elaborate of the many presidential palaces Saddam built for himself. Located in Saddam's home town of Tikrit on the banks of the Tigris River, it includes three palaces, VIP housing and even farms. The largest palace was built in honor of Saddam's mother and is enormous. After the US Army turned it over to the Iraqi's, the building was looted. Today it is empty, quite dusty and it very haunting. With it's marble floors and marble walls along with it's elaborate and extraordinary detail work it is easily the most ostentatious building I have ever seen.
 
As you walk down the empty and finely sculptured hallways and up the sweeping marble staircases, you enter the third floor where you can look out a window and see quite clearly over the walls of this compound into the lives of everyday Iraqi citizens. There you can clearly see the squalor they endured under this savage regime. One can't help but wonder how any sane person could be so self-indulgent at the expense of his people. Saddam Hussein is indeed the pure face of evil.

Click on picture to enlarge

Front of Palace

This is the main palace that Saddam lived in. It was not possible to enter due to bomb damage.

Backside of Saddam Palace

This is the backside of the palace Saddam lived in. You can easily see the hole on the upper left side where the bomb entered the building which ruined the inside.

On Guard

Everywhere we went, gunners would stand guard in their Humvees to keep an eye out for our safety.

Building on Compound.

This beautiful building was one of several located on the compound grounds.

Mothers Palace and An Army Tradition

First view of the palace Saddam built in honor of his mother who had died in the early 1990's. Kilroy was there.

Large Room Inside Palace

A huge room with a rare piece of furniture left by the looters.

Hallway in Palace

A stairway and hallway in the palace he built in honor of his mother.

Palace Bathroom

Sink and toilet used by Saddam. Traditional facilities like this are rare in Iraq.

Bathtub in Palace

Large tub in one of many palace bathrooms.

Palace Wall

An incredibly ornate wall in one of the rooms in the palace. Many rooms contained this type of elaborate of decoration and each one was unique.

Another Palace Hallway

A long and lonely hallway with marble floors and marble walls.

Another Ornate Wall

Another example of the type of decoration contained in each room.

Another Hallway

A beautiful and ornate hallway.

Yet Another Hallway

At every turn you would find yourself in a hallway seemingly more ornate than the last one.

Overlook

You could stand behind this overlook and see down to a large room below.

Large Room

The two people in the picture give a perspective of just how large this palace room really is.

Large Room and Hallway

The palace was filled with large gold chandeliers.

Marble Staircase

A sweeping staircase going up to the second floor. The palace also contained elevators

Relaxing in Palace

In one of the few rooms with any furniture, I take a moment to relax

Overlook of Compound

Ron Sawl looks over the Tikrit palace compound while two soldiers from the 101st Airborne keep an eye on things.

View of Man-Made Lake

This is a view of the man-made lake Saddam built on his compound.

Compound Island on Tigris River

This used to be part of the palace compound but is now an Iraqi army base.

Bridge over the Tigris River.

This bridge crosses the Tigris River and is viewed from the palace compound. Thanks to Saddam, the Tigris is one of the most polluted rivers in the world.

2nd Oldest Christian Church in the World

Dating back to 70 AD, this church sits on the palace gounds.

View of The Second Oldest Christian Church in the World

The picture is of a 13th century Mosque built over the Syrian Orthodox Church & Monastery in Tikrit.The outside shell was reconstructed by Saddam Hussein to show its original architecture. Some of the ancient walls can be seen behind the renovated facade.

Part of reconstucted facade of second oldest christian church.

Another view of the facade reconstructed by Saddam. It is rumored that he built a tunnel from his palace to this ancient church because he knew the Americans would never bomb a historic site.

View of Humvee from Christian Church

Always on guard, this gunner in his Humvee keep a watchful eye.

Statue of Salah-al-Din

Located near the large palace, this statue recognizes Salah-ad-Din, the kurd who defeated the crusaders in 1187 AD. He is the historic figure the movie "Kingdom of Heaven" is based on and is the namesake for the Province Tikrit is located in.

Fence Built to Stop Hand grenades

This fence was built by the 4th Infantry Division because passing motorists would often toss hand grenades into the compound while driving by. Note the crumbled curbs where these explosives went off.

 

Not paid for at taxpayer expense