Saddam adorns palaces with gold

www.middleeastwire.com ^ | 2002-05-13 | Iraq Press

[AdrianZ]

Saddam adorns palaces with gold

Publisher: Iraq Press (London)

Posted: 2002-05-13

Sulaimaniya – Three of President Saddam Hussein’s palaces have been refurbished with at least 250 kilograms of pure gold recently, an informed source said.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, the source said the gold renovation lasted six months and has so far touched three of Saddam’s palaces in the outskirts of Baghdad. Saddam spends lavishly on the building of palaces. They are equipped with marble floors, Persian rugs and gold taps as well as swimming pools and luxurious household equipment.

Officially, Saddam has 34 palaces across the country but more are being built in Baghdad and other provinces. U.S. intelligence sources say the construction of palaces must have cost Iraq’s cash-strapped coffers billions of dollars.

The source said artisans from India and Morocco were employed to handle the gold. The palaces, he added, were now adorned with verses from the Muslim holy book, the Koran, written in gold.

Chandeliers of Czech origin were imported recently for the palaces. Saddam is reported to have ordered the inscription in gold of lines of poetry which laud his deeds on walls and facades of buildings.

One of the palaces, called al-Nakhwa, which was destroyed in the 1991 Gulf War, has been rebuilt and substantially expanded. It now has four colossal entrances decorated with gold and silver designs.

Meantime, Saddam’s engineers have embarked on the construction of a new palace for his elder son, Udai, at Rashidiya in suburban Baghdad.

[RightOnline]

........and the Iraqi mor....I mean, people........love his sorry hide while he rapes 'em.

They're getting what they deserve.

[freedom9]

Revelation 18

[Sandmansleeper]

....34 palaces.....pure gold fixtures and appointments.....imported this and that....hmmm....

Gives new added meaning to "Target Rich Environment"!!!

[Sandmansleeper]

A Big Amen Bump, Brother!

[Diogenesis]

[Ax]

I was working in Baghdad during the Iran-Iraq war. The army and the secret police went around the country rounding up gold from families. They took jewelery that had been in some of these families for generations. It was a "comply or die" operation. Ostensibly, the gold was being redeemed to buy arms and ammunition for the war against the moslems. Now we see where it REALLY went.

[RightOnline]

I suggest we take Baghdad; drive out Saddam and his cronies and just occupy the place. Then.............we strip these "palaces" of their gold, melt it all down, and refill the Iraqi coffers for the good of the Iraqi people. We don't take one thin dime.

THAT would have the Iraqis and the rest of the Muslim world scratching their heads...............

[boris]

Let us adorn them with depleted uranium...

--Boris

[twyn1]

I can't help but think about all the poor, sick and starving children in Iraq who can't get food or medicine (thanks to the "inhumane" United States imposed sanctions)....wouldn't all that lovely gold have bought them a few hummus sandwiches and some antibiotics ?? < /sarcasm >