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From NICK PARKER Chief Foreign Correspondent, in Tikrit THE hole where Saddam Hussein was found is to be taken to America — as a monument to his capture. US military engineers plan to excavate a huge block of Iraqi soil containing the underground chamber. It might even be turned into a tourist attraction — with money raised going to relatives of soldiers killed in Iraq. Commanders want Saddam’s last hiding place to be displayed at the giant Fort Hood military base in Texas. It is home to the 4th Infantry Division, which seized Saddam on December 13. US Army spokesman...

Missile Launcher From Iraq Handed Over To Brooklyn Police NOVEMBER 10TH, 2003 A shoulder-fired missile from Iraq was turned over to police in Brooklyn Monday morning. A concerned passer-by saw some children playing with the launcher – which did not contain a missile – and took it to the 62nd Precinct station house. The bomb squad was called and determined the launcher was inoperable and did not present a danger. Police say an American soldier brought the weapon back from the war in Iraq and gave it to a friend, who ended up throwing it away. The children found it...

Roman souvenir of wall found The bronze pan has the names of Roman forts on it A unique Roman "souvenir" of the building of Hadrian's Wall has been discovered. The bronze pan, dating from the second century AD, when the Romans built the dividing wall across the north of England, was found in the Staffordshire moorlands. Archaeologists are excited because the names of four forts located at the western end of Hadrian's Wall - Bowes, Drumburgh, Stanwix and Castlesteads - are engraved on the vessel. The discovery was being made public at the Institute of Archaeology in London by the...

<p>A portrait of Saddam Hussein covered in glass on the floor of the National Infantry Museum at Fort Benning, Ga., will be removed and put in storage.</p> <p>FORT BENNING, Ga. — Visitors to the National Infantry Museum at Fort Benning no longer will be able to trample on the face of Saddam Hussein. A large oil painting of the deposed Iraqi leader has been moved from the museum’s display floor.</p>

The four-storey house in Mosul where Saddam Hussein's sons, Uday and Qusay, made their last stand has been demolished to prevent it being made into a shrine by Iraqis nostalgic for their father's rule. But before the bulldozers moved in, the site was picked over by American souvenir hunters.Four armed CIA men in plain clothes were prowling through the rubble in Mosul's Chalalat Street last week. One, a bald man with an automatic rifle slung over his shoulders who said he was from Colorado, admitted he was collecting souvenirs for himself and his colleagues. He and other armed Americans were...

<p>I thought it should stay there on the floor, you know, for people to walk on and insult with, but...</p>

<p>FORT BENNING, Ga. (AP) — At the National Infantry Museum here, one of its most prized portraits lies flat on the floor, covered by glass, so visitors can walk on it.</p> <p>Museum director Frank Hanner thought that would be the most appropriate way to display a large oil painting of Saddam Hussein brought home by U.S. troops from Iraq.</p>

My wife called me and told me I had a nice long letter from my best friend who is with the 101st in Mosul. I havent had a chance to read, so I gave her permission to. She said that he mentioned putting some Saddam dollars in there for me, but they werent in there. Furthermore, the envelope had been opened then taped back shut.Is that pretty standard practice? Why would they care if a soldier was sending stuff like this back to the states?

Marines from Somerset have brought home an unusual souvenir of their time in Iraq - an eight-foot statue of Saddam Hussein. The men of Taunton-based 40 Commando found the two-tonne sculpture while they were fighting in a town near Basra. And when they left the country they decided to bring it home with them. The solid brass creation - similar to one torn down by US forces in Baghdad, symbolising the end of Saddam's reign - now has a new home in the officers' mess. 'Humorous curio' The toppling of a statue of Saddam symbolised the end of his reign...

U.S.: Media Members Tried to Ship Goods By CURT ANDERSON .c The Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) - Several members of the media and a U.S. serviceman have been caught attempting to ship Iraqi paintings, weapons and other war souvenirs to America, U.S. authorities said Wednesday. At least 15 paintings, gold-plated firearms, ornamental knives, bonds and other items have been seized at airports in Washington, Boston and London in the last week, according to the Bureau of Customs and Border Protection. Items seized in the military case were flown to Fort Stewart, Ga. ``These seizures should serve as a warning to...

US Customs officials confiscated a large painting that a Boston Herald reporter, Jules Crittenden, brought back as a souvenir from the war in Iraq, but the artwork is not valuable enough to merit prosecution, a law enforcement official said yesterday.

04/21/03 - WASHINGTON -- Servicemembers deployed supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom may be tempted to bring home souvenirs of their war experience, but Air Force legal officials are urging them to think twice. Depending on the item, bringing home a "war trophy" could lead to court-martial, said Lt. Col. Karen L. Manos, legal staff officer in the Air Force's operations law division at the Pentagon. Air Force Joint Instruction 31-217, "Control and Registration of War Trophies and War Trophy Firearms," has been in effect since the Vietnam era, Manos said. The instruction specifies what a servicemember must do to legally bring...

US Retailers Hawk Iraq War-Related Items On The Web By Elizabeth Weinstein SADDAM HUSSEIN may be missing in action, but he's alive and well as an Internet collectible. And he isn't alone. Marketers are hawking a wide range of war-related items on the Web. Here's a sample: Product: Bad Day in Baghdad Hot Sauce Price: $5.95 Seller: sauce2u.com, Baltimore, Md. Sales pitch: "A high potency hot sauce made with a heaping dose of habanero peppers that will clean out the innards of any two-bit dictator. If the weapons inspectors find this one then they'll know Saddam was up to something...

<p>Seller: sauce2u.com, Baltimore, Md.</p> <p>Sales pitch: "A high potency hot sauce made with a heaping dose of habanero peppers that will clean out the innards of any two-bit dictator. If the weapons inspectors find this one then they'll know Saddam was up to something lethal. Try this one and kiss your camel goodbye!"</p>

<p>For souvenir hunters, the next best thing to looting one of Saddam Hussein's palaces is scrounging for war curios on the Internet.</p> <p>The list of trinkets ranges from Bomb Saddam hot sauce and Iraqi Road ice cream to Hussein pinatas and "Shock and Awe" underwear.</p>

OPERATION IRAQI FREEDOM -- The rock merchants at Bashur Airfield in northern Iraq are (from left) Staff Sgts. Cliff Oney and Todd Jackson and Senior Airman Luke Novak. They started "selling" rocks to passing aircrews as a way to let off steam from their jobs on the flightline. (U.S. Air Force photo by Master Sgt. Keith Reed) | High-res version of this photoRock merchants lighten up tense timesby Louis A. Arana-BarradasAir Force Print News04/15/03 - OPERATION IRAQI FREEDOM -- When aircraft fly into Bashur Airfield in northern Iraq, some aircrews jump out of their plane to pick up a...

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Staff Sergeant Nathan Braswell hopes a flag he found in a captured Iraqi base will earn him a tidy sum when he sells it on the Internet. Like many fellow U.S. Marines, Braswell grabbed the trophy as American forces advanced on Baghdad. Unlike the souvenir-hunting majority, he doesn't plan to keep it. "I got the flag that was in the commanding general's building. It's very large. It's in great condition," said Braswell, 24, who picked up the Iraqi national colours on the eastern outskirts of the city. "I'm going to put the flag on eBay," he said,...

Marines Ordered to Dump Iraq War Booty By RAVI NESSMAN .c The Associated Press BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) - Since they arrived, U.S. Marines have been doing their own kind of looting - grabbing Iraqi pistols, rifles, uniforms and pictures of Saddam Hussein. On Friday, they were ordered to dump what they took or lose their rank. ``You did not conquer ... this country. Get off your high horse,'' Lt. Col. Michael Belcher told his officers. ``You took some thugs and ran them out.'' The commander of the 3rd Battalion, 7th Marines, reminded his soldiers that the Iraqi people allowed U.S.-led...

(CNSNews.com) - Current federal law threatens veterans with possible prison terms and hefty fines if they keep the machine guns they used during their war service prior to 1968. But two congressmen are trying to change the law and a leading veterans' group says it's about time. U.S. Reps. Chris Cannon (R-Utah) and Jim Gibbons (R-Nev.) have introduced legislation that would allow veterans to keep the machine guns they brought home as souvenirs following their service in America's military. Cannon the legislation would give veterans 90 days in which to register their firearms with the Treasury Department. But there...