The Al Faw Palace is located in Baghdad

Baghdad

Baghdad is the capital of Iraq, as well as the coterminous Baghdad Governorate. The population of Baghdad in 2011 is approximately 7,216,040...

 approximately 5 kilometers from the Baghdad International Airport

Baghdad International Airport

Baghdad International Airport, originally Saddam International Airport, , BIAP is Iraq's largest airport, located in a suburb about west of downtown Baghdad in the Baghdad Governorate...

, Iraq

Iraq

Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....

. Saddam Hussein

Saddam Hussein

Saddam Hussein Abd al-Majid al-Tikriti was the fifth President of Iraq, serving in this capacity from 16 July 1979 until 9 April 2003...

 commissioned its construction to commemorate the Iraqi forces' re-taking of the Al-Faw Peninsula

Al-Faw Peninsula

The Faw peninsula is a marshy region adjoining the Persian Gulf in the extreme south-east of Iraq, between and to the south-east of the cities of Basra and Abadan ....

 during the Iran-Iraq conflict.

Overview

Al Faw Palace is situated on a former resort complex about 5 kilometers from the Green Zone

Green Zone

The Green Zone is the most common name for the International Zone of Baghdad. It is a area of central Baghdad, Iraq, that was the governmental center of the Coalition Provisional Authority and remains the center of the international presence in the city...

, which is now referred to as the International Zone or IZ. The complex contains numerous villas and smaller palaces and is now one of the largest US/Coalition bases in Iraq (Camp Victory

Camp Victory

Camp Victory is the primary component of the Victory Base Complex which occupies the area surrounding the Baghdad International Airport . The Al-Faw Palace, which served as the headquarters for the Multi-National Corps - Iraq , is located on Camp Victory...

/ Camp Liberty

Camp Liberty

Camp Liberty is a large coalition military installation located northeast of the Baghdad International Airport and is part of the U.S. military's Victory Base Complex . It was formerly known as Camp Victory North and renamed in mid-September 2004, as part of an effort to give U.S...

). The palace contains over 62 rooms and 29 bathrooms. Many of the rooms have now been converted to serve as offices, and since 2004 the Palace has been used as the headquarters for the Multi-National Force - Iraq (MNF-I), along with the Joint Operations Center (JOC), which serves as 'Mission Control' for the Multi-National Corps - Iraq (MNC-I) and all operational aspects of Operation Iraqi Freedom. There is an artificial lake surrounding the palace that has a special breed of large bass

Bass (fish)

Bass is a name shared by many different species of popular gamefish. The term encompasses both freshwater and marine species. All belong to the large order Perciformes, or perch-like fishes, and in fact the word bass comes from Middle English bars, meaning "perch."-Types of basses:*The temperate...

 dubbed the Saddam bass, as well as large carp. Saddam formerly used the palace for duck-hunting expeditions.

Because of the very light damage to the Al Faw Palace and other structures located on what is now Camp Victory

Camp Victory

Camp Victory is the primary component of the Victory Base Complex which occupies the area surrounding the Baghdad International Airport . The Al-Faw Palace, which served as the headquarters for the Multi-National Corps - Iraq , is located on Camp Victory...

, it is widely presumed that the planners of the 2003 invasion intended that this area would be used as a headquarters and main base area following the liberation of Baghdad. The resort is surrounded by high walls with preconstructed security towers, which contributes to more readily maintaining surveillance and security for the former resort.

External links

• Pike, John. "Abu Ghurayb Presidential Site." Global Security, 2000-2008
• Saddam's Palaces: An Interview with Richard Mosse June 2009
• The Fish at Al-Faw Palace website created 2009