US hands over Palaces to looters, er, I mean Iraqi Army

[Stephen Philion <philion@xxxxxxxxxx>]

 After Handover, Hussein Palaces Looted


   November Transfer Ceremony Was Hailed as Symbol of Progress in Iraq

By Ellen Knickmeyer
Washington Post Foreign Service
Friday, January 13, 2006; Page A01

BAGHDAD, Jan. 12 -- On Nov. 22, the top U.S. military and civilian
leaders in Iraq handed over Saddam Hussein's most lavish palace compound
to the safekeeping and control of the new Iraqi army and government, in
a ceremony whose intended symbolism was as impossible to ignore as the
military brass band.

"The passing of this facility is a simple ceremony that vividly
demonstrates the continuing progress being made by the Iraqi government
and their people," said Col. Mark McKnight, commander of 1st Brigade
Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, who handed the keys to the palaces
to the governor of Salahuddin province.

But in the days after American forces and the Iraqi brass band pulled
out of the circular palace drive on a bluff overlooking the Tigris
River, local officials now say, looters moved in, ripping out doors, air
conditioners, ceiling fans and light-switch plates from some of the
compound's 136 palaces, leaving little more than plaster and dangling
electric wires.

The culprits are some of the same Iraqi security forces and officials to
whom Americans transferred control, police and the governor say.

"Thank God we were able to save the walls from the looters, because
everything else was stolen," Gov. Hamed Hamood Shekti said by telephone.

Shekti, like police officials, blamed Iraqi soldiers at the palaces and
his own deputy. "The palace was turned over to the Iraqi army units in
the presence of Deputy Governor Abdullah Naji Jabara," he said. "Two
weeks later I heard the place was looted. Now who can I accuse of the
looting?"