Tag Archives: Saddam Hussein
The Ruined Palace
A flashback for this Wednesday, from a trip I took to Iraq in 2015. Somehwere I think I still have a couple of posts written at the time that still haven’t been published. The Peshmerga guards ask if we would like some tea. I don’t drink hot drinks, but I know it would be culturally […]
In The Cave
If you are a regular here you mnay have noticed postings have been sporadic the past week or so. Too many urgent things to do – and the next week probably won’t be much better. I feel a litttle guilty in not posting daily for your entertainment – but only a little. No time to […]
Great View At The Top
Time to end the work week with a flashback, some thoughts forma 2015 trip to a most unlikely tourist destination: Iraq. This post was first published in December 2015. The Peshmerga guards ask if we would like some tea. I don’t drink hot drinks, but I know it would be culturally insensitive to refuse such […]
Don’t Panic!
I can hear his voice as I read the book, which feels a little strange in a way. I still think of him more as a broadcaster than as a writer. The authoritative and somewhat soothing tones are accompanied by word pictures of death and destruction. I had been on the wait list at the […]
More View From The Top
Yesterday I did want to celebrate the first day of the school year here, so I took a break from posting pictures from the ruins of one of Saddam Hussein’s palaces. My Monday picture post was popular enough that it seems only right to let you see a little more of the view. Iraq isn’t […]
View From The Top
Today a dictator’s-eye look at northern Iraq, some pictures taken from Saddam Hussein’s bedroom in the ruins of one of his palaces. I never get to go anywhere. I guess this was an exception. They say a picture speaks a thousand words, so I’m just going to shut up and let you enjoy this spectacular […]
Tea In The Ruins
The Peshmerga guards ask if we would like some tea. I don’t drink hot drinks, but I know it would be culturally insensitive to refuse such an offer. So I sit with a glass of hot tea, very sweet the way Iraqis like it, and look out over the valley, a view worthy of a […]
The Road Up The Mountain
Stay on the asphalt and you’ll be fine. That is the basic warning on the red triangular signs. Or so I was told – I can’t read Arabic. But it seemed to be a sensible precaution. If I was a dictator I would probably plant the odd land mine around my palace too. And somehow […]
random thoughts from lorne 
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