Perfume Palace

Most of my Navy colleagues from NIACT live and work at Camp Victory and work in several palaces there which sit, picturesquely, alongside man-made lakes. Nowadays, the palaces function as office space for Coalition Forces. On 29 NOV 07, I attended a meeting at the Perfume Palace at Camp Victory. According to some reports, this palace was used by Saddam’s sons, Uday and Qusay, as a sort of brothel. The palace got its name by those who claimed it still smelled like perfume when coalition forces entered it in the spring of 2003.

Getting there meant going in a daytime convoy, this time courtesy of the State Department. We left in a convoy of four up-armored black Chevy Suburbans operated by very tough, heavily armed, professional men dressed in civilian clothing. You get the idea. This would be my first opportunity to see Route Irish in the daytime.

We left in the early afternoon, making our way through the crowded streets of the International Zone eventually arriving at the check point that leads out to Route Irish. A warning sign, vaguely cold-war-esque, warned us we were leaving the International Zone and that weapons should be loaded. Out on the open road, I saw regular civilian traffic: passenger cars, bongo trucks, jeepnees, etc. After four years of dealing with armed coalition convoys, Iraqi drivers know to pull to the side of the road. Those in the know here tell me Route Irish has been clear for numerous months, reflecting the general drop in violence in Iraq. In the early days of the war, Route Irish was notorious for Sunni insurgent attacks and Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs). It earned the nickname, “IED Alley” and “the most dangerous road in Iraq.” Today, those dubious titles now belong to other routes and convoy operations between the IZ and Camp Victory have taken on an almost routine nature. Still, no one is slacking; stringent security measures remain in place.

Route Irish mostly is a straight, east-west route from downtown Baghdad to Camp Victory and the greater Baghdad International Airport (BIAP) cutting through traditionally Sunni neighborhoods. Along the route, Iraqi Police and Coalition check points check all traffic. Over concrete T-walls placed along the route, I caught glimpses of suburban neighborhoods constructed of the same sandstone brick so prevalent in Iraq. It makes for a monochrome landscape.

Our trip was uneventful and we arrived at Camp Victory, driving directly southwest to the Perfume Palace for our meeting. After our convoy parked, we were met at the door by our hosts who took us up six flights of marble stairs to the top floor of the palace. The roof is particularly ornate and is dominated by a spectacular, but mostly plastic, chandelier (unfortunately, no photos were allowed).

We didn’t get much time to sight-see; we were issued into an adjoining conference room and had our meeting. When it was over, we left the palace and drove back in the late afternoon to the Green Zone without incident.