| Photos: Don Eberly |
East Hempfield
Township resident Don Eberly, a former White House aide, is one of 24 senior ministry officials representing the Coalition Provisional Authority
in Iraq. Here he greets Iraqi children after his arrival in Baghdad. |
 One of the many bombed-out palaces East Hempfield resident Don Eberly encountered after
arriving in Iraq as one of 24 Senior US officials. |
Rebuilding Iraq
Getting used to life in a palace
Eberly settles in Baghdad
Second of Four Parts
BY JUSTIN QUINN
Editors Note: Don Eberly, an East Hempfield resident, has lived in Baghdad since March as part of a team sent there to rebuild the country. Eberly recently talked about his experiences during a lengthy telephone interview from a United States military compound.
Don Eberly arrived in Baghdad with three bags of military equipment, a nuclear-biochemical suit, full body armor, a bullet-proof vest and a 9mm handgun.
"I was trained to handle a 9mm," Eberly said from one of Saddam Hussein's former palaces, now home to the Coalition Provisional Authority, which is charged with rebuilding Iraq.
"For the first couple weeks, when things were hairy and, especially when you're in a convoy and you get separated, every single vehicle needs a couple of shooters, so it's important to know how to handle your weapon."
Carrying a handgun was just one aspect of life in Iraq that Eberly had to get used to after being sent to Baghdad.
For the first few days, as he struggled to find ways to dispose of 60,000 tons of trash piled up along the streets, Eberly was unable to take a shower.
Though one of 24 senior government officials chosen to help rebuild Iraq, Eberly ate military rations just like he was a soldier.
"Finally, the contractors started to arrive and we were given various forms of support, such as food and laundry," Eberly said. "But for the first month and a half, we only had eight shower stalls for about 60 to 100 people."
Power was soon restored to parts of the vast military compound where Eberly and the rest of Iraq's interim cabinet lived.
"It's hard to appreciate an environment where the best place to live has all its windows and doors blown out because of bombing," Eberly said. "Everywhere you looked there were mosquitoes, junk and rotting food. It was unbelievable. We were thrown into this long before the system was ready for us."
There are now about 1,200 government workers in the compound, Eberly said.
"We're staying in a presidential palace that Saddam Hussein used throughout the 1990s," he said. "We're right on the Tigris River."
There are more than 200 rooms in the palace.
"Those rooms were used for guests and, more recently, the elite Republican Guard," Eberly said. "On the second floor throughout the entire building are rooms with bathrooms that can either be used as offices or bedrooms. Up until two weeks ago I was using a bedroom here, but because we need the office space, I was moved out back behind the building. They're using this whole compound for personnel."
Eberly said the palace is air conditioned.
"For the first three weeks, there was no heat or air conditioning because the power center next door was bombed out completely," he said. "Air conditioning is important because temperatures indoors can approach 100 degrees. Outdoors, it's about 115 to 120 degrees during the day."
Security is paramount, Eberly said.
"The palace I liken to the U.S. Capitol," he said. "It has a big dome in the middle and a variety of very large meeting rooms."
Rooms the size of a football field are not uncommon, Eberly said.
"There's a huge ballroom that is the size of a football field," he said. "The entire complex is walled and gated and spans about 5 or 6 square miles."
There are about 20 presidential palaces scattered throughout Iraq, and every palace has its own heavily secured mini-compound, Eberly said.
"Beyond this compound, or Republican palace, are a variety of slightly smaller palaces or mansions, some of which are tied to Saddam Hussein," he said.
Connecting some of them is a vast complex of underground tunnels, Eberly said.
"Across the grounds is a huge convention center with a subterranean command center fully supplied for the president to use in the event of war," Eberly said. "Saddam and his oldest son, Uday, had many palaces around the country that they also used, but their primary day-to-day operations occurred here."
Eberly said he explored several of Uday's palaces.
"Uday had four palaces, and they're all within walking distance from here," Eberly said. "Bunker-buster bombs have left them with huge craters. Those buildings took a pounding, but they were built to withstand huge bombs. On one side is a crater; on the other side, the building is completely intact."
One of the palaces Eberly explored was the so-called "concubine palace."
"Uday's practices were particularly brutal and grotesque," Eberly said. "The concubine palace was decorated with pornography. It was everywhere you looked. It was on the walls and even built into the tiles. It was obvious he led a very deviant lifestyle. This wasn't something these guys just fell into. It was something set up over a long period of time."
If the evidence on the walls wasn't enough, the stories from residents were, Eberly said. "It was not uncommon for Uday to just kidnap girls from a public place -- a picnic, a nightclub, a racetrack, a wedding. There are many stories of him kidnapping and abusing girls," Eberly said. "And if a family protested, he threatened them or killed them."
A room in one of Uday's palaces was completely dedicated to fashion.
"He had all the brand-new fashions from Paris," Eberly said. "I found a whole stack of clippings with his personal notes on it that reflect his personal tastes."
Many of the items, like the 200 belts found in the fashion room, were turned over to the Iraqi people, Eberly said. Other items were seized, and their future will be determined by an Iraqi civil commission.
"Some of the stuff we uncovered clearly pointed to the butchery (Uday) was capable of," Eberly said. "He had 197 canes. Half of them open up into sharp knives or swords. Some become a 9 mm pistol."
Uday Hussein had once been the target of an assassination attempt, which left his body riddled with bullets, Eberly said.
"At one point he had eight bullets in his body," Eberly said. "So when he was walking, he was walking with the help of a cane. That meant the instruments he used to murder people with were actually these canes."
Possibly because of his injuries, Eberly said Uday was addicted to over-the-counter and illicit drugs, including heroin and cocaine.
"This whole compound was fairly saturated with that," Eberly said. "It was a generally decadent kind of a scene. You could see he had no other purpose than to do harm and pleasure himself with other people."
It was a characteristic he shared with his father.
Eberly said Saddam Hussein gratified his own ego by building huge, costly state-of-the-art palatial complexes.
"It was a nation within a nation," Eberly said. "It was a dictator's fantasy, while the rest of the country was sinking further and further into poverty and malnutrition."
TOMORROW: Eberly describes his mission in Iraq.
On to the next story in this series >>>
"I was trained to handle a 9mm," Eberly said from one of Saddam Hussein's former palaces, now home to the Coalition Provisional Authority, which is charged with rebuilding Iraq.
"For the first couple weeks, when things were hairy and, especially when you're in a convoy and you get separated, every single vehicle needs a couple of shooters, so it's important to know how to handle your weapon."
Carrying a handgun was just one aspect of life in Iraq that Eberly had to get used to after being sent to Baghdad.
For the first few days, as he struggled to find ways to dispose of 60,000 tons of trash piled up along the streets, Eberly was unable to take a shower.
Though one of 24 senior government officials chosen to help rebuild Iraq, Eberly ate military rations just like he was a soldier.
"Finally, the contractors started to arrive and we were given various forms of support, such as food and laundry," Eberly said. "But for the first month and a half, we only had eight shower stalls for about 60 to 100 people."
Power was soon restored to parts of the vast military compound where Eberly and the rest of Iraq's interim cabinet lived.
"It's hard to appreciate an environment where the best place to live has all its windows and doors blown out because of bombing," Eberly said. "Everywhere you looked there were mosquitoes, junk and rotting food. It was unbelievable. We were thrown into this long before the system was ready for us."
There are now about 1,200 government workers in the compound, Eberly said.
"We're staying in a presidential palace that Saddam Hussein used throughout the 1990s," he said. "We're right on the Tigris River."
There are more than 200 rooms in the palace.
"Those rooms were used for guests and, more recently, the elite Republican Guard," Eberly said. "On the second floor throughout the entire building are rooms with bathrooms that can either be used as offices or bedrooms. Up until two weeks ago I was using a bedroom here, but because we need the office space, I was moved out back behind the building. They're using this whole compound for personnel."
Eberly said the palace is air conditioned.
"For the first three weeks, there was no heat or air conditioning because the power center next door was bombed out completely," he said. "Air conditioning is important because temperatures indoors can approach 100 degrees. Outdoors, it's about 115 to 120 degrees during the day."
Security is paramount, Eberly said.
"The palace I liken to the U.S. Capitol," he said. "It has a big dome in the middle and a variety of very large meeting rooms."
Rooms the size of a football field are not uncommon, Eberly said.
"There's a huge ballroom that is the size of a football field," he said. "The entire complex is walled and gated and spans about 5 or 6 square miles."
There are about 20 presidential palaces scattered throughout Iraq, and every palace has its own heavily secured mini-compound, Eberly said.
"Beyond this compound, or Republican palace, are a variety of slightly smaller palaces or mansions, some of which are tied to Saddam Hussein," he said.
Connecting some of them is a vast complex of underground tunnels, Eberly said.
"Across the grounds is a huge convention center with a subterranean command center fully supplied for the president to use in the event of war," Eberly said. "Saddam and his oldest son, Uday, had many palaces around the country that they also used, but their primary day-to-day operations occurred here."
Eberly said he explored several of Uday's palaces.
"Uday had four palaces, and they're all within walking distance from here," Eberly said. "Bunker-buster bombs have left them with huge craters. Those buildings took a pounding, but they were built to withstand huge bombs. On one side is a crater; on the other side, the building is completely intact."
One of the palaces Eberly explored was the so-called "concubine palace."
"Uday's practices were particularly brutal and grotesque," Eberly said. "The concubine palace was decorated with pornography. It was everywhere you looked. It was on the walls and even built into the tiles. It was obvious he led a very deviant lifestyle. This wasn't something these guys just fell into. It was something set up over a long period of time."
If the evidence on the walls wasn't enough, the stories from residents were, Eberly said. "It was not uncommon for Uday to just kidnap girls from a public place -- a picnic, a nightclub, a racetrack, a wedding. There are many stories of him kidnapping and abusing girls," Eberly said. "And if a family protested, he threatened them or killed them."
A room in one of Uday's palaces was completely dedicated to fashion.
"He had all the brand-new fashions from Paris," Eberly said. "I found a whole stack of clippings with his personal notes on it that reflect his personal tastes."
Many of the items, like the 200 belts found in the fashion room, were turned over to the Iraqi people, Eberly said. Other items were seized, and their future will be determined by an Iraqi civil commission.
"Some of the stuff we uncovered clearly pointed to the butchery (Uday) was capable of," Eberly said. "He had 197 canes. Half of them open up into sharp knives or swords. Some become a 9 mm pistol."
Uday Hussein had once been the target of an assassination attempt, which left his body riddled with bullets, Eberly said.
"At one point he had eight bullets in his body," Eberly said. "So when he was walking, he was walking with the help of a cane. That meant the instruments he used to murder people with were actually these canes."
Possibly because of his injuries, Eberly said Uday was addicted to over-the-counter and illicit drugs, including heroin and cocaine.
"This whole compound was fairly saturated with that," Eberly said. "It was a generally decadent kind of a scene. You could see he had no other purpose than to do harm and pleasure himself with other people."
It was a characteristic he shared with his father.
Eberly said Saddam Hussein gratified his own ego by building huge, costly state-of-the-art palatial complexes.
"It was a nation within a nation," Eberly said. "It was a dictator's fantasy, while the rest of the country was sinking further and further into poverty and malnutrition."
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