Yesterday, SKY News's correspondent gave a breathless walking tour of one of Saddam's "palaces" in Basra (below left and centre). Aside from the ornate ceilings, I was rather underwhelmed. I was expecting something outrageously garish, even though it was huge and stood out as an insult to the people of Basra, living in complete squalor. It was still totally lacking in taste, but the emptiness sort of ruined it for me. Where was all the ugly furniture?!



In his main Baghdad palace(above right), there were some hints that an interior decorator (albeit a bad one) had set foot inside. "Large bedrooms with hotel-style beds and imitation French baroque furniture lie empty, covered with a film of dust. Almost every room had several televisions"... presumably to watch a sinister mix of porn and torture videos on multiple screens. Charming..