Scott Fontaine covers Fort Lewis, McChord Air Force Base, the Washington National Guard and the veteran community. Fontaine has worked at The News Tribune since 2006. E-mail along story suggestions and tips to scott.fontaine@thenewstribune.com
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Matt Misterek is the communities and military team leader at The News Tribune and has supervised local military coverage since 2003.
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CONTINGENCY OPERATING BASE QAYYARAH WEST, Iraq – Call it Saddam chic.
The former dictator of Iraq had his likeness everywhere: statues in public squares, framed photos in businesses, paintings in palaces and his smiling mug on the money. But since the fall of Baghdad, Saddam’s image has quickly evaporated.
It might not be fashionable to plaster his face on everything again – though it’s not uncommon to see soldiers buying pre-2003 dinars with the ex-president’s image – but one Washington National Guard unit has at least one remnant of the Saddam-is-everywhere phase of urban planning. On a granite marker outside the building of headquarters battery, 2nd Battalion, 146th Field Artillery Regiment at Q-West sits a faded chiseling of the former dictator. His face has all been washed away, but it’s almost certainly Saddam.
Or, as one battalion commander said, "If that’s a pre-invasion marker, Saddam wouldn’t have let anyone else’s face be publicly displayed like that."
