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Shadows of Tikrit illustrates the Omar Al Farouk Presidential Palace as it appeared when US forces entered shortly after the city’s fall. My goal is for you to see it through the eyes of the soldiers who were there. I took the majority of the photographs for this work on the first day after arriving in April 2003. The book opens on our convoy route beginning at a desert camp in Kuwait. The five hundred mile drive spanned over three days and took us through the heart of central Iraq. Wreckage of the Iraqi Army littered the freeway and smoke billowed from areas inside Baghdad. Upon arrival in Tikrit, the city appeared relatively quiet with the exception of light traffic and an occasional passerby. Dismounted US infantry patrols roamed the streets. Two men sitting on a corner park bench waved to hundreds of vehicles flooding into the palace gates. Situated in downtown Tikrit, the palace compound stretched over a mile to the Tigris River. A network of paved roads and sidewalks snaked throughout the property. The largest palaces were interspersed among dozens of smaller residences and guest houses. Looters stole most ransacked many of the buildings located closest to the city; others contained original furniture, art, and decorations.

 


 
   
   
 
 
   
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