The Victory Base Compound (VBC) just seems to get dirtier and uglier by the day. I can't even describe how huge the dimensions of this place are. It's referred to as VBC because that's exactly what it is. Included within the compound are Camps Victory, Liberty, Striker, Cropper, and Slayer. You'll also find Sather Air Base and Baghdad International Airport (BIAP). The whole area was Saddam's playground of palaces at one time. There are acres and acres of abandoned bungalows, destroyed palaces (many still being used as office space), a former game ranch (now devoid of animals except stray dogs), torture chambers, man-made lakes, and other outcroppings of the glory days of the old regime. I've driven all over this place and still never seen the whole compound. What I do know is that it just keeps getting more dilapitated by the hour.
When I would visit this place back in 2005 it wasn't nearly as crowded. Now there's way too much traffic. All the curbs are smashed by oversize, military traffic. The palaces are falling apart and nobody seems interested in fixing them. There are entire stretches of road that have been reduced to dirty, pothole filled tracks that rattle civilian cars to pieces. The military is pretty good about picking up garbage. However, if you drive out to the areas where the contractors work and live there are trash heaps and garbage along the streets. My team actually found a place adjacent to an abandoned mosque that's become a HAZMAT dump. We found it purely by accident when we were driving out near the civilian terminal of BIAP. The corporate HQ of Iraqi Airlines is still in business but looks like it's ready to collapse. There's a restaurant there that's frequented by the contractors. Wouldn't you know it? They serve beer and wine. No military allowed - we had to find out for sure.
Today we didn't have any appointments so we loaded in our Ford Explorer and went "sightseeing". We mainly spent time over on the civilian side of BIAP. Most of us had never been there before. Some female contractors waved at us so we stopped to see what they wanted. They just weren't used to seeing military driving by and waved. We swapped pleasantries. They were on their way to the same restaurant I mentioned above. The civilian terminal was definitely in operation. There was a massive AN-124 Condor transport plane taking on cargo. I just couldn't believe how dirty everything has become. All we could think was who was going to clean this place up? It's a mess.
Sometimes I see things that simply baffle me. The disrepair of BIAP is an excellent example. What I saw wasn't battle damage. It was neglect. It made no sense.
I'm afraid that at some point in the future this entire compound will simply be known as the VBC landfill.
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