10 Expensive Things Previously Owned By Saddam Hussein

10. Republican Palace

Located in the heart of Baghdad, Iraq, this palace was constructed on the orders of King Faisal II and was the preferred place for Saddam to meet visiting heads of state.

Before the palace was looted during the Iraq war, it contained heavy brass gilded doors, expensive works of art and a significant amount of office space.

The palace contained a grand dining hall, several giant ballrooms, Republican Congress meeting room and swimming pool with multi level diving platform and a stone cabana/pool house on the side.

A large fountain graces the front of the palace and it has several wings and large bronze portrait heads on the roof that were added soon after Saddam rose to power.

The palace later became the center-point of the Green Zone, with rooms serving as moth sleeping quarters and even a mess hall to feed troops serving on the American side.

The palace would have been worth in excess of $100 million dollars during the time of Saddam's time in office.

9. Al Mansur Yacht

$25 million dollars was the price tag of Saddam Hussein's insane yacht that was used to terrorize the locals of whichever bay it was moored in.

Able to seat 200 guests under glass atrium and measuring 400 feet long, the yacht was bombed during Iraq War in March 2003 by F-14 Tomcat pilots.

Seventeen years on and the yacht, which had a secret escape route descending down from Hussein’s room into a submarine launch pod, lies a ruin.

Designed too Saddam's personal specifications it featured marble floors, exotic woods, and silver and gold tap and door handle fittings.

500lb Mark 82 bombs made short work of the boat and it was sunk in Basra harbor putting an end to the extensive satellite communication systems on-board.

8. Al Faw Palace

The Al Faw Palace, also known as the Water Palace, is located in Baghdad approximately 5 kilometres from the Baghdad International Airport.

The palace was commissioned by Saddam its in the 1990's to commemorate the Iraqi forces re-taking of the Al-Faw Peninsula during the Iran-Iraq conflict.

The complex features numerous villas and smaller palaces, contains over 62 rooms and 29 bathrooms, a large number of offices and an artificial lake surrounding the palace that has a special breed of large bass dubbed the Saddam bass.

Saddam once used the palace for duck-hunting expeditions and security made this possible with it surrounded by high walls with pre-constructed security towers.

Like the Republican Palace this site later became home to the Joint Operations Center that managed all operational aspects of Operation Iraqi Freedom.

At the time it was occupied by Saddam it could easily have been worth in excess of $70 Million Dollars.

7. Falcon 50 Business Jet

Saddam Hussein owned a Falcon 50 Business Jet that he used to travel to other countries in the early part of his time in office.

The jet, thought to have been paid for by Hussein with oil money, costs around $21.15 million dollars for each unit.

The plane can carry eight to nine passengers, has a maximum takeoff weight of 18,008 kg, a Maximum speed of mach 0.86 (1,015 kilometres per hour) and a cruising speed of Mach 0.85.

The plane has a range of 5,695 km (3,075 nautical miles) and a maximum service ceiling of 14,936 m (49,000 ft).

During the Iran–Iraq War, a modified Iraqi Falcon 50 armed with two Exocet missiles attacked the American frigate USS Stark, which was patrolling the Persian Gulf, killing 37 and wounding 21.

6. 4000 PlayStation 2's

What do you do when you want to build a military super-computer to conquer the world? Buy the worlds entire supply of PlayStation 4 computers, well almost the entire supply.

Saddam ordered so many of the consoles that they sold out in American stores before December of 2000 denying American children of their favorite toy.

FBI reports suggest that the machines being wired together into some vast, supercomputer configuration to be used to take over the world.

Each PlayStation unit contained a 32-bit CPU, thus providing Iraq with a 128,000-bit computer, at the time a pretty dangerous thing!

Its thought they were also used for UAV's and an integrated bundle of 12-15 PlayStation could provide enough computer power to control just one Iraqi unmanned aerial vehicle.

The crazy report even suggested that PlayStation computers could also be used to calculate ballistic data for long-range missiles or aid or in the design of nuclear weapons... madness!

5. 1958 Bentley SI Continental

Classic cars were a particular fascination of Saddam Hussein and he owned many of them, including the 1958 Bentley S1 Continental.

Worth an estimated $912,500 dollars in today's money, these cars acquired cult-like status among Bentley enthusiasts.

Only 22 left-hand-drive examples were produced and its well known Saddam noticed the car in the 1992 Iraqi film King Ghazi.

He offered to buy the car, but after being turned down, took it for his own collection.

After his death the car was saved by a Baghdad businessman named Janabi who sold it to Steven Maman, a Montreal-based broker and collector, who, in 2015 shipped it from Iraq to Canada where a full restoration took place.

4. French Riviera Villa

Sitting inside the hills in a small french town, Saddam's former french chateau lies abandoned and deteriorating.

Graffiti and colorful murals cover the walls while a gang of squatters who briefly took over the property left messages of disgust.

The Iraqi government bought the Grasse house in the 1980's when Mr. Hussein visited southern France in 1975, with Jacques Chirac, then the prime minister.

Part of the assets later frozen under United Nations resolution 1483 immediately after the American-led invasion in 2003, the home once had a 25-foot swimming pool.

Eight-bedrooms, five-bathrooms, a gatehouse and a safe, once concealed behind a wall are all destroyed and former relics of the dictators luxury taste.

Saddam Hussein never even visited the villa and like most things he bought sight unseen, its thought that his son Uday used it as a hideaway while banished from the country.

3. Patek Philippe Watch

Patek Philippe Watches are symbols of greatness, however this particular one, the company may want to forget, being entirely custom designed for the former dictator of Iraq.

The watch cropped up at Dubai watch week as part of an auction and has the Iraqi Eagle on its dial while the travel case and an original Patek Philippe box were also included.

The estimated price at the auction was around $14,000 dollars, however its unknown if the watch ever sold.. it probably did, people go nuts for this stuff!

2. Iraq Military

Once considered to be one of the largest foot armies in the world, it contained a 500,000 man standing army that was reduced considerably after both the Iran and Kuwait wars.

By the eve of the Invasion of Kuwait which led to the 1991 Persian Gulf War, the army was estimated to number 1,000,000 men.

the force comprised 47 infantry divisions plus 9 armored and mechanized divisions, grouped in 7 corps.

There were 12 notorious and feared Iraqi Republican Guard divisions and these were some of the best trained soldiers in the country, being led by Saddam's sons and also providing presidential security to him and many parts of the inner circle.

With regards to tanks, the majority of Iraqi armored forces under Saddam, used old Chinese Type 59's and Type 69's, Soviet-made T-55's from the 1950's and 1960's, and some T-72's from the 1970's in 1991.

1. Oil Fields

The main source of Saddam's vast wealth and the main reason why he was able to stay in power for so long.

Cities that contain vast amounts of oil reserves include Basra, Baghdad, Ramadi, and finally, Ba'aj with Saddam owning commercial oil infrastructure inside them including refineries and ports.

Oil reserves in Iraq are considered the world’s fifth-largest proven oil reserves, with 140 billion barrels and its thought Saddam made tens of billions from the sale of his oil while in power.

Oil money was used for pretty much everything in the country, including Saddam's own private army, the illegal acquisition of weapons, the military and the early production of a chemical weapons program.

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