Weekend in Baghdad

This past weekend I had the opportunity to travel to Baghdad. I was asked to lecture for some Iraqi dentists and Army dentists on Oral and Maxillofacial Trauma Reconstruction. It was real nice to be able to leave the 10 mi x 10 mi Joint Base Balad confines to tour the Victory and Liberty Base which used to be Saddam's playground. I was able to tour some of his palaces, one of the interesting palaces, which the US bombed, was "Victory Over America" palace. The palace does not look so great after a couple of bombs were dropped on it!!!! 

During the conference I had the opportunity to visit with some of the young Iraqi dentists and discuss the state of their country and the difficulties of rebuilding and educating their students. As you can imagine this was a memorable experience. 

For some reason the trauma has picked up around here, mostly Iraqi civilians. My replacement is suppose to arrive some time after Christmas, so I hope to be in San Antonio by the New Year!!