WHEN THE TROOPS GET A BREAK.

“Everybody was looking forward to coming over here.”

Camp Babylon, the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force headquarters, has some rare finds for a military camp in the region: a pool, good chow, washers and dryers, one of Saddam Hussein’s grandiose palaces and the ruins of Babylon, the ancient city of biblical fame, conquered repeatedly through history.

The ruins aren’t much, and Saddam’s attempt at reconstruction might make an archaeologist cringe, but the mystique of the place is still attractive.

See it all here.