In 1983 Saddam Hussein ordered the rebuilding of Babylon. As most Iraqi men were fighting in the bloody Iran-Iraq war, Saddam brought in thousands of Sudanese workers to lay brand new yellow bricks over where the Palace of Nebuchadnezzar II (king of Babylon from 605 BC to 562 BC) had stood.

A group of visiting Iraqi's visiting the reconstructed Palace. Saddam's perhaps misguided attempt to reconstruct the Palace of Nebuchadnezzar II has been derided as 'Disney for a Despot' as it was violating the archaeological principle of preserving rather than recreating.

Looking over to the former Summer Palace of Saddam Husseim with the original ruins of Babylon in the foreground. Following the 2003 American invasion, US camp Alpha was set up partially on the ruins. Significant damage occurred with areas leveled to create landing pads for helicopters and parking lots for vehicles, tanks rumbled over ancient bricks, Polish troops dug trenches through a ancient temple and soil holding artifacts and bones was scooped into sandbags.