U.S. soldiers emerged into sunlight after exploring one of Saddam Hussein's most elaborate tunnel complexes Sunday, bewildered by a single question: Why did the Iraqi leader build an entire oil refinery inside a mountain? Blueprints scattered on the floor of a dusty office in the complex indicate construction started in December 1980, three months after the start of the Iraq-Iran war. But whether the refinery was encased in rock for security or other reasons wasn't immediately clear to soldiers of the 4th Infantry Division. "Maybe it was Saddam's personal gas plant. I don't know what it is," said Maj. Edward Chesney, 40, operations officer for the 3rd Battalion, 66th Armored Regiment, who oversaw infantry searching room after room of the complex by flashlight. Invisible from the main highway, the refinery's entrance is reached by an access road running through a Special Republican Guard camp. The entrance is pocked by shrapnel from American bombs from the 1991 Gulf War - one of which sits unexploded and rusting outside - but inside, the thick, reinforced concrete ceilings of the complex show no damage.
| My guess is that Sammy watched one too many movies featuring a super-villian with an impregnable fortress... |
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