Nearly 4,000 soldiers are living in Saddam's massive complex outside of town on a cliffside overlooking the Tigris river.

While lacking broad stretches of pristine coastline as in Vietnam, the palace is earning a reputation as Iraq's China Beach, a place where exhausted soldiers can grab a few days of in country rest and relaxation.

Under a baking summer sun, soldiers lounge on the banks of man-made lakes, cast fly rods toward the river to fish or ride mountain bikes around the kilometres (miles) of paved roads.

Others swim laps or frolic in an ornate pool where a mansion has been transformed into the base's aptly named Morale, Welfare and RecreationCentre.

"It's a little bit easier here," admits Lieutenant Colonel Bill MacDonald, as he gives a guided tour of the luxurious spread.

There are 200 to 300 soldiers rotated in for two-day stints of rest and recuoperation, he says.

The sprawling complex of two main palaces and 50 smaller mansions, estimated by one captain here to be about 35 square kilometres (14 square miles), affords the troops a level of comfort and safety they are distinctly lacking on the other side of the wall.

US troops are under daily attack as they hunt down Saddam and struggle to bring order to post-war Iraq, rebuilding the shattered infrastructure and establish a new government.

Construction of the palace, which was started in the midst of the crippling economic sanctions slapped on Saddam's regime, is still not finished, MacDonald says.

The few Iraqis who are allowed in these days -- construction workers, interpreters and contractors -- are appalled at the opulence of the palatial grounds.

The 4th Infantry Division (4ID) has made its headquarters in the cavernous main palace where visitors are witness to a catalogue of Saddam's greed -- marble floors, gold-plated bath faucets, 10-metre (33 ft) wide chandeliers and conference tables inlaid with mermaids.

Saddam's Arabic initials grace the elaborate archways.

A pair of heavy brass doors open on to a massive entrance hall, ringed by marble columns, where 4ID has set up a command centre.

Yet it is the MWR that is attracting troops from around Iraq. The centre has a weight room, a theater showing nightly movies, billiards, an internet cafe and concerts performed by a military brass band.

"I am glad they're doing something like this for soldiers," says Staff Sergeant Gerald White, 41, taking a poolside break from his duties guarding Iraqi detainees.

"Where else are soldiers going to be able to swim?" he asks.

For some the waters of the man-made lakes cascading through the plush grounds have a religious allure.

On Sunday, a dozen soldiers were seen lining up knee-deep in a lagoon for a baptismal dunking by an army chaplain.

When asked of the irony of US troops living it up in the palace of a man whose regime Washington determined needed thorough eradication, White just shrugged.

"I'm sure there will be some criticism but I'm not sure if it's justified. Soldiers are going to be here for a long while and they need a break."

WAR.WIRE