American soldiers entering Saddam Hussein’s palaces see evidence of the reported $2 billion spent on decorating. But money doesn’t equal taste. “With Saddam Hussein, it’s not about taste, but size. The interiors are monumental, gilded and dreadful,” and the palace interior “looks sad and corporate. It’s too bad he turned his back on his own culture, which has amazing architecture and design, and his own people, who, politics aside, are wonderful artisans.”