U.S.-Backed Plan for Embattled Green Zone's Shiny Future (AP)

Source: Associated Press

U.S.-Backed Plan for Embattled Green Zone's Shiny Future
Green Zone makeover? US blueprint looks beyond war
to envision high-end hub in Baghdad

By BRADLEY BROOKS and QASSIM ABDUL-ZAHRA
Associated Press Writers
BAGHDAD May 4, 2008 (AP)

Forget the rocket attacks, concrete blast walls and lack
of a sewer system. Now try to imagine luxury hotels, a
shopping center and even condos in the heart of Baghdad.

That's all part of a five-year development "dream list"
— or what some dub an improbable fantasy — to transform
the U.S.-protected Green Zone from a walled fortress into
a centerpiece for Baghdad's future.

But the $5 billion plan has the backing of the Pentagon
and apparently the interest of some deep pockets in the
world of international hotels and development, the lead
military liaison for the project told The Associated Press.

For Washington, the driving motivation is to create a
"zone of influence" around the new $700 million U.S.
Embassy to serve as a kind of high-end buffer for the
compound, whose total price tag will reach about $1
billion after all the workers and offices are relocated
over the next year.

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