An American City in Baghdad

New US Embassy in Baghdad world's biggest



Associated Press - May 19, 2007 5:03 PM ET

WASHINGTON (AP) - The new 104-acre US Embassy compound in Baghdad which is supposed to open in September will be the world's largest and most expensive foreign mission. But there are doubts how safe and effective it will be.

The $$592 million compound occupies a chunk of prime downtown real estate two-thirds the size of Washington's National Mall. It has desk space for about a thousand people behind high, blast-resistant walls.

One person raising doubts is Edward Peck, a former top US diplomat in Iraq. He asks: "What kind of embassy is it when everybody lives inside and it's blast-proof, and people are running around with helmets and crouching behind sandbags?"

And Democratic Senator Patrick Leahy says with plans for adding staff and operating costs skyrocketing, it may be time for a reality check.

The Bush administration says it will serve US interests for years.

http://www.wlns.com/Global/story.asp?S=6540278&nav=menu25_2



Iraq Embassy Will Be Largest

BY ANNE GEARAN - Associated Press
May 19, 2007


WASHINGTON (AP) - {snip}

The $592 million embassy occupies a chunk of prime real estate two-thirds the size of Washington's National Mall, with desk space for about 1,000 people behind high, blast-resistant walls. The compound is a symbol both of how much the United States has invested in Iraq and how the circumstances of its involvement are changing.

The 21-building complex on the Tigris River was envisioned three years ago partly as a headquarters for the democratic expansion in the Middle East that President Bush identified as the organizing principle for foreign policy in his second term.

The compound will have secure apartments for about 615 people. The comfortable but not opulent one-bedrooms have offered hope for State Department staff now doubled up in tiny trailers.

The International Crisis Group, a nongovernmental organization that seeks to prevent and resolve conflicts, has identified the complex as the world's largest embassy. The organization notes that the embassy is a sore point with Iraqis who are fed up with war, violence and roadblocks and chafing under the perception America still calls the shots more than four years after Saddam's ouster.

The State Department and Congress have tussled this year over a $50 million request for additional blast-resistant housing. The department says it did not anticipate needing so many fortified apartments when the embassy was in the planning stages three years ago and Iraq was a less violent place.

The new Democratic-controlled Congress has grumbled about the approximately $1 billion annual cost of embassy operations in Iraq and told the administration the embassy is overstaffed at roughly 1,000 regular employees. Add security contractors, locally hired staff and others and the number climbs to more than 4,000.

"This is another case where poor planning, skyrocketing costs and security concerns are colliding in the Bush administration's policies in Iraq, and we need to make adjustments," said Senator Leahy, Democrat of Vermont and the chairman of the Senate panel that pays for State Department operations.

"They want hundreds of additional embassy staff who they cannot safely house within the new embassy compound. It's time for a reality check," said Mr. Leahy.

http://www.nysun.com/pf.php?id=54818&v=8919069711

:shrug:

How fugging appropriate for these Rethugs.

They're very outdated, and only show the cranes at the beginning of the process. Those buildings in the background are pre-existing apartments. Yahoo ran a current photo with their posting of the same story today...

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070519/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/world_s_largest_embassy

Sorry, it won't post, you'll have to click the link...but it's worth it. It's one massive, ugly fortified concrete mess. A slab with windows.

.

just take off the part of the link address after the 'jpg' right before the question mark

combined with the 17 permanent military installations.

Never.

HR 1268, which provided $592 Million for "Embassy Security, Construction, and Maintenance". The House tried to line out the money for the Embassy but the Senate insisted that the money be put back in.

This bill was passed UNANIMOUSLY by the Senate on April 21, 2005. Yes, every single Democrat voted FOR it.

http://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vot...

and tony snow denied it was being built a few months ago.

there's September again.

Will the Democratic presidential candidates please state whether or not they intend for us to occupy this monstrosity? And what about the enduring bases?

After all, how can the Colonial Monarchs be safe unless they kill any indigenous low-lifes who presume to trespass on the Monarch's castle grounds??

:puke:

Hello! Will somebody ask the candidates whether we are KEEPING the world's largest embassy and the Enduring Bases, or whether we are actually going to WITHDRAW from Iraq?