Tuesday, May 29, 2007

The Imperial Seat of Power: The U.S. Embassy in Baghdad

The Bush administration's hubris does not cease to amaze. Just in case anyone still has any illusions about who will be calling the shots in Iraq for decades to come, just look at the plans for the future U.S. embassy in Baghdad due to open in September. It is a 104 acre complex or about the size 80 football fields. It will cost $592 million, with a staff of 1,000 people (4,000 with contractors and local employees) and operating costs totaling $1.2 billion a year. The complex "will include two office buildings, one of them designed for future use as a school, six apartment buildings, a gym, a pool, a food court and its own power generation and water-treatment plants. The ambassador's private residence will be 16,000 square feet in size.

3 comments:

Philip I said...

Saddam's palace pales into insignificance.

A small time local dictator is replaced by a global one. Not for long though. The Chinese are coming.

Philip I said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Philip I said...

..And here is one side effect of the Iraqi invasion which might (just might) give Mrs Barbara Bush some food for thought:

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/29/world/middleeast/29syria.html?hp=&