U.S. Cancels Huge Kabul Embassy Expansion

[sabra]

Source: WIRED News

Ahem, ahem. The State Department has canceled a massive, $200 million expansion of the U.S. embassy in Kabul, just three days after it was announced.

How come? State Department spokesman Jonathan Blyth says the Senate has put on hold on appropriations which would've provide the funding for the new buildings. Perhaps more importantly, Blyth adds, "the Obama Administration is studying the mission and staffing requirements in Embassy in Kabul. As the Obama Administration has stated there will be a refocus of 'American resources on the greatest threat to our security -- the resurgence of al Qaeda and the Taliban in Afghanistan and Pakistan.'"

Read more: http://blog.wired.com/defense/2009/02/us-cancels-huge.html

[babylonsister]

1. Sounds excellent to me. nt

[acmavm]

2. Obama could sell the Baghdad embassy 'compound' and put the money

into some Iraq infrastructure programs while he's doing all this really smart stuff. Taking another look at all the bush** admin foreign projects is a really smart idea.

This is the kind of thing I knew the guy would be good at.

[BrklynLiberal]

5. Or use it for housing some of the Iraqis who have lost their homes to US bombing.

[Donnachaidh]

9. you can pretty much guarantee that the embassy wasn't made of feces

Like some of the buildings being put up for the Iraqis to use.

Give the homeless Iraqis the Embassy.

[benld74]

3. Ya mean the 800 million dollar booddoggle?needed expansion?

surely ya jest

[florida08]

4. good news

Hope they scrap it altogether. We need new building here.

[rosesaylavee]

6. Awesome.

[Gregorian]

7. First word out of my mouth, too.

Bravo. Knock off the imperial stupidity.

[rosesaylavee]

8. Great minds think alike.

That is a word on my lips more this past month than it has in the last decade.

[DCKit]

10. Dismantling the legacy before the body has even cooled....

That's gotta sting.

A few months of this, and all anyone's going to remember of BushCo will the the list of crimes and punishments.

[EFerrari]

11. There were just co-ordinated suicide attacks in Kabul.

20+ killed, government buildings.

Deadly raids at three government building just before U.S. envoy's visit highlight security weaknesses.
By M. Karim Faiez and Laura King
1:21 PM PST, February 11, 2009

Reporting from Kabul, Afghanistan, and Istanbul, Turkey -- In a series of audacious strikes on the eve of the new U.S. special envoy's scheduled arrival in Afghanistan, Taliban gunmen and suicide bombers today staged synchronized raids on three government buildings in the heart of Kabul, killing at least 20 people and injuring scores of others.

Chaos ensued as prolonged bursts of gunfire rattled through city streets. Some terrified government workers jumped out second-story windows to escape. At the Justice Ministry, the minister himself was trapped for a time in his office as fighting raged in the corridors.

The attacks, which came days after the Afghan government said it had cracked a suicide-bombing ring active in the capital for nearly two years, underscored militants' continuing ability to penetrate even extremely heavy security surrounding official installations.

The Obama administration, together with NATO allies, is struggling to put together a new strategy for Afghanistan, where Islamic insurgents are gaining ground and many Afghans are disillusioned by the pervasive insecurity that plagues their daily lives. On Tuesday, the White House said it plans to complete an overhaul of policy on Afghanistan and Pakistan by April; American military commanders, meanwhile, have said they could send an additional 30,000 troops to the troubled country this year, nearly doubling the U.S. contingent.

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-afghan-attacks12-2009feb12,0,3808118.story?track=rss

We're about to lose Kabul.