New US embassy to open in Baghdad

[Eugene]

Source: BBC News

Page last updated at 09:28 GMT,
Monday, 5 January 2009

New US embassy to open in Baghdad

US Ambassador Ryan Crocker: 'The security
transition is proceeding very well'

The new US embassy in Baghdad is due to
be officially opened, with a dedication
service led by Ambassador Ryan Crocker.

Security will be tight at the ceremony in
the Iraqi capital for one of the biggest
and most expensive embassies the US has
ever built.

-snip-

The new complex, which will house a total
of 4,000 staff, has been built with security
very much in mind, says the BBC's Caroline
Wyatt in Baghdad - so much so that camera
crews will not be allowed to film the
buildings at the opening ceremony.

-snip-

Read more: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7811088.stm

[Dennis Donovan]

1. Wow... they finished that faster than the buiding that's supposed to replace the WTC...

Of course, I'll give them 6 months before they have to evacuate it due to shoddy workmanship and/or mold infestation (likely a KBR job).

[Lasher]

2. Well I hope urine is no longer sprinkling from the light fixtures.

But then what can you expect with a bargain price of $1.3 billion?

I don't know what all the hurry is. It's not supposed to be completed until September 2007.

[ixion]

3. such a sprawling embassy in Iraq is very curious

why, pray tell, does it need to be so vast? Are there lines of US and/or Iraqi citizens just waiting to visit?

No.

Are Iraq and America best buddies?

Well, not really. Not even close, actually.

So why, then, was this massive complex necessary?