New U.S. Embassy in Iraq cloaked in mystery

[donsu]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12319798/


Baghdad locale, slated to be completed in 2007, to be largest of its kind




Construction cranes loom above the site of the new U.S. Embassy being built in Baghdad. The embassy will sit on 104 acres, six times larger than the United Nations compound in New York and two-thirds the acreage of Washington’s National Mall.



The fortress-like compound rising beside the Tigris River here will be the largest of its kind in the world, the size of Vatican City, with the population of a small town, its own defense force, self-contained power and water, and a precarious perch at the heart of Iraq’s turbulent future.

The new U.S. Embassy also seems as cloaked in secrecy as the ministate in Rome.

“We can’t talk about it. Security reasons,” Roberta Rossi, a spokeswoman at the current embassy, said when asked for information about the project.

-snip-

The 5,500 Americans and Iraqis working at the embassy, almost half listed as security, are far more numerous than at any other U.S. mission worldwide. They rarely venture out into the “Red Zone,” that is, violence-torn Iraq.

-snip-

They sleep in hundreds of trailers or “containerized” quarters scattered around the Green Zone. But next year embassy staff will move into six apartment buildings in the new complex, which has been under construction since mid-2005 with a target completion date of June 2007.

Iraq’s interim government transferred the land to U.S. ownership in October 2004, under an agreement whose terms were not disclosed.

-snip-

Original cost estimates ranged over $1 billion, but Congress appropriated only $592 million in the emergency Iraq budget adopted last year. Most has gone to a Kuwait builder, First Kuwaiti Trading & Contracting, with the rest awarded to six contractors working on the project’s “classified” portion — the actual embassy offices.

-snip-

Security, overseen by U.S. Marines, will be extraordinary: setbacks and perimeter no-go areas that will be especially deep, structures reinforced to 2.5-times the standard, and five high-security entrances, plus an emergency entrance-exit, the Senate report says.
-snip-
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may it all fall down

shame on the Marines

the neo cons are NEVER leaving Iraq

(however, hopefully, they may be forced out)

[SpiralHawk]

1. That's because it's going to also serve as a New Clubhouse for...

Bush's Occult Cabal of Darkside Republicon War Profiteers

Why do so-called christian republicons love this Darkside Occult Cabal shit, anyway?

Would Jesus join the Skull & Bones cabal?

[Selatius]

2. One day, it will be overrun by Iraqis themselves when the Iraqi gov't finally implodes.

The Iraqi government in Baghdad is powerless and impotent without US firepower. It is a client of the US.

[acmavm]

3. This is bigger than Iraq. They plan on running and plundering the entire

Middle East from here.

They are have a horrible time trying to get civilians to go to the Green Zone. Someone was pushing the civil servants patriotism button the other day telling them that they should 'serve' in Iraq. They'll find that they'll either do a tour of duty (like that Nat'l Guard) or they'll be out of their government position.

But silly me, I don't see the countries in the Middle East allowing the neocons dreams come to fruition.

[wakeme2008]

4. Sad to say but it looks like the Soviet built "apartment" complexes

I saw outside of Moscow. :shrug:

[doublethink]

15. The picture caption says ....

"Construction cranes loom above the site of the new U.S. Embassy being built in Baghdad. The embassy will sit on 104 acres, six times larger than the United Nations compound in New York and two-thirds the acreage of Washington’s National Mall." -snip-

I take that as meaning the cranes are pre-positioned over an empty site where the embassy will be built ...... the article is dated (updated) April 14th 2006 ... but who knows when the picture was taken? Anyway your probably correct that those are some older type of apartment buildings in the background .... just another perspective .... peace.

[GreenZoneLT]

5. Talk about your White Elephant

That monstrosity was planned a few years back, back when Iraq was going to be the first domino in our Middle Eastern revolution of freedum 'n' dimmokrussy. Back when we were going to forward-base half the Army here on a semi-permanent basis, or whatever fighting forces we planned to contract from Blackwater and Aegis.

I don't think even Cheney thinks that's a possibility now.

The Embassy is going to have to move, because the Iraqis want their palace back, but they'll probably fill just a corner of that monster. They're having enough trouble recruiting State Department types to come here now; it's mostly kids and aging hot-spot junkies.

The security stuff is just common sense; when they collapse the Green Zone in a couple years, that embassy's going to attract truck bombs like a giant bug light.

[Sugar Smack]

6. "May it all fall down" is right, donsu.

The horrifying amounts of money being dumped into this monstrosity, the horrifying shame of it all. I agree with you. The US is never leaving Iraq.

[BayCityProgressive]

7. It's

a school of the Americas for the Middle East.

[Sugar Smack]

9. God, what a great way to put it! I think you're right

on the money with that one!

[scarletwoman]

16. Bingo. (nt)

[asjr]

8. This is one of the few accounts

I have read about the embassy. Truly frightening. But, I can envision 1918 and the Russian revolution when the men came back from WW 1 and took over all the mansions in Moscow and it became quarters for them when they kicked out the landed gentry. Does no one in BushCo read history? And how about when the Iranians took over our embassy in Teheran! I wonder how much more than thirty pieces of silver it took to sell out our country.

[Joanne98]

10. It looks like the anti-christ's headquarters.

[Inkyfuzzbottom]

11. How inspiring...

Your tax dollars at work!

[IndyOp]

12. No, don't let it fall. Let the U.S. walk out and leave those buildings

for the Iraqis. The walls should fall, for sure...

[leftchick]

19. it is the least we can give them

it is the only functioning mini-city in the baghdad area.

[Double T]

13. bush will be relocating the Capitol of the USA to Baghdad, Iraq,.......

the NEW 51st State, in 2008, by issue of executive order just before he leaves office.

[fooj]

14. A virtual "Club Med"...

DISGUSTING!

[NNN0LHI]

17. Sounds a lot like those nasty Saddam palaces we had hammered into our heads by the MSM

Doesn't it?

Don

[Jim Warren]

18. To complement this post

and further get this out, see the excellent work done in this post by Stephanie:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=364x3110161

[GreenArrow]

20. The Tower of Babel

.

[OneBlueSky]

21. that's not an embassy . . . it's a city-state . . .

and it means that BushCo has no intention of leaving Iraq . . . EVER! . . .