yep harry you are indeed correct, however, some of "us" (i doubt i am alone here) r a tad bit lazy. i must say that this site moves very quickly! that makes it easier to navigate.
get a grip on it, get a grip of it, take your pick dude.
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Faith, Hope and Love, the Greatest of these is LOVE!!!
"In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act." George Orwell
harry we need a spell check! i do know that frequently when i have an idea the last concern is spelling and i do not have time to research this. i can imagine how difficult it is for someone who is not totally familiar with the english language. and lob and myself are wondering about the edit key, however, i think a spell check is a priority!
Heres an update regarding the new GWB palace in Baghdad:
Banished project manager keeps job on Baghdad embassy
Warren P Strobel, McClatchy Newspapers Friday December 7, 2007
A state department project manager banished from Iraq by the US ambassador and under scrutiny by the justice department is continuing to oversee the construction of the much-delayed new American embassy in Baghdad. James L Golden, a contract employee, is still managing the $740m (£370m) project from Kuwait, said Patrick Kennedy, the US state department's top management official. "Mr. Golden is still ... our project manager, and still is working with the contractor, at their base in Kuwait," he said. One state department official with detailed knowledge of the unopened embassy expressed outrage that his superiors have not replaced Golden. "I find it absolutely amazing that [state department] senior management doesn't seem to think it a trifle odd that two people under investigation ... are still making all the management decisions under this same contract," the official said in an e-mail. The official asked for anonymity because he feared retaliation by his superiors.
Golden and the Baghdad-based embassy construction coordinator, Mary French, have been implicated in a US justice department criminal investigation into how embassy construction subcontracts were issued, according to current and former US officials and congressional testimony. Neither Golden nor French has been charged with any wrongdoing. Construction and safety problems have plagued the Baghdad embassy, originally scheduled to open in September. Kennedy and other top department officials have declined to provide a firm date for when it will be ready to house nearly 1,000 US diplomats and staff.
Kuwaiti-based First Kuwaiti General Trading and Contracting is constructing the embassy, which will be the largest American embassy in the world once it is completed. Department officials defended the decision to leave Golden in place, saying it was necessary to provide continuity on the project. The department is working to overcome construction flaws that range from questions about the strength of blast walls to a fire-suppression system that failed inspection. US ambassador Ryan Crocker banished Golden from Iraq after an incident last May in which a mortar round damaged a wall at the new embassy that was supposed to be blast resistant. Golden, along with First Kuwaiti, attempted to repair the damage before an investigation could be conducted, US officials said. Attempts to reach Golden for comment for this article were unsuccessful. McClatchy first reported the criminal investigation into the embassy's construction in mid-October.
New details were made public a month later during a congressional hearing, in which it became known that the state department's inspector general, Howard Krongard, had met personally with Golden and French despite warnings from his staff that such a personal meeting would "taint the investigation," according to a congressional report. The two embassy project managers were not mentioned by name in the report by majority Democrats on the House oversight and government reform committee. Golden was referred to as a "person of interest" in the justice department investigation, and French as a "subject of investigation."
But Krongard divulged their names publicly. "I would like to tell you what exactly I was doing, both with Mr Golden and Ms French," he told the committee. According to the committee's report, Golden has not returned to the United States or made himself available for a follow-up interview since the August meeting with Krongard. Krongard has since disqualified himself, at the US justice department's request, from the embassy investigation. Many details of the probe remain under wraps
Ooh, that sounds bad. I hate corruption. You know guys, it is pretty hard to imagine what they need such a big embassy for. I'm going to look into this a bit, I mean see if they try to explian their reasoning.
My god, and when someone hit the other, the teacher used to sand them in the corner facing the wall with one leg tigged underneath. They made a film out of that didn't they? We now have famous people writting on this site. All we need now is few more of their classmates to join us.
I can run 100 metres in under 10 seconds. Try me and see.....
I think what it boils down to is this. The US gov't has a certain level of responsibility to help in the reconstruction process, that takes a lot of people. A good portion of the Embassy is devoted to personell that are there temporarily to help with reconstruction projects. So the ultimate test will be time. If the US gov't is really there to help the Iraqi people it will show over time because the quality of life in Iraq will improve. In that case it will have been worth having such a large Embassy. Fortunatly you can't fake sincerity so if the US gov't is not there to help Iraq it will show after time. Another added bennifit is the deterant factor that large facilities will have on nieghbors like Iran.
The location near an old Saddam palace and between to shopping districts raises some brows from critics who suggest that if such a large embassy is really needed it should be on the outskirts of the city.
Another point that was occasionally brought up in what I read was the innaccessability of the compound. It's a walled city with a gym, swimming pool, track, store, sewage, and plumbing independent of Baghdads infrustructior. What this means is that the emabassy can easily become a loominous tower of obscurity, percieved like the "Ministry of Love" in Orwells book '1984.' I believe that for the US to be successfull in Iraq they have to show they're faces and interact with the population.
Ultimatly time will tell. If life improves and Iraq prospers then I don't think too many people will be so upset with the size of the embassy. If life does not improve then the embassy is likely to become of symbol of colonialesque domination.
The building is something straight out of Stalinist Russia. According to reports it occupies some 104 acres. It really is a hideous bunker and comparisons with Stalin's overbearing architecture speaks volumes of the USA's position in the world. By placing it in the center of the city, the US government have made no effort to disguise the fact that the new Embassy is in fact there to intimidate Iraqis much in the same way as Saddam's palaces used to. As you said Dustin, the structure can and will be perceived like the "Ministry of Love" in Orwell's book '1984. The comparisons are clear and obvious to me. While the rest of Baghdad struggles with lack of basic amenities and security the Embassy will be bathed in luxury including office annexes, the Marine Corps security post, swimming pool, recreation center, shopping malls, a water treatment plant, a power plant and the ambassador's and deputy ambassador's residences. All this is displayed right under our noses. I'm sorry to say that I find the whole idea to be extremely distasteful and badly thought out and thats putting it politely!
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"As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others" - Nelson Mandela
Yah, I tend to agree with you LOB, with the position we're in now trying to WIN the support of Iraq it seems a little counterproductive to be throwing this thing up. The sad thing is that it had a near unanimous vote in congress. (you can find both Hillary and Barack's names on the approval, though they've since resended support)
If we were already best buds with Iraq it would be one thing. If England were to throw up a 500 million dollar embassy smack dab in the middle of Salt Lake City (where I live) I think it would be pretty cool. If Russia had troops in the US and built one, however I'd be ticked. Unless they handed out free pelmeni, and Russian ice cream with toy Russian soldiers, then it would be pretty cool.
If Canada built a huge embassy...well, that'll be the day.
On the plus a facility that large could faciliate a lot of American money (both gov't and private) into Iraq, which would be a good thing for the economy.
My friend lived in Cambodia for a couple of years. He says there's a US embassy in central Phnom Phen, and it's quite extravegent for the country. From his description it sounded like it made a pretty clear statement of American power.
Here's my POOP on the resort, doesn't look like a holiday hang out to me, needs some palm trees and pirty things around. It appears HUGE, yep, strange they built it in that location and so bloody BIG, probably stands out like a sore thumb.
_____________________________
Faith, Hope and Love, the Greatest of these is LOVE!!!
"In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act." George Orwell
2 oposing American views on the US Kremlin in Baghdad.
Can a mega US embassy in Iraq be justified?
YES by Steven Groetken I have spent 15 months in Iraq on deployment and I have seen the devastation that happens on a day to day basis. It is a complex situation where there are hardly any black and white answers. Just like there is no easy answer for the withdrawal of troops, there is no easy answer, and especially not a yes or a no, for spending an enormous amount of money on a piece of sovereign American soil in Iraq. Right now is not the time to build "Fortress America" in Iraq. It just wouldn't serve much of a purpose. The decision makers living in Iraq are living in the heart of Baghdad called the "Green Zone," where the current embassy is located. For the time being, the close to 1000 employees, are working from the Republican Palace in the Green Zone. For the time being, they are doing their job in relative comfort compared to other government employees in the region.
Of course it is necessary to have an embassy in Iraq, this is one of the first steps that a burgeoning country takes to create alliances with other countries. In order for Iraq to be a self sufficient country, many developments have to be made. One of the steps that needs to be taken is a U.S. embassy, but there are other steps that need to be taken first and it doesn't seem fit to spend such an insane amount of money on an embassy when it can be done for a lot less capital in the future. Security in Iraq is obviously not up to the standards of other countries where permanent U.S. embassies are located. It just seems fit that security would be the number one priority before other huge projects are started. You wouldn't start writing a term paper if somebody was punching you in the face. Of course other things need to be accomplished while the country is being secured, such as rebuilding the Iraqi stock market and getting the ministries up and running. Mortars go off everyday inside the Green zone and building a 600 million dollar embassy just doesn't seem to very rational at this point in time. It definitely should not be at the top of the list of priorities.
Years down the road after major operations are finished in the country there will be a huge U.S. embassy in Baghdad that will not be serving a purpose for such a large and expensive building. While reading about this embassy being the largest and most expensive in the world, I couldn't help but to be reminded of the Russian embassy in Berlin. The embassy there is massive and serves to remind the German people that at one time they were under the choke of the Iron Curtain. Is that what we are mimicking?
NO by Citizen Sage A mega US embassy in Baghdad is an attempt to send the message that the conquerers are there to stay. Already, the Iraqi government leadership is beholden to America for financing and security and it has its seat within the "Green Zone". The mega embassy becomes a symbol to Iraqis that America calls the shots and that is why it is so large and ostentatious. Already, there is a well documented divide between the great majority of the people of Iraq and the American occupiers. Safety concerns makes it imprudent for Americans to mix freely with Iraqis and so the mega US embassy only increases the separation and alienation from each other. It will likely become a target for terrorist attacks.
Instead of showing Iraqis that America is concerned for their welfare, the mega embassy sends the message that the occupation is designed to be permanent. It is an attempt to claim that America's resolve remains strong in the Iraq War, precisely at a time that the UK and others have announced plans to leave. In fact, most Americans want our involvement in Iraq to be ended sooner than later and the US government is simply out of step with its citizens. Ultimately, I suspect that the mega US embassy will have a different purpose for Iraqis, once the American soldiers are pulled back. There is no reasonable justification for this imperialistic occupation on the other side of the world, so the mega embassy will become an embarrassment. It will become a monument to the wasteful way that hundreds of billions of dollars of US taxpayer funds have been squandered in Iraq for no identifiable benefit or purpose. When it comes to war and occupation, the mega embassy shows that American money continues to flow freely, without regard for public opinion in the US, in Iraq or almost anywhere else on earth.
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