24 April 2008
Iraqis see Red as U.S. opens world’s biggest embassy
Posted by Joy Bischoff under: World Affairs .
This new embassy is sending an ominous signal to al-Sadr and other Iraqis who suspect the US of wanting to permanently occupy their country. I am afraid this will increase likelihood of civil war.
BAGHDAD - For the average American who will never see it, the new US Embassy in Baghdad may be little more than the Big Dig of the Tigris.
Like the infamous Boston highway project, the embassy is a mammoth development that is overbudget, overdue, and casts a whiff of corruption.
For many Iraqis, though, the sand-and-ochre-colored compound peering out across the city from a reedy stretch of riverfront within the fortified Green Zone is an unsettling symbol both of what they have become in the five years since the fall of Saddam Hussein, and of what they have yet to achieve.
“It is a symbol of occupation for the Iraqi people, that is all,” says Anouar, a Baghdad graduate student who thought it was risk enough to give her first name. “We see the size of this embassy and we think we will be part of the American plan for our country and our region for many, many years.”
The 104-acre, 21-building enclave – the largest US Embassy in the world, similar in size to Vatican City in Rome – is often described as a “castle” by Iraqis, but more in the sense of the forbidden and dominating than of the alluring and liberating.
5 Comments so far...
Sharon Anderson Says:
24 April 2008 at 9:29 am.
This is a project that I don’t think we will soon willingly abandon, regardless of who becomes President.
T. Fan Says:
24 April 2008 at 10:53 am.
Sharon, that’s what I’ve been thinking. A lot of people make the war a big issue in who to vote for but there is no way a president will be allowed to interfere with what is in play over there. The democratic congress was voted in to stop the war but they haven’t done it. There is so much that goes on behind the scenes that people don’t understand. Both Hillary and Barack have made statements in the last couple of months to show that they are somewhat open to circumstances regarding the war. That means they will do as told by the experts. It doesn’t matter which of the three get in. They all work for the same establishment.
jobob911 Says:
24 April 2008 at 11:01 am.
This makes it look like they are trying to take over there country not just to help them out.
Concerned American Says:
24 April 2008 at 7:53 pm.
This article doesn’t mention the embassy but the timing is kind of interesting.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080424/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq_sadr_s_path
Al-Sadr may restart full-scale fight against US in Iraq
BAGHDAD - Muqtada al-Sadr is considering setting aside his political ambitions and restarting a full-scale fight against U.S.-led forces — a worrisome shift that may reflect Iranian influence on the young cleric and could open the way for a shadow state protected by his powerful Mahdi Army.
Nalvy Says:
25 April 2008 at 12:21 am.
Yes well now jobob they have to build a place to rule out of before they can take over eh?
You have to build your fortress before you can build your armies.
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