Responding to embassy plans by … hiding the plans

June 1, 2007

We learned a couple of weeks ago that the Bush administration is in the midst of building the biggest, most expensive embassy on earth, right in the heart of Baghdad. It’s slated to be a 104-acre compound — roughly 80 football fields — that will be one of the few major projects the administration has undertaken in Iraq that is on schedule and within budget.

Of course, reading about a colossus and seeing it are two very different things. The pictures became the story. The architectural firm designing the embassy, Berger Define Yaeger, posted the designs on its website, offering everyone a chance to see the compound’s planned swimming pool, tennis courts, restaurants, food court, movie theater, exclusive power generation (Baghdad residents still don’t get much electricity), and exclusive water-treatment plants (again, a luxury, Baghdad residents don’t currently enjoy).

The good news is, the administration has responded to the negative reaction the plans generated. The bad news is, the response was fairly predictable.

The plans for the proposed U.S. Embassy in Iraq were supposed to be shrouded in secrecy — and given the continued instability in that country, it’s not hard to see why.

So it’s probably more than a little embarrassing for the State Department that it has had to contact the architects for the project, Berger Devine Yaeger, and ask them to remove detailed renderings of the plans for the embassy from their Web site.

In other words, the problem wasn’t with the planned monstrosity; it’s with the public being able to see the planned monstrosity. Typical.

In other words, the Death Star is right on schedule.

  • This is what they mean when they say, “these are going swimmingly” in Iraq.

    You didn’t seriously believe they meant the lives of Iraqis were improving, or that the civil war was ending, etc.?

  • Putting such pictures on the internet makes it an even bigger target and is a remarkable indicator of how stupid the administration is, so that makes it pretty significant news.

  • Bush the almighty Decider says: “…war is a time of sacrifice.” His motto: Do As I Say, Not As I Do.

    Vintage Decider: Global Democratic Revolution

    [11-07-03] Bush Envisions ‘Global Democratic Revolution,’ Starting In Iraq
    http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/library/news/2003/11/mil-031107-rferl-162305.htm

    “Iraqi democracy will succeed — and that success will send forth the news, from Damascus to Tehran — that freedom can be the future of every nation,” the president said. “The establishment of a free Iraq at the heart of the Middle East will be a watershed event in the global democratic revolution.”

    What Did Mr. Bush’s 2nd Inaugural Address Really Mean?
    http://www.yuricareport.com/BushSecondTerm/WhatMrBush2ndInauguralMeans.html

  • “…offering everyone a chance to see the compound’s planned swimming pool, tennis courts, restaurants, food court, movie theater, exclusive power generation (Baghdad residents still don’t get much electricity), and exclusive water-treatment plants..”

    You left out “and enough open space to allow the simultaneous landing of a dozen large transport helicopters.”

  • A base by any other name….

    They are building a small luxury city for soldiers right in the heart of Iraq. Talk about delusions of grandeur becoming a reality. This was a statement from way back when saying “we are here to stay” no matter what your so called “Democracy” says. This blatant hypocrisy undermines all diplomatic negotiations for ever.

    It will from now on be seen as America’s Iraq. If Americans don’t see that we are the Imperialist just like we called Japan in WWII, then we are walking around with blinders on. We have created and are maintaining a terrorist nation by are occupation and military presence.

    This “base” proves Bush’s intentions all along.

  • It’s slated to be a 104-acre compound — roughly 80 football fields […]

    I read another description somewhere, comparing its size to that of Vatican. Which is an independent *state* — with ambassadors, banking system, the whole nine yards — for all it’s situated in the middle of Rome. I wonder if this “Embassy” is to be something along the same lines, just with Blackwater instead of the Swiss Guards.

    And as an aside… When we first invaded Iraq and toppled Hussein, a lot was being said about his palaces, with the subtext being “Iraqi people starved, while the pig and his litter lolled in luxury”. There were even photos of our military enjoying those quarters, by right of victor. But I haven’t heard much about those palaces recently. Wonder why.

  • Hey bjobotts,

    Maybe it should be called “Das Base” and I’m not thinkin’ that any Enlisted Privates will be bunking there. Thinking more along the lines of Loyal Bushie Brownshirt Imperial Corporatists (which our troops are not, I don’t believe, for the overwhelming large part). In fact, who will be residing in the luxury Baghdad carriage homes being constructed with U.S. Taxpayer dollars? Given the current state of the superficial level of the political debate in the MSM, maybe used-car salemen working at Das Base’s car dealership will.

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