Nice pool!
And we couldn’t have just refurbished one of Saddam’s vast palaces, of course. Can’t win a war, can’t even finish a building. Guess we’re not getting out anytime soon, unlike what the Dems promised.
US Embassy opening in Baghdad delayed indefinitely
The opening of the mammoth new U.S. Embassy in Baghdad has been delayed indefinitely while its Kuwaiti contractor fixes a punch list of problems, the State Department said on Tuesday.
The sprawling complex, whose cost is edging toward $750 million, was set to open last month but U.S. lawmakers say shoddy work by the contractor and poor oversight by the State Department have delayed it.
State Department spokesman Sean McCormack rejected claims of inadequate oversight and said there was no indication how long it would be before the new embassy opened.
[Representative] Waxman, in turn, accused the State Department of misleading his committee over the status of the embassy project at a hearing on July 26 when he said senior officials dismissed issues raised by his committee as minor problems.
“It would appear to be gross negligence if the department’s senior management were unaware of the defects at the embassy when they testified before the committee,” he said.
“Increasingly, it appears that the State Department’s efforts in Iraq are in disarray,” added Waxman, referring to an investigation involving U.S. security contractor Blackwater.
Oh, did I forget to mention the plans for the building were leaked online earlier this year? Ain’t nothin’ like tight security! Interesting reading at the Embassy’s website, too.
Why do you say the Dems broke their promises? Who specifically broke their promise? I saw lots of pro-war Democrats getting elected in November.
No one could have forseen that my incompetence would extend quite this far.
Ah, to the victor go the spoils. Unfortunate the cost is only so low, should divert that S-CHIP expansion money into the embassy.
Ignored by the Executive Branch, betrayed by the new Congress, cleverly inveigled by major presidential front runners with promises of quick withdraw than confessions of force projection lasting until 2012, but at least the stern, albeit with poorly articulated points and counter-arguments, forces of the ultra left will continue to have the blog-o-sphere to heed their rants and raves. Uncle Dave, are you ever fearful that you exercise the same agility that Vice-President Cheney possesses when it comes to cherry-picking items that support a predisposed ideological position?
But even with Al-Jazeera struggling to find Iraq horror stories, whether it be an innocent Iraqi dog run over by a Bradley (damn those Iraqi doggie killers), to appease the sensationalist hordes must acquiesce by running news item like SIIC & Sadrists agreeing to a truce. While this report does not fit the traditional news equation of “money” + “unjust war” + “U.S. Empire” = news, the political and cultural dimensions of this agreement are quite deep. I would have enjoyed seeing the Maraji’ work this out.
Leaked?
I don’t think this qualifies as a “leak”.
Computer-generated projections of the soon-to-be completed, heavily fortified compound were posted on the Web site of the Kansas City, Mo.-based architectural firm that was contracted to design the massive facility in the Iraqi capital.
I love the idea that this somehow compromises the security of the facility…
Built by a Kuwaiti sub-contractor with who knows how many infiltrators in the work-force.
They can’t stop bad guys from infiltration of the Iraqi Police & Army, but they can keep the infiltrators out of the construction trades???
they wring their hands over 3d models of the facility being posted, when they have no idea who has had access to the on-site building plans??
>>forces of the ultra left will continue to have the blog-o-sphere
>>to heed their rants and raves.
I fear, Pixie Dust, that what you call the “ultra left” is what the rest of the country (and world) considers to be “centrist” and “rational”.
Most people give Anal Cyst Limbaugh and Annie the Two Dollar Tart with about the same credibility they afford “journalists” like Loofah Pad O’Reilly.
And those few stragglers who think we’re going to “win” the war in Iraq?? Pathetic. I didn’t know there were any of you left.
“Guess we’re not getting out anytime soon, unlike what the Dems promised.”
“(CBS/AP) The leading Democratic White House hopefuls conceded Wednesday night they cannot guarantee to pull all U.S. combat troops from Iraq by the end of the next presidential term in 2013.”
http://tinyurl.com/3ahpwa
Oh for the simple good ol’ days when wars were fought by men in red and blue uniforms lined up and shooting at each other until the last side standing.
RBG
I guess they have to grease more palms in Iraq and, therefore, with everyone’s fingers in the pie, it takes longer.
This is all according to “the Master Plan”.
The intention was never to win the war or get sweet deals with iraqui oil.
No no no.
The plan was, (and is) to create general instability, to make the oil price soar (remember, price of oil is twice the price it was right before Iraq invasion), endless contracts to build infrastructures in a more or less devastated country. The more time it takes and the more it costs, the better. One curious side effect is these private security companies. I’m sure it was also in The Plan, but never to this extent.
Just ask yourselves: Who is filling their pockets with insane amounts of cash?
-Oil tycoons
-Construction companies
-Security Companies
…(in a word, Halliburton)
And who is paying the bill?
-Directly all US taxpayers, and indirectly, the rest of the world, enduring a slow growth of the economies…
>>The leading Democratic White House hopefuls conceded
>>Wednesday night they cannot guarantee to pull all U.S. combat
>>troops from Iraq by the end of the next presidential term in 2013
The “non-leading” hopefuls weren’t so bashful though, and said they COULD guarantee it.
And regardless of how quickly Little King Georgies mess takes to clean up after he slinks away with his tail between his legs, at least they’re going to TRY to clean it up. No more of these asinine “surges” and paramilitary death squads and his faux-macho bluster.
At least we’ll be moving in the right direction, unlike the hole we’ve been digging ourselves into since Daddy’s “supreme” Court gentled Dumbya into office in 2000.
Can I ask you folks something abit related..?
Has anyone HERE, seen what it takes to build a HOUSE in the USA..
The restrictions, licenses, regulations, inspections, and thats NOT on a Large building, thats just on a house/home… You dont want to see what you need to do on a Major building.
More pictures here (from earlier post today):
http://www.dvorak.org/blog/?p=14038#comment-825197
[Senator] Waxman, in turn, accused the State Department of misleading his committee …
That should be Representative Waxman.
[Fixed. Thanks! – ed]