Iraq Construction
Despite what everyone says, it's just not true that this generation of Americans is not building massive monuments to leave as our timeless legacy to our posterity.
We're just not building them here.
But in Baghdad, the United States is now building a monument to rank with Grand Coulee Dam, the Pentagon, Disney World and the Mall of America. It has elements of all four, plus a 15-foot stone wall and surface-to-air missiles.
It's the new American embassy in Iraq, the biggest U.S. embassy anywhere, maybe the biggest embassy anywhere ever. According to the Associated Press and the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, the embassy area will cover 104 acres -- 10 times the size of a typical U.S. embassy space, six times the size of the United Nations compound in New York, and about the area of Vatican City, which is its own country.
The embassy takes in 21 buildings, including six apartment buildings; power generator, water source and purification plant; a recreation building with swimming pool, gym and food court; five high-security entrances plus an emergency entrance/exit.
It is, to use a phrase popular with the Bush backers a while ago and less widely used now, the embassy of an empire. Expressing the deepest aspirations of the United States at this moment in history, it's kind of a cross between Caesar Augustus and Donald Trump.
I'm sure glad that we're not plannning any long-term committments in Iraq. I'd hate to think that our permanent presence there has been planned for years and is now being executed. What AM I worried about. . .this administration has yet to mislead us on any matters of foreign policy.
posted by John Good @ 11:53 PM
4 Comments:
I'm not as worried about having a permanent presence; after all, we have embassies in scores of countries, whether we should or not, and other than the size this is no different. Nor is my concern the execution of a long-term plan to establish ourselves in the country; it's not the first time we've been misled by our leaders in terms of foreign policy. I am most upset at our tax dollars being spent building and maintaining this behemoth. Deeper and deeper into debt we go. We should have reduced the size of the military to what is necessary for national defense, slashed spending and crippled the IRS long ago. Instead, we have had president after president and congress after congress who have done nothing but raised money for themselves, their campaigns and their buddies. And we currently have a president who has yet to veto a bill at all, let alone a spending bill. More and more of our tax dollars go to these special projects, social welfare and corporate welfare projects, and into the pockets of our politicians themselves. The feds need to get out of the business of wealth transferrance and nation building and back into the business of securing our rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
Not too much that I would care to argue with there. Thanks for your viewpoint.
Correct me if I am wrong but Clinton balanced the budget..so it isn't president after president spending his ass off..its the Shrub and his band of merry pranksters that loaded up the billions of bucks in loans from China,Japan and a host of other countries just to keep this country afloat.
Dusty - I said there wasn't "much" to argue, not nothing. =) You are absolutely right about the debt! Let's hope the nations that actually own America don't call in their notes!
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