Palatial Baghdad Embassy diverts cash from diplomatic efforts worldwide

[DeepModem Mom]

THE BAGHDAD DRAIN
How Much Embassy Is Too Much?
By Elizabeth Williamson
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, March 2, 2007; Page A11


Some say the U.S. Embassy in Iraq is so complex and expensive that it diverts cash from diplomatic efforts worldwide. (By John Moore -- Getty Images)

....The nerve center of Iraq reconstruction efforts, housed in an ornate former Saddam Hussein palace with soaring ceilings and its own espresso bar, the embassy in Baghdad is one of the largest foreign missions ever operated by the State Department. Its complexity and expense, some say, hampers reconstruction efforts and drains cash from diplomatic efforts worldwide.

According to a State Department count, about 1,000 federal employees report to the U.S. Embassy in Iraq, not including hundreds of private contractors. State Department personnel are assigned to roughly half the slots in Baghdad, and the rest are reserved for an array of agencies, including about 90 from the Justice Department, 20 from the Department of Homeland Security, and four each from the Commerce Department and the Transportation Department. They are needed, officials say, to rebuild transit and mail services, to assist small businesses, to advise politicians and peasants.

The mission's closely guarded budget is a source of controversy at State, and across the federal government. At $923 million for the 2006 fiscal year, the budget was 20 times that of the Beijing embassy's that year, according to the State Department. More than two-thirds of the money pays for security. Salaries for about 600 staff from other federal agencies are not included in that figure, nor are some expenses.

"Maintaining an oversized mega-embassy in Baghdad is draining personnel and resources away from every other U.S. embassy around the world, and all for what?" said a senior State Department official, who spoke anonymously because of the sensitivity of the issue.

Travel outside the Green Zone requires a security entourage and involves weeks of organization. The embassy is seen as a key target for violence, which, along with fear of reprisals, makes many Iraqis afraid to visit. Consequently, Americans who work there see relatively few of the people they are there to help....

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/01/AR2007030101497.html

[NanceGreggs]

1. It also has its own generators ...

... is completely air-conditioned, and has its own water purification system.

Built right in the middle of a city where people have one to two hours of electricty a day, and have to search out clean drinking water - thanks to our 'efforts' on their behalf.

That's the way to win hearts and minds, neocon style.

[Lindsay]

2. It doesn't really matter much while Bush is in office.

Their idea of diplomacy is "We tell you what to do and you do it."

Doesn't require a lot of staff for that.

[Erika]

3. We should demand to know the purpose of this monstrosity

And why we claim it and support it.

[aint_no_life_nowhere]

4. There just seems to be something awfully inappropriate

about a country ousting another country's dictator, occupying them, controlling and structuring their government, and then moving in to one of that dictator's former palaces. I'm sure the nerve and sheer audacity of the Bush Administration weighs on the mind of every Iraqi who drives by that former palace. It just seems to be very insensitive to me; bad PR and undiplomatic. Are the British doing the same thing? It sends a message that the United States doesn't give a F*%# about what the Iraqi people think and they can do anything they want.

[GreenZoneLT]

5. Wait until they open the new embassy

You think the current one's big; the brand-new one they're building down the street is gi-fucking-gantic.

IIANM, a bunch of those State department slots are unfilled, because the only people who will come over here are old hacks who like combat zones, and kids. All the grownup Staties with lives and families refuse the posting.

[sweetheart]

6. "to advise peasants."

Are they kidding when they flog this shit. How many peasants got advise at the US embassy yesterday.
At least they could be honest, the warden's palace is the prison control room and nothing more.