November 11, 2007
The U.S. Embassy in Baghdad
Posted by
Mark Kleiman
Not only is the building apparently an astonishing money pit and white elephant — over budget, over schedule, and below standard — its sheer size sends precisely the wrong political message. The building proclaims itself as a viceregal palace rather than as an embassy in the capital of an independent sovereign nation.
If we wanted instead to proclaim to the Iraqis and to the world that we do not intend to rule Iraq as a protectorate or occupy it indefinitely, we could give the building to the Iraqi government, or let it be shared by a mix of foreign NGO's and institutions of Iraqi civil society. Then we could buy or build something more modest.
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