McClatchy: U.S. Embassy employees fearful (& angry) over Green Zone attacks

[babylonsister]

http://www.realcities.com/mld/krwashington//17225907.htm

U.S. Embassy employees fearful over Green Zone attacks
By Leila Fadel
McClatchy Newspapers


BAGHDAD, Iraq - U.S. Embassy employees in Iraq are growing increasingly angry over what they say are inadequate security precautions in the heavily fortified Green Zone, where recent mortar and rocket attacks have claimed the lives of six people, including two U.S. citizens.

In spite of the attacks, embassy employees complain, most staff members still sleep in trailers that one described as "tin cans" that offer virtually no protection from rocket and mortar fire. The government has refused to harden the roofs because of the cost, one employee said.

A second official called it "criminally negligent" not to reduce the size of the embassy staff, which a year ago was estimated at 1,000, in the face of the increasing attacks and blamed the administration's failure to respond on concerns that doing so might undermine support for President Bush's Iraq policy.

"What responsible person and responsible government would ask you to put yourself at risk like that? We don't belong here," the employee said, adding, "They're not going to send us home because it's going to be another admission of failure."

more...

[spanone]

1. 'criminally negligent' a term applied more & more to the bu$hies

edit:sp

[uppityperson]

2. well, what to say that doesn't sound bad about this. hmmm.

I'm stuck. Kick and recommend.

[Jacobin]

3. Get the helicopters ready

for rooftop evacuations.

[babylonsister]

4. That thought has crossed my mind, too. nt

[Jacobin]

5. This is new stuff

The people in the green zone, who formerly felt safe, the apparatus of embassy people and the Iraqi puppet government we installed, are no longer safe.

The mortar and rocket attacks are killing people there now on a regular basis.

This war is so lost, it is soooo over with. By delaying our departure, only Bush's 'face' is being saved and its going to get a lot more american soldiers and Iraqis killed, all for nothing.

It is beyond disgusting

[babylonsister]

6. While we wait until September to get Petraeus' opinion; how many die

in the meantime?

[Jacobin]

10. The worst part is that Patraeus

has already gone on record (although it's conveniently not widely reported) as saying that his new guerilla warfare tactics will take several years at least to make a difference.

Come September, he'll say "oh hey guys, here's my report, things aren't going well, but I already said its going to take years. We can't leave now, I'll get back to you in another year or two"

As we all know, its simply designed to prolong the situation until Bush is out of office so the next administration can be blamed for 'losing the war'

[KharmaTrain]

7. Add This To McDermott's Claim This Morning...

He took to the House floor and said he had heard that 300 Americans had been killed and 200 injured in an explosion at Camp Falcon last October, but the military has whitewashed this...claiming there were no injuries. Malaise found the posts from that night...many of us here on DU had seen the story as it was happening:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x881574

Sy Hersch had gotten a report of this incident as well and somehow it fell into the rabbit hole until McDermott brought it up this morning...and I haven't seen any follow ups on this on the blog, yet alone in the corporate media.

McDermott's speech and more info is up on his website:

http://www.house.gov/mcdermott/sp070514.shtml

A few weeks ago, there was a massive explosion in the Green Zone...and we got a similar report of no casualties. But, as we saw with the bombing that almost took out the Iraqi "Parliament" that blew threw 6 checkpoints, the Green Zone is anything BUT safe now.

The other day I saw a reporter show a video he did walking the streets of Baghdad in the wake of the invasion in '03...no flack jacket and lots of friendly faces. That's sure not the case now. So much for winning those hearts and minds.

[babylonsister]

9. Wow, thanks. This is the first I've heard of McDermott's claim, though

I vaguely remember the night of those explosions. 300 possibly killed, 200 injured, and this info has been withheld from Americans?:grr:

That info needs its own thread, in caps. :grr::grr:

[KharmaTrain]

14. Ya Hear The Crickets? LOL

I'm amazed no one here has picked up on this...but I'm not the "thread-starting" type around here....they always sink like a rock.

Cheers...

:hi:

[babylonsister]

15. Well, I'm not proud. Here it is:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x886725

[butterfly77]

21. I said at the time that ...

they would be reporting two and three at a time.

[seafan]

8. Embassy employees have been ordered not to speak about security concerns to press.

This is such an abomination.

From McClatchy, May 14, 2007:

Embassy employees have been ordered not to talk about security concerns or precautions with reporters, but three State Department employees in Baghdad discussed the issue with McClatchy Newspapers. All three asked not to be identified for fear that they'd lose their jobs.

The officials also complained that important security precautions appeared to have been set aside during highly publicized official visits. During a March 31 visit from Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., a high-profile presidential candidate, the embassy lifted a requirement that bulletproof vests and helmets be worn at all times. When a rocket landed outside the U.S. Embassy while Vice President Dick Cheney and several reporters visited last week, no warning sirens were sounded.

"Where were the sirens then?" one official asked. "We don't belong here, and people are afraid to say it."

.....

The three said rising anxiety was evident during recent town hall meetings, where several speakers demanded increased protection. One speaker asked for blankets made of bullet-resistant Kevlar to protect himself from shrapnel and debris in case a rocket or mortar round struck nearby.

The employees said their trailers have been surrounded with sandbags, but that nothing has been done to reinforce the roofs to withstand a rocket or mortar hit. When some employees asked during the meeting if they could move into a hardened structure, they were told to wait for the completion of a new embassy that's still under construction.
"In any other embassy, we would have been evacuated," one of the employees said. "As always, the U.S. government is reactive, not proactive. They are going to wait until 20 people die, then the people back in Washington will say we have a problem."

.....

Two of the people who spoke with McClatchy said the conditions also have affected experienced diplomats' willingness to serve in Baghdad and that the holes are being filled by young and inexperienced volunteers and contractors. .....
"They want to say everything is fine. But if I'm asked I'm not going to lie," he said. "It's my life and it would be my grave and it would be my body flying back to my family."

Oh, and here's the new embassy, on time and on budget, due for a June, 2007 completion. Between this monstrosity and the oil production sharing agreement extortion, I am ashamed that these predators are still occupying our White House.





From this link


(bold emphasis added)

[babylonsister]

12. I can't even imagine the fear; I'd have to leave. And just imagine

what the unprotected troops are going through.
BTW, nice embassy.:eyes: Congress has GOT to know about that; why aren't THEY saying anything?

[seafan]

13. So many lies. The embassy. The oil *agreements*. The carnage. Bush still in power.

"A little patience, and we shall see the reign of witches pass over, their spells dissolve, and the people, recovering their true sight, restore their government to its true principles. It is true that in the meantime we are suffering deeply in spirit, and incurring the horrors of a war and long oppressions of enormous public debt...If the game runs sometime against us at home, we must have patience till luck turns, and then we shall have an opportunity of winning back the principles we have lost, for this is a game where principles are at stake." ----Thomas Jefferson

Keep fighting, babylonsister!

[aquart]

11. Those young, eager Republicans they hired...

Are they the ones giving these interviews?

[maddezmom]

16. K&R new today: The U.S. Embassy says Five Embassy Workers have been Wounded in an Attack Inside Bagh

The U.S. Embassy says Five Embassy Workers have been Wounded in an Attack Inside Baghdad's Green Zone
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x2846296

[MsMagnificent]

17. K & R

When are the American people going to be told the truth of what's going on over there?
Absolutely disgusting.

[Supersedeas]

18. Sipping tea and eating crumpets on the Oil Industry dime has become inconvenient....for some.

[EFerrari]

19. "We don't belong here." No, you don't and we don't.

:mad:

[LSK]

20. THEY ARE WORRIED ABOUT THE COST????????

SINCE FUCKING WHEN??????????????

:wtf: