America’s Gilded Palace in Iraq

[babylonsister]

http://www.teambio.org/2007/03/america%e2%80%99s-gilded-palace-in-iraq/

March 24th, 2007
America’s Gilded Palace in Iraq
by Tom Harper @ 12:01 am

How many of you think American forces will ever, ever be pulling out of Iraq? Gotcha! We’re staying and we’re digging in. We’re gonna be that unwanted relative who moved in and never left. And the Iraqis will LIKE it!

We’re building a sprawling embassy in Baghdad. It’ll be the largest American embassy in the world, covering an area the size of Vatican City. Our new imperial palace will be on 104 acres, with 21 buildings and a staff of 5,000. Congress has already appropriated $1 billion toward building this embassy. But don’t worry, we’ll be leaving soon.

Our new fortress/embassy will be occupying the grounds of Saddam Hussein’s former palace. How’s that for symbolism? “Meet the new boss, same as the old boss.”

A construction foreman with 27 years of experience, John Owen, quit his job on this project after seven months. Describing the contractor, First Kuwaiti Trading & Contracting, he said “I’ve never seen a project more fucked up. Every U.S. labor law was broken.”

John Owen informed the U.S. State Department — who had awarded this contract to First Kuwaiti — of what he had witnessed: security breaches, safety violations and workers being beaten by their managers. And this was right in the middle of the American-controlled Green Zone. The labor camps where thousands of these migrant workers lived had practically no sanitation or medical care.

more...

[ixion]

1. I've seen reporting on these "embassies" for three years now, and yet

not ONE WORD about it from any MSM outlet. Go figure that. :grr:
;

[stellanoir]

2. Ya know there was a horrible sense hovering around this whole misguided endeavor 4 years ago.

Yet the degree to which everything has been so asonishingly FUBAR is just mind numbing.

How we'll ever sort it all out and stop handing out medals of honor to the purpetrators of cruelty and criminality and hold responsible for reparations those who have profitted so, will be an enormous challenge for a very long time.

Glad this guy spoke up and thanks for posting.

[truth2power]

3. And this is not being covered in the corporate media, why??

Oops!... I said "corporate". Nevermind...I just answered my own question.

If war crime trials are ever held, as I hope to god they are, the media shills should be in the dock right alongside Cheny/Bush et. al. :mad:

[leftchick]

4. any mention of the US Imperial Palace in that spending bill?

Or how many troops the US will be keeping there and at the US bases after the "pullout" in 2008? What a fucking farce.

:puke:

[LizW]

5. Anyone see "Frontline" last night?

It was called "Private Warriors" and showed more of Iraq than I've ever seen on ANY news program.

Some reporters flew to Iraq and Kuwait to do a story on Halliburton/KBR. It was mind-numbing how much money we must be spending over there. I had never seen the bases, the recreation centers, the food courts. They showed a supply area that is the trucking center for Halliburton. Everything goes in and out of there. It covers ten square miles.

They talked about how private security companies are everywhere. They are unidentifiable to the military. They are heavily armed, and are accountable to no one. The military guys spoke with contempt about how the contractors could come over, make a bunch of money, and then just leave when they got tired of it.

The families of some of the Halliburton employees who were killed in Fallujah are suing Halliburton, saying that the guys were sent out without proper protection and training. Halliburton says tough, basically.

Folks, we own Iraq. We are going to be paying for it for generations. Our soldiers may leave, but the mercenaries will be there forever. There is nothing left of that country but the oil and Halliburton. That is what this was all about.

[donsu]

7. "Folks, we own Iraq." true! we will never leave Iraq

the crime of the decade

what goes around, comes around. americans will pay dearly for this crime.

[cassiepriam]

9. Duh. Iraqi was the mother of all sweetheart deals for Cheney and Halliburton.

[Poiuyt]

6. More-

If you went to Iraq today, you’d see a marvelous new complex rising right in the heart of Baghdad. This 104-acre shining oasis will include more than 600 apartments, two major office buildings, its own electricity plant and water system, air-conditioning, a swimming pool, gym, movie theater, food court, beauty salon, car repair shop, and even a night club. And, while critics harp that practically no project in Iraq gets completed on time and on budget, this one will meet both standards.

This sprawling new town, which will have 8,000 people working in it when completed next year, must be a welcome sign of progress and a symbol of democratic pride for the long-suffering people of Iraq— right? Well ... not exactly. You see, this palace is not for them. This is to be the new U.S. embassy.

Being built by an affiliate of—guess who?—Halliburton, this half-billion-dollar, self-contained complex will be by far the largest embassy in the world. But this is no mere house of diplomacy—it’s a mini-state inside Iraq’s capital establishing a permanent American base that literally ripples with negative symbolism. Surrounded by 15-foot-walls, guarded by Marines, and overlooking the chambers housing the Iraqi government, this fortress is viewed by the people as a palace of occupation, an infuriating symbol of who really holds the strings of power.

This is Jim Hightower saying ... The 1,000 Americans to be headquartered in this sealed-off citadel will be isolated from the Iraqi people and be immune from the water shortages, daily power outages, joblessness, and other harsh realities of life in Baghdad. Maybe that’s why the designers of the complex added one other special feature: a secret emergency exit.

http://pulsetc.com/article.php?op=Print&sid=2652&PHPSESSID=901aff582ce220b06cdbb16ec7f7d126

[donsu]

8. a secret emergency exit - how interesting. castles had secret

emergency exits too. castles were still brought down.