Referring back to my post on 05/30/07, I wrote about how the Baghdad US Embassy was ginormous and very expensive. This week I heard on NPR that the opening is delayed indefinitely, the price tag increased to $750 million, and the buildings are seriously flawed with hundreds of documented fire hazards. I found an article on Reuters describing the issue further. One quote from the article described the problems were so bad that none of the buildings could be approved for occupancy. It also includes some serious criticism describing the State’s Department’s efforts in Iraq being in disarray.
Following this news, is the horrible story of the private mercenary group, dubbed Blackwater, turning their weapons on our own soldiers. The alleged incident took place last year when an SUV carrying Blackwater members crashed into a U.S. Army vehicle. The mercenaries disarmed our troops and held them on the ground at gun point until the vehicles were separated. Blackwater were operating under a loophole that they exploited which amounted to a pit bull running around without a leash. Congress passed a bill that put the dog on a leash. How short or long of a leash isn’t clear.
There’s so much negative news about Iraq that “a nightmare” sums it up nicely. It’s also how retired Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez, who served a year commanding coalition troops, described it.
Comments (0)