Letters to the Editor
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Think about it...what else could the Embassy be?
This self-contained compound will include the embassy itself, residences for the ambassador and staff, PX, commissary, cinema, retail and shopping, restaurants, schools, fire station and supporting facilities such as power generation, water purification system, telecommunications, and waste water treatment facilities. In total, the 104 acre compound will include over twenty buildings including one classified secure structure and housing for over 380 families.
Whatever disastrous policy decisions led us to invade Iraq in the first place, is there any alternative to building this kind of self-contained high-security Embassy? Unless you're looking for regular news like "Diplomats killed in Baghdad supermarket parking lot," "Diplomats killed on Baghdad basketball court," "Diplomats sickened by poisoned city water," "Diplomatic buildings destroyed in Baghdad rocket attack when Iraqi firemen refuse to respond," "Tiny Baghdad Embassy overrun by mob," etc. Or the follow-up news like "Most Baghdad Embassy positions go unfilled," "Diplomats cite deaths of colleagues in refusing Baghdad assignments," etc.
As the former Secretary of State wisely advised the current President before this invasion, we broke Iraq, so we bought it. We're stuck with the problems we've created, which are very real. Yes, the security situation is our own fault, but it is what it is, and building some tiny, vulnerable Embassy would lead only to the deaths of more Americans in Iraq. What else could the Embassy be but high-security and self-contained?