TRUTH

One building that's been built on time and on budget in Iraq: America's fortress embassy

Ed Pilkington in New York | The Guardian
· Vatican-sized bomb-proof structure to cost £300m
· Builders in Green Zone already insurgent targets

A portion of the new US embassy under construction is seen from across the Tigris river in Baghdad, Iraq. Photograph: AP

When the idea of building a new US embassy in Baghdad was first mooted by the American administration in the aftermath of the invasion of Iraq, there seemed to be a grandiose logic to it.

The compound, by the side of the Tigris, would be a statement of President Bush's intent to expand democracy through the Middle East. Yesterday, however, the entire project was under fresh scrutiny as new details emerged of its cost and scale.

Rising from the dust of the city's Green Zone it is destined, at $592m (£300m), to become the biggest and most expensive US embassy on earth when it opens in September. More...

Posted by Me on Tuesday, May 22, 2007 at 5/22/2007 08:57:00 pm | Permalink