By OLIVER POOLE - The Daily Telegraph
June 7, 2006
BAGHDAD, Iraq - On the west bank of the Tigris at the edge of Baghdad's heavily fortified Green Zone, a forest of cranes marks the progress of Iraq's newest monument: an American Embassy that will be the largest in the world.
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Protected by 15-foot-thick walls and ringed by military guards, it signals the seriousness of America's intentions to retain a large and long-term presence in the country. The $586 million building's existence is meant to be a secret. Any request for a comment from the State Department is met with a terse rebuff, and a plea for a photo opportunity is deemed out of the question.
But it is impossible to keep hidden a complex that will be the size of Vatican City with the population of a small town, especially when it is lit up at nightfall to permit work on it to continue 24 hours a day.
America's largest existing embassy, covering 10 acres and consisting of five buildings, is in Beijing. It will soon be dwarfed by the new Baghdad mission. It takes nearly five minutes to drive along just one side of its 104 acres, which will contain 21 buildings, the first floors of which are clearly visible along with the metal trellising that provides protection from mortars.http://www.nysun.com/article/34021This story originally appeared in the UK's Daily Telegraph and was accompanied by a photograph of the massive complex under construction which is missing from this US copy of the article. Whatever the opinion poll ratings, this suggests that the US government have absolutely no intention of giving up their ill gotten gains in Iraq no matter what it costs in lives or unpopularity.
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