$1 billion of counterproductive insanity.
By on Mar 2nd, 2007 at 2:47 pm
$1 billion of counterproductive insanity.
Lawrence Eagleburger on the massive 1,000-employee U.S. Embassy in Baghdad: “I defy anyone to tell me how you can use that many people. It is nuts…it’s insane and it’s counterproductive…and it won’t work,” says the Republican former secretary of state and member of the Iraq Study Group. “I’ve been around the State Department long enough to know you can’t run an outfit like that.”
Only 6 people at the embassy speak Arabic.
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it’s like they’re building a huge ‘attack magnet’
March 2nd, 2007 at 2:51 pmIts a symbol of spoils of war, its a playground for the greedy pigs to play around in. Its the temple of Hubris.
March 2nd, 2007 at 2:53 pmI long for the good ‘ol days when Republicans were for small government, fiscal responsibility, and supporting the troops. Amazing how far we have fallen in six years. Sad to see what was once a noble political party(in years past) rot from the neck up. We all are brought down by its incompetence.
March 2nd, 2007 at 2:53 pmOMG. And our gov’t services here are suffering like Walter Reed. This is outrageous!!
March 2nd, 2007 at 2:53 pmLike a tick you burrow as deep as possible.
March 2nd, 2007 at 2:54 pmPriorities.
March 2nd, 2007 at 2:55 pmHollow House of Hubris.
March 2nd, 2007 at 2:55 pmMy guess is, it’s an “Embassy” in title only and the 1000 people are actually there to run the country.
March 2nd, 2007 at 2:55 pm#3 you are spot on…Blessings
March 2nd, 2007 at 2:56 pm60 people to manage diplomatic relations with Iraq.
940 people to funnel oil money to Halliburton and other Bush administration cronies.
March 2nd, 2007 at 2:57 pmI guess it takes a 1,000 people to dole out and squander all that Iraq money efficiently, from within the walls of the largest “embassy” ever built.
March 2nd, 2007 at 2:58 pmWell, the diplomats, dignitaries, ambassadors, and other assorted V.I.P.s require a rather large support staff, including (but not limited to) maids, butlers, chauffeurs, chefs, masseurs, masseuses, tennis pros, astrologers, prostitutes (male & female), personal fitness consultants, stock brokers, bookies, pimps, etc., etc., etc..
Also, a fair number of these employees are employed to dress up as native Iraqis and rave in front of news cameras about how much better their lives are since Chimpy deposed Saddam and gave the glorious gift of democracy to Iraq. They won’t need to actually speak Arabic…just English with a thick Iraqi accent. ^_^
March 2nd, 2007 at 2:59 pmAs illustrated by Think Progress, the military budget for the United States simply makes no sense. It should not take a great deal of imagination to realize how even half of that money could help the uninsured, the poor, schools, infrastructure, libraries, health care, etc. Simply another example of how militarism will one day cause the republic of the United states, such as it is, to cease to exist. Empires usually fall, not from without, but from within. Chalmers Johnson’s new book Nemesis- The Last Days of the American Republic brings out this point remarkably well.
March 2nd, 2007 at 3:00 pmOptional illegal premptive War = $500,000,000,000.00+
Hollow House of Hubris Embassy = $923,000,000.00
Losing that War to an Army in Flip Flops = PRICELESS.
March 2nd, 2007 at 3:02 pmWho built the embassy (who did the construction)?
March 2nd, 2007 at 3:06 pmWe are supposed to be worried that the government wastes $1 billion on Iraq? I am worried about the $15 trillion in debt we cannot pay for from Social Secuirty and Medicaid. That won’t work and it is impossible to pay for. When is TP going to write that story up?
March 2nd, 2007 at 3:10 pmA delegation of U.S. religious leaders called Monday for Washington to negotiate with Tehran, following the delegation’s landmark two-and-a-half-hour meeting with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
The 13-person religious delegation was the first to meet with an Iranian president since the Islamic Revolution in 1979.
March 2nd, 2007 at 3:14 pm#16 – Roger_Roger, what about the surplus from Social Security that’s been raided over the past 40+ years? When will the Federal Government pay THAT debt back, huh?
If the Federal Government had not wasted the SS Surplus, there would BE no “crisis”.
March 2nd, 2007 at 3:18 pm“We are supposed to be worried that the government wastes $1 billion on Iraq?”
in a word, yes. social security benefits millions of americans; the oversized american embassy in the middle of a war zone does not.
March 2nd, 2007 at 3:26 pmIt’s BOLD FACED
ROBBERY!
March 2nd, 2007 at 3:29 pmComment by pgw — March 2, 2007 @ 3:26 pm
Not to mention this latest outrage is one in a daisy chain of many -Roger*2 has forgotten all the monies that the Bush (mis)administration has sent down the sink hole they made out of Iraq.
March 2nd, 2007 at 3:30 pm“I am worried about the $15 trillion in debt we cannot pay for . . .” Comment by Roger_Roger
I thought Bush was going to SOLVE that problem. He promised to do so and you folks have been in charge for 6 years. What’s up? I guess the Social Security debt is not the only debt Bush is allowing to spiral out of control.
March 2nd, 2007 at 3:40 pmAccording to the linked article, 2/3 of that budget is for security, and because the mega-embassy is such a prime target for attack, locals will not visit for official meetings, etc.
This underscores the major failure that is Iraq- the democratically elected government of Iraq exists in name only, in a very tiny section of the capital city, walled off and protected by american guns. Everytime someone says we brought democracy to Iraq, remind them that democracy, actually any form of government, simply cannot exist without security.
The fighting still rages, but the war is already decided- and we lost, and lost badly.
March 2nd, 2007 at 3:41 pmRegardless of what all those people are suppose to be doing there, if only 6 speak Arabic, then State has placed 994 unqualified people in position there. I guess we go to war with the nation we have as well as the Army. Thanks a lot, folks, and all 250 million of you know who you are (you’re only deluding yourselves now that you didn’t know the truth then and just didn’t care).
March 2nd, 2007 at 3:42 pmOnce the amerikan occupiers are driven out by the legitimate Iraqui government (which will have to be antiamerikan to survive),and diplomatic relations are severed, they are going to turn this grey elephant embassy into a nuclear research facility
March 2nd, 2007 at 3:50 pm#22 I wasn’t blaming the massive amount of unpayable debt on the Dems feet. I don’t blame Bush either as I said before, $15 trillion is not a figure that anyone can “solve”. They would have to increase taxes in the amount of $10,000 per household and we still may not pay it off. I highly doubt either party is willing to tax the average American another $10,000 per year.
#13 Now your concerned that we spend to much on our military? Every other post in the last few weeks has detailed how we don’t spend enough on our Military. TP has gone to great lengths to detail how our troops readiness in off and most are not ready. TP has shown that our troops do not have the equipment, resources, and funding they need for war. Most on this site seem to see that as a problem. The solution is to INCREASE funding and resources for our military.
When our troops are injured, TP as documented how we have fialing government healthcare. The solution once again is MORE funding and resources, not less. Are you going against the flow here and now asking that we cut funding for our troops in the face of the fact they are currently underfunded already? Please explain.
March 2nd, 2007 at 4:01 pm#26, how about we spend too much money on the military unwisely (Star Wars, aircraft we don’t need to prop up Boeing, etc) and not enough wisely. Spending more on veterans and the disabled is a good thing. Buying a new aircraft carrier might not really be. I mean, spending more than the Russians, Chinese, Iranians, hell most everybody on the military is not a wise thing to do. Spending money on foreign relations, learning other cultures, conflict resolution and the like would be a much more productive use of our money.
March 2nd, 2007 at 4:11 pmRoger_Roger, we don’t need more military spending, here or ANYWHERE in the world. But it’s increasing around the world. The U.S. accounts for nearly 50% of all military spending on this planet. Considering we are the world’s only “superpower,” it doesn’t make sense to many of us to continue to spend this way. Except, of course, that nasty Military-Industrial complex thingy that Eisenhower warned us about in the 50’s. What we DO need is PEACE! Then the great majority of all those funds could be used to take care of people instead of killing them!
http://www.globalissues.org/Geopolitics/ArmsTrade/Spending.asp
Oh yes..and the embassy boondoggle. Maybe this administration is planning to move there, in their attempt to escape the completely pissed off American people. And ultimately, the Hague.
March 2nd, 2007 at 4:19 pmI am interested in where RR gets this $15 Tril figure. As I recall, most of the figures that Bush was using to sell his SS scheme were trumped up.
March 2nd, 2007 at 4:25 pmHow many people work in the White House?
I would venture to say that Cheney is planning to run the country of Iraq out of the embassy. He never talks about the day we leave, or an Iraqi future without a US presence. As long as there’s oil, we’ll be there.
March 2nd, 2007 at 4:53 pmWho built the embassy (who did the construction)?
Comment by Jenny G. — March 2, 2007 @ 3:06 pm
not the locals, not the iraqis… or is that a rhetorical question?
yea… cause we all know about the contractors who hired immigrants
March 2nd, 2007 at 5:13 pmfrom indonesia… not the locals though…
Six out of a thousand ~ Not a good percentage!
March 2nd, 2007 at 5:57 pmwhat is that .006?
It’s NOT just the obscene amount of money that went into the “embassy”, it is what it represents and the function and impact on Iraqis and Arabs in general. So stop comparing it S.S. or medicade, because there are many reasons it’s dangerous and a crime against the citizens of iraq and I don’t give a flying F, if it had NO arab speakers, that’s irrelevant.
March 2nd, 2007 at 6:10 pmThe “embassy” will serve as a command and control center for the OCCUPATION of Iraq. It will contain high tech surveillance system, massive interconnected satellite and data base system for the OCCUPATION of Iraq. The land which it sits on as large as the Vatican, is essentially STOLEN land, and will viewed as such by Iraqis. In addition there won’t be a cell phone conversion in iraq not monitored in Iraq, by U.S. intelligence.
The “embassy” is NOT there to ensure diplomatic relations with a sovereign nation, ala arabic speakers or to exchange cooking recipes.
It’s existence is to control Iraq, control the region and to to ensure economic occupation of Iraq.
Not only Iraqis but ALL Arabs will see it for what it is, a real example of U.S. Imperialism and no doubt the resistance will too.
“Only 6 people at the embassy speak Arabic.”
Oh, but they will by the end of their postings.
March 2nd, 2007 at 6:30 pmAt the end of Clinton we had a $250 billion yearly surplus and the bipartisan CBO said Social Security was fine for the next 25 years.
If we switch to single-payer healthcare, every American has healthcare and we save about $250 billion every year in administration alone (says Consumer Reports).
We can save another $200 billion by cutting out corporate subsidies.
Ex-CIA analyst Chalmers Johnson (author of Nemesis) says our true spending on the military is $750 billion yearly when all things are considered. If our wounded are lying in their own filth, it ain’t the fault of “liberals”, it’s the fault of priorities inside the military-industrial complex.
The “threat” of Saddam was spending $ 1 billion yearly, or about 1/750 th of what we spend.
Experts are saying we are now passing 50% of the world’s military spending.
Why do we have the idea that we are so wonderful that totally different cultures on the other side of the planet just love being invaded and occupied by us?
Wes Clark on DemocracyNow today said he saw a memo 9-30-2001 from Rumsfeld’s office saying in the next five years we planned on “taking out” Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, and Iran.
March 2nd, 2007 at 6:42 pmImpeachcheneythenbush at #28 and Kahoneez at #33
Very well said. Referencing Eisenhower’s farewell speech, where he mentions the military-industrial complex, reminds me of the incredibly moving and very relevant documentary Why We Fight, which should be required viewing for every American, whether they are liberal or conservative. Occupying Iraq, as Chalmers Johnson and others note in the film, seems to have been one of the raison d’etre for invading that country, to attempt to add to the number of military bases that the United States has around the world.
March 2nd, 2007 at 6:49 pmAnd why on earth is the US building this huge embassy compound? So that King George and Vice-Roy Cheney have a place to retire? Where is the MSM about this?
March 2nd, 2007 at 9:56 pmYou really want to know why I am so against adding another entitlement program? The answer is simple. When you look at the government’s true book, the ones that are audited using true accounting practices like you and I have to use, you will find out some shocking news. For starters, you will learn that we currently run a deficit that equates to $6,700 per household. Yes, we need an additional $6,700 from each of us to keep going with Social Secuirty and Medicaid. Furthermore, you will learn that the government has run a deficit of around $40 trillion since 1997 (I was wrong about $15 trillion, it was $40 trillion) based solely on Social Secuirty and Medicaid. You see, the government wants to now show you these figures because they want to claim Social Secuirty Benefits and Medicare benefits are not Liabilities. They are correct, but this isn’t a good thing. They claim they aren’t liabilities because they can cut these programs at any time and just stop giving any benefit. This is certainly true and would wipe out the $40 trillion in debt. However, this would also mean that the elderly would wake up one morning to no check and no health program. IN the end, I want to disagree and say these programs are a liability simply because we can’t just end them. Too many people would be hurt. But if we can’t end them, then the true books show a $40 trillion deficit just from these 2 programs. Hell, in 2000 the true books show a one time hit of $12 trillion from the new prescription drug benefit. None of this we can pay, unless the government today asked each and every household for $6,700 more in taxes every year. Now that you know this, how do you plan to add universal Health care to the mix? We already need to ask the average American for $6,700 more per year. How much more above that figure are you prepared to ask for?
March 3rd, 2007 at 12:14 amYou probably need 1,000 people as a cheering section for the attack on Iran. Note to President Bush about the Iran puzzle: Still trying to figure out what happened to the good old days when the Shah sat on the Peacock Throne and the SAVAK kept him there? Wondering how to get rid of the mullahs and their alleged nuclear whatnots, and bring back the Peacock Throne instead? You don’t really need covert ops, aircraft carriers, cruise missiles and nuclear bunker busters. Just play with a peacock jigsaw puzzle. It’s fun and challenging, the puzzles are readily available and you don’t have to kill anyone. Just take the pieces one at a time and play around with them until you can make them fit. Here’s a partially completed one to get you started Don’t those eyespots look pretty?
March 3rd, 2007 at 10:19 amEMBASSIES = REGIONAL CIA OFFICES
March 3rd, 2007 at 12:06 pmhttp://www.peace-action.org/
———————————————————————————
To: Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice
cc: Chairs of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and House Committee on International Relations
We, the undersigned, vehemently oppose any U.S. military action against Iran. Such military action would inevitably kill large numbers of innocent people, foster even more hatred and international condemnation of the U.S., and dramatically increase the instability of the region. Our own intelligence agencies have concluded the Iraq war has worsened the terrorist threat, and a war against Iran would add immeasurably more fuel to the fire.
Even if Iran decided to build a nuclear weapon, experts agree that it would take several years. There is no crisis, and our government should not create one with inflammatory rhetoric or military threats. The U.S. has both the time and obligation to work with the international community to fashion a diplomatic resolution to the situation, and the current refusal of U.S. officials to talk directly with Iranian officials cannot possibly help resolve the nuclear standoff, nor contribute to peace in Iraq and the Middle East.
Therefore, we urge you to take all steps necessary to reach a peaceful resolution to the current situation, including direct negotiations without pre-conditions. This is the only way to prevent yet another war, one that would be a calamity of truly global proportions.
———————————————————————–
No War with Iran!
President Bush is now regularly accusing Iran of supporting attacks on U.S. troops, without any evidence, – remember the WMD’s in Iraq, anyone? – adding that “we will seek out and destroy” these networks. Bush has authorized U.S. forces to kill Iranian “operatives” in Iraq, and he is sending nuclear aircraft carriers and missile defense batteries to the Persian Gulf. The unthinkable – a wider war in the Middle East – is unfolding.
John D. Rockefeller IV, D-W.Va., chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said that any U.S. military move into Iran would be “catastrophically stupid” and “unleash a conflagration like we’ve never heard of before.” We could not possibly agree more.
Resistance to a Bush planned military strike on Iran is growing in Congress, but it needs your help! Sign the petition to Congress below – No War with Iran! House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said recently that she would introduce legislation to stop such a strike, so our demand is beginning to get through. But the pressure needs to be much, much stronger to stop a President who has apparently gone mad with war and his own power.
Please know that your email address is for internal purposes only; we will not send it to the petition recipients nor share it with any other organization for any purpose. Thanks also for forwarding this to your friends, colleagues and listserves. We need everyone who wants to bring peace to the Middle East and prevent a war with Iran to join the effort now!
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http://www.peace-action.org/
March 3rd, 2007 at 1:10 pm