Think Progress

House to investigate U.S. embassy problems in Iraq.

By Amanda Terkel on Jul 5th, 2007 at 1:29 pm

House to investigate U.S. embassy problems in Iraq.

The House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform will hold a hearing on July 26 “on construction delays and problems plaguing the U.S. Embassy construction project in Baghdad, a $592 million project. The hearing will examine the performance, billing, and labor practices of government contractors, including the record of oversight of contractors by the United States government.”

Comments
14

14 Responses to “House to investigate U.S. embassy problems in Iraq.”

Mr. President says:

OK House, you go do that.
July 5th, 2007 at 1:46 pm
Namtillaku says:

Uh oh. Quick, someone grab a shoe, I’ll lift up the veil, and you start whacking the cockroaches.
July 5th, 2007 at 1:51 pm
Evil Spaniard says:

When the finance inspectors get there, probably they will discover that the new “New American Embassy” it’s a mud hut, and the money has been funneled… nowhere to be found.
July 5th, 2007 at 1:52 pm
Jay Randal says:

Bush’s embassy project in Baghdad, Iraq, is one of the biggest swindles of US taxpayers money in US history. It is a huge white elephant of poor construction and stupidity.
July 5th, 2007 at 1:55 pm
pete592 says:

It’s simply Amazing to me that while conservatives are all about small government, less dependence on government, less ‘government instrusion’ and less opportunity for government to screw things up, THEY ARE MORE THAN HAPPY TO TRUST THE GOVERNMENT WITH WAR AND NATION BUILDING.
July 5th, 2007 at 2:10 pm
upside00 says:

OHH OHHH! If they look too closely, Halliburton may lose a contract and Darth won’t be able to clollect his additional millions in dividends! That isn’t FAIR!!!!
July 5th, 2007 at 2:11 pm
toasterhead says:

Well! This is the most unpatriotic act by the Democrat House I’ve seen in a long time.

We were going to have the BEST heated pool in all of the Middle East. The BEST. We were THIS CLOSE to securing overwhelming heated pool superiority for the U.S. of A, and CONgress had to go and take it all away. Now, once again, our country is way behind Dubai and Saudi Arabia. I bet even President al-Asad of Syria has a better pool than us. SYRIA!

We must not allow a MIDDLE EASTERN HEATED-POOL GAP!
July 5th, 2007 at 2:13 pm
RUCerious says:

They’ll find the cornerstone consists of a pallet of cash, cleverly disguised as bricks.
July 5th, 2007 at 2:14 pm
sljonz says:

This embassy is the elephant in the room. We all know or should know its there, its cost, the waste etc….but no one wants to talk about it. If I hear Bush claim one more time about freedom and democracy in the Middle East more ears are going to bleed dry. It’s a disgrace and Bush is disgraceful
July 5th, 2007 at 2:25 pm
Perry Logan says:

I tell you, the Republics shouldn’t even bother to put anyone up for President in 2008. I think they should start packing their things before Americans just start killing them.

If they’re not already.
July 5th, 2007 at 2:35 pm
Mr. President says:

CHENEY 2008!!! †
July 5th, 2007 at 2:40 pm
Rocket says:

I expect we will discover just exactly how blast proof this Embassy is the day it officially opens. Can they actually make blast proof roofs? Can you spell mortar?
July 5th, 2007 at 5:18 pm
Alejandro says:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/07/04/AR2007070401685.html?hpid=topnews

Actually, I think this is just desserts.

The first signs of trouble, according to the cable, emerged when the kitchen staff tried to cook the inaugural meal in the new guard base on May 15. Some appliances did not work. Workers began to get electric shocks. Then a burning smell enveloped the kitchen as the wiring began to melt.

All the food from the old guard camp — a collection of tents — had been carted to the new facility, in the expectation that the 1,200 guards would begin moving in the next day. But according to the cable, the electrical meltdown was just the first problem in a series of construction mistakes that soon left the base uninhabitable, including wiring problems, fuel leaks and noxious fumes in the sleeping trailers.

“Poor quality construction . . . life safety issues . . . left [the embassy] with no recourse but to shut the camp down, in spite of the blistering heat in Baghdad,” the May 29 cable informed Washington.

That’s. What. You. Get.

What goes around comes around.
July 5th, 2007 at 6:23 pm
Marie says:

I didn’t hear the entire story today, but I think I heard that the embassy is uninhabitable because of contamination?!
July 5th, 2007 at 9:04 pm

House to investigate U.S. embassy problems in Iraq.

House to investigate U.S. embassy problems in Iraq.

14 Responses to “House to investigate U.S. embassy problems in Iraq.”

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