Pentagon Backs Plan To Build U.S. ‘Zone Of Influence’ Of Hotels And Resorts In Baghdad
Pentagon Backs Plan To Build U.S. ‘Zone Of Influence’ Of Hotels And Resorts In Baghdad
The White House has repeatedly insisted that the United States has “no desire for permanent bases” in Iraq. Nevertheless, the Bush administration is seeking to leave its footprint on Iraq through other means. The AP reports that the Pentagon is backing a $5 billion dollar plan to “transform the U.S.-protected Green Zone” into a “centerpiece for Baghdad’s future,” resulting in “big paydays for early investors“:
For Washington, the driving motivation is to create a “zone of influence” around the new $700 million U.S. Embassy to serve as a kind of high-end buffer for the compound, whose total price tag will reach about $1 billion after all the workers and offices are relocated over the next year.
“When you have $1 billion hanging out there and 1,000 employees lying around, you kind of want to know who your neighbors are. You want to influence what happens in your neighborhood over time,” said Navy Capt. Thomas Karnowski, who led the team that created the development plan.
An incentive for the project, which would include hotels, resorts, and commercial development in the Green Zone, appears to be lining the pockets of investors and allies rather than re-building Iraq’s economy. In fact, Karnowski acknowledged that American officials would vet potential investors because of a “vested interest” — mirroring the cronyism of Saddam’s Hussein’s regime.
Some Iraqi leaders even have drawn parallels to the U.S.-backed development plan and what Saddam Hussein did in the area — known by its Iraqi name of Tashri during his regime. Hussein stocked the neighborhood with family and tribal allies, political loyalists and members of his elite Republican Guard. Karnowski called the accusation “partially true.”
Many U.S. embassy officials have called the plan “unrealistic.” One added that Iraqis, a majority of whom oppose the U.S. presence, are unlikely to want the U.S. to “turn this area into downtown Kansas City.” “The Iraqi government wants to limit U.S. power in the Green Zone,” a top adviser to Prime Minister Maliki said.
But the permanent U.S. footprint in Iraq is already making inroads. In addition to construction of the U.S. embassy in Baghdad, the largest in the world, the Los Angeles-based company that developed Disneyland is developing a “massive American-style amusement park” in Baghdad “that will feature a skateboard park, rides, a concert theatre and a museum.” That project has the support of Gen. David Petraeus.
“If you talk to people at the State Department, they still believe a hotel isn’t going up. But it is a done deal,” Karnowski said of the Marriott project. Another “possible $1 billion investment could come from MBI International, a conglomerate that focuses on hotels and resorts and is led by Saudi Sheikh Mohamed Bin Issa Al Jaber.”
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Pentagon Backs Plan To Build U.S. ‘Zone Of Influence’ Of Hotels And Resorts In Baghdad
Or as the “bad guys” call it, Target-Rich Environment.
May 5th, 2008 at 10:41 amBuilt by criminals for the use of criminals, certainly not the average Iraqi or for that matter the average American.
May 5th, 2008 at 10:47 amWould that include a Mortar Target Mall ??
May 5th, 2008 at 10:47 amThe only way a “zone of influence” can work in Baghdad is by building big enough walls to keep people out.
Maybe they can rename the section Contractor’s Paradise.
May 5th, 2008 at 10:47 amWe build malls there, they build Mosques here. And my Republican buddies have finally caught on that that’s not a success story. D’oh!
May 5th, 2008 at 10:48 amIt will cost about $1-Billion to build, and another $100-Billion to put up the reflective shield to stop all those mortar rounds from raining down.
May 5th, 2008 at 10:48 amAs usual another great idea from the minds of the people who are currently in positions of power. If you aren’t scared yet, you are propbably brain dead.
America-land!
Should go over real big!
May 5th, 2008 at 10:49 amCan you say, “high value target” ?
May 5th, 2008 at 10:51 amWill there be an Applebee’s?
May 5th, 2008 at 10:51 amMore importantly, will you be able to buy five rugs for five bucks at this mall?
May 5th, 2008 at 10:53 am….the Los Angeles-based company that developed Disneyland is developing a “massive American-style amusement park” in Baghdad “that will feature a skateboard park, rides, a concert theatre and a museum.” That project has the support of Gen. David Petraeus.
So this must mean that ALL concerns about attacks inside the “Green Zone” have been examined and determined to be resolved right? Another example of why we will NEVER leave Iraq no matter who is president.
May 5th, 2008 at 10:53 amKatrina victims face foreclosure
NEW ORLEANS — Letitia Youngblood struggled through repairs, government paperwork and shady contractors to rebuild her home after Hurricane Katrina. Then her mortgage payments recently jumped 35%.
Now Youngblood, behind on payments and out of rebuilding money, said she may lose her Lower 9th Ward home. The floods couldn’t keep her from her house, but higher payments might.
It’s too much,” Youngblood, 53, said. “My mortgage was the last thing I was thinking about.”
Homeowners trying to rebuild from the floods of 2005 are increasingly facing a new adversary: foreclosures. As housing repair bills mount, so does the pressure to make their primary housing payments.
For instance, residents who applied for federal housing grants, such as the Road Home program in Louisiana, may not qualify if they receive a foreclosure notice.
May 5th, 2008 at 10:53 amSounds like a last attempt to stay those 100 years.
May 5th, 2008 at 10:54 amAre they now carving up Iraq into little fiefdoms to satisify the administrations dreams of mission accomplished?
Roket Says:
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More importantly, will you be able to buy five rugs for five bucks at this mall?
May 5th, 2008 at 10:53 am
Yeah………..Flak jackets , helmets , and a platoon of US Marines not included.
May 5th, 2008 at 10:55 amRoket Says:
More importantly, will you be able to buy five rugs for five bucks at this mall?
Yes, but the rugs will have a tag on the back, which reads “Made in China”.
May 5th, 2008 at 10:55 amYet another victory for the boys of The Project for the New American Century…..
May 5th, 2008 at 11:05 amThey are, of course, going to include a Target Store, aren’t they?
May 5th, 2008 at 11:07 amdbadass Says:
Will there be an Applebee’s?
Yes, in between two Starbucks.
May 5th, 2008 at 11:07 amKBR gets richer and richer.
May 5th, 2008 at 11:09 amMore Americans are losing their homes, health insurance and jobs.
Heckuva job, Chimpie!
That just frigging crazy!!!
May 5th, 2008 at 11:11 amThey send us 300$$ and waste 100 billion more in a war zone!!!
This country is nuts, there I finally said it, trolls.
take care
tony and guidedog Lido
RUCerious Says:
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They are, of course, going to include a Target Store, aren’t they?
May 5th, 2008 at 11:07 am
Yeah……….Every one of them.
May 5th, 2008 at 11:14 amEveryone knows that you just aren’t civilized until you have a Wal-Mart in your neighborhood.
May 5th, 2008 at 11:14 amWill the Iraqis be willing to work at Wal-Mart for starvation wages, or will they have to import retired Americans to work there?
May 5th, 2008 at 11:21 amAlong with protecting all those “temporary’ bases out in the desert, we’re gonna hafta have troops around to protect the real estate investments of the billionaire developers.
Sure, why not!
McMelanoma says we can’t leave Iraq till the killing stops. Then we can stay 100 years, if we want to.
Problem: As long as there are USers–military or civilian– wandering around with guns randomly offing innocent Iraqis, the killing of USers by affronted indigenes is not gonna stop.
May 5th, 2008 at 11:21 amMakes about as much sense as would El Al making Baghdad a hub city.
May 5th, 2008 at 11:23 amThe cost to fix every deficient bridge in this country would total a (gasp) !!STAGGERING!! (gasp) $60-70 billion, yet the nuts in charge have us spending much, much more than that on development in another country against its will.
May 5th, 2008 at 11:23 amIs it just me or are these people just not in touch with reality? I can’t even imagine a skateboard park this summer with all the bombings and mortar fire going on. Are all the kids skateboarding going to be issued Body Armour? What Navy Capt. Thomas Karnowski (the creative genius/idiot) hasn’t considered is that many of the Iraqi people do not want us there. I would go so far as saying; the majority do not want us to keep an Embassy there.
Karnowski can construct as many blast walls as he wants surrounding the Green Zone, that isn’t going to keep them from bombing it. The arrogance of this entire plan is just astounding. Criminals and Thieves every last one of them.
May 5th, 2008 at 11:23 amThis plan brought to you from the candidate that didn’t believe in “nation-building.” Well, it could be argued that he’s not building a nation, but just an “enterprise zone” for all the war profiteers that are re-incorporating in the Middle East to avoid paying US taxes.
More importantly, how is a plan to service the rich going to fly with the rest of Baghdad and Iraq that still have less electricity and running water now than before they were “liberated?”
May 5th, 2008 at 11:27 aminsurgents can practice their sniping skills, picking off the skate-boarders as they zip and zoom around…good fun…
May 5th, 2008 at 11:28 amAmerica needs to be building bridges, not walls.
We’ve got a wall around New Orleans that doesn’t work.
We’re building a wall on the Southern border that won’t work.
We’re building walls in Iraq to separate Iraqis.
Bush built a wall between the WH & Congress for the last 7 yrs.
Politicians have built a wall between Parties.
Bush diplomacy has built a wall between America & the World.
It’s time to get back to building bridges, America.
May 5th, 2008 at 11:32 amIf you build it, they will come (not).
May 5th, 2008 at 11:32 amIf you build it, they will bomb.
May 5th, 2008 at 11:38 amAs someone who actually lives in Kansas City, I can assure you that the last thing they need there is what we’ve done here.
Yes, KC is much, much safer, but I’m not sure a pretty-much empty arena and some gimmicky shopping areas are going to do the trick.
Instead, I’m sure Baghdad folks would prefer some safety, more reliable public services, perhaps some schools for their kids, shopping … and the absence of American Soldiers and Marines.
Pretty much what we want here, now that I think of it …
:-)
May 5th, 2008 at 11:43 amwonder if it will look anything like Havana in 1959?
May 5th, 2008 at 11:44 amWhat a waste of time, money, and effort building hotels, malls, etc. in Iraq.
Logical people will not visit (reporters excepted) Iraq while there is any possibility of being killed. They will spend their money in less dangerous areas. Who would risk their lives to visit beautiful, downtown Bagdad?
The big spenders are not stupid.
May 5th, 2008 at 11:51 amImmediately below the link above entitled, “big paydays for early investors” can be found this:
Next Article in Middle East:
Rice cautions Israel on West Bank
What a joke. We invade a country, take whatever we want from it, and think that we can speak effectively to Israel about barricades in the West Bank? What a scripted play this all is.
May 5th, 2008 at 11:54 am“When you have $1 billion hanging out there and 1,000 employees lying around, you kind of want to know who your neighbors are. You want to influence what happens in your neighborhood over time,” said Navy Capt. Thomas Karnowski, who led the team that created the development plan.
But, but, but…I thought we were only liberators and not occupiers. That’s what George, and Rumsfield, and Condi, and everyone else has always said.
This sure looks like occupying to me.
May 5th, 2008 at 11:54 amWouldn’t it make sense for us to have a low-profile while we’re there?
I don’t think they want our culture imported into their country, they just want their infrastructure fixed, and us out.
I really keep thinking they can’t screw this war up anymore than they have, but obviously I’m just not being imaginitive enough.
May 5th, 2008 at 12:09 pmMan, talk about stealing a country! Any thought as to what the Iraqi people might want? Water, electricity, food, jobs. You know, the basics?
May 5th, 2008 at 12:32 pmOne can only think what the US and American people would do if that were done to America. It is clear the White House and the Pentagon have taken over Iraq from the Iraq people. Now while Americans live in the Resort Green Zone with the best of everything, outside the Zone the Iraqi people live with nothing. The so called investors will wake up when the Zone Resorts is bombed. I wouldn’t be surprised if the money that’s used by the White House and Pentagon is from the US taxpayers, yes that just might be the real investors.
May 5th, 2008 at 12:38 pmYet another of the bold-faced lies about the “war”.
Saddam, the once U.S. supported installed-dictator would still be alive if he’d only let us put a Starbucks and McDonalds in downtown Baghdad.
Ah, smell the advancement of Imperialism… we blow you up, then profit handsomely from “helping you rebuild.”
May 5th, 2008 at 12:50 pmWhat the hell is wrong with those idiots at the Pentagon? They shouldn’t be in the political business at all. The stupid Generals who support this shouldn’t be in charge of our troops or anything else. This is the dumbest idea I’ve ever heard. What are they going to do about security? Who are the people who are stupid enough to stay at a hotel in the middle of a war zone? Is blackwater going to escort every guest downtown and kill a bunch of civilians daily? How will guest even get to the hotel without being blown up? Will they have to actually pay guest to stay there? What do they think will attact anyone to vacation in Iraq? Who ever dreamed this up should be kicked out of the military and never be heard from again. This is like us trying to built a hotel complex in Hanoi during the Viet Nam war. For those of you who don’t know where Hanoi was it was the capital of North Viet Nam during the war. If our leaders don’t have anything to keep them busy, I got something right down their alley. It’s finding Osama Bin Laden! Now get off your asses and find him, and stop being stupid on my dime.
May 5th, 2008 at 12:50 pmI thought April 1st had come and gone until I read this. Is this being passed around in the U.S. Congress, or is it only discussed in the Pentagon restrooms, RNC headquarters, PNAC, wherever?
May 5th, 2008 at 1:01 pm“You better brace yourself for a whole lot of ugly, coming from a neverending parade of stupid.” ~ Queen Latifah in Hairspray
That says it all.
May 5th, 2008 at 1:08 pm“You want to influence what happens in your neighborhood over time,”
Is there any square inch of this planet which we do not consider OUR neighborhood? Apparently not.
May 5th, 2008 at 1:28 pmMaybe Georgie will have them build a major league baseball stadium so he can give that career another shot. He can put together a team filled with Blackwater employees and they can supply their own security. Maybe they can play against the Halliburton team. It looks like it’ll be Georgie’s Bushwackers against Dick’s Profiteers for the championship!
May 5th, 2008 at 1:32 pmWell this certainly proves Naomi Klein’s thesis in Shock Doctrine. Since Nixon, and Reagan, it’s always been about profits at ANY cost. The comment above about “Americaland” is right on. That is the “democracy” we’re exporting and the irony of doing so in literally in the heart of Western civilization (Mesopotamia) is so bitter I need to spit. Read Klein’s book if you haven’t already…it’s simply MIND BLOWING!
http://www.naomiklein.org/shock-doctrine
May 5th, 2008 at 1:47 pmFlaunting the American Occupation in front of every Iraqi citizen, just how many ordinary Iraqis will get to even come close to this travisty…………………….
May 5th, 2008 at 2:05 pmTime to clean out the top leadership on all five sides of that building and get some honest troops in there.
May 5th, 2008 at 2:17 pmDoes the $1 billion include bomb shelters or will those be extra?
May 5th, 2008 at 2:43 pmThe new Baghdad BASTILLE!
May 5th, 2008 at 3:27 pm*) OK - so we criticised Husein because he built an elaborate home town while the rest of the country was wanting. Now, not only is is a native, but the ugly Americans can stand on their roofs and sneer at the dirty Iraqis in the streets below.
*) All that glass looks beautiful. What happens when a mortar hits it ?
May 5th, 2008 at 4:03 pmI’ve heard the Green Zone called the “Emerald City” and if there ever was a place of fantasy deserving the name, this is it! “Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain,” shouts the Bush Administration. But he’s been exposed; we’ve seen the truth. Will we, like Dorothy, call ‘em out or will we continue to drink the kool-aid?
May 5th, 2008 at 6:53 pm