NEWS FLASH

U.S. To Downsize Baghdad Embassy By Half | Just a month after the U.S.-led war in Iraq ended, the U.S. will reduce its diplomatic footprint in Baghdad by half, reports the New York TImes. Due to security concerns and rifts with the Iraqi government, the embassy, the largest in the world with 16,000 employees, mostly contractors, proved unable to attend all the tasks it had planned to takeover with the U.S. military’s departure. One Washington expert told the Times the mission was “horribly overstaffed given what they are able to accomplish.” Tensions over the robust U.S. contractor presence — whose history rankles Iraqis — loomed large over Iraqi foot-dragging on U.S. visas and other impediments to the embassy’s work. With the military gone, supplying the embassy also became a problem; chicken wings were rationed at one dinner to six per person, the salad bar ran low, and there was no sweeteners for coffee.