Our politicians committed $592 million to building the world's largest U.S. embassy. Think about that next April 15th. [Guantanamo cost $52 million].
Worse yet, it's being erected in Iraq while we're at war. Could enemies find a better symbolic target than a shiny new embassy complex? The construction site is also victim to shoddy work:
"The first signs of trouble... 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.... The wiring began to melt....
"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.
"[A State Department official] berated personnel in Baghdad for sending their message over an open embassy system, rather than keeping the complaints in-house" (Washington Post)
God forbid the taxpayers should hear about it! Former Halliburton subsidiary KBR is involved but blaming another contractor. Despite its spotted history, KBR keeps getting government contracts. For examples of problems with other contractors, see BNP's posts on fraud suits against Defense and Healthcare contractors.
About the embassy, the blogger Minister of Propaganda commented: "Everything this Administration touches turns to crap." See others' comments....
* Damn, Oversight is Inconvenient (The Donnybrook)
* Battle of the Iraqi Contractors (Mike the Mad Biologist)
* Another Mis-administration F*ck-up (Undeniable Liberalism)
* The High Cost of Cutting Corners (Winter Patriot)
* Extravagant Embassy Boondoggle (What Happened to My Country)
* Fortress America: Yet another Screwed up Mess (Reconstitution 2)
Another heckuva job, by the folks who brought you the death of New Orleans. And this one even featured slave labor, another Chimpy love.
Is anyone surprised at all by this?
Posted by: JollyRoger | July 08, 2007 at 04:08 AM
Well put! And no, I doubt anyone is really surprised.
Posted by: The Crux | July 08, 2007 at 10:06 PM