(guest blog by Taylor Marsh)
The fortress-like compound rising beside the Tigris River here will be the largest of its kind in the world, the size of Vatican City, with the population of a small town, its own defense force, self-contained power and water, and a precarious perch at the heart of Iraq’s turbulent future.
The new U.S. Embassy also seems as cloaked in secrecy as the ministate in Rome.
"We can’t talk about it. Security reasons," Roberta Rossi, a spokeswoman at the current embassy, said when asked for information about the project.
A British tabloid even told readers the location was being kept secret — news that would surprise Baghdadis who for months have watched the forest of construction cranes at work across the winding Tigris, at the very center of their city and within easy mortar range of anti-U.S. forces in the capital, though fewer explode there these days.
U.S. Building Massive Embassy in Baghdad (above photo by AP)
People were surprised about the long-term bases, which have been in the planning since 2004. Well, wait until they get a load of this monster.
It’s a U.S. complex consisting of 21 buildings and 104 acres, according to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. You know how big that is? Try Rome’s Vatican City, baby. We’re talking huge.
It’s the largest in the world and sends forth only one message. We’re going to be in Iraq for a very long time, as a serious power challenge to the Iraqis, which will be unmistakable once it’s finished and action starts taking place. Wonder how that’s going to go down?
According to the article, the U.S. embassy will be ready in 2007. I say, according to this article, because there’s not much popping on it anywhere else. The land was transferred to the U.S. in 2004 under a secret agreement. Well, at 104 acres, it’s a miracle it’s been a secret this long, but since journalists can’t roam very far without getting kidnapped, maybe that actually worked to keep it all under wraps. There’s been gigantic cranes working and a lot of action over the months, which will eventually open out on Embassy Baghdad that has its own "defense force, self-contained power and water."
The Senate report talks about it being a "hardened" structure, meaning that it stands alone, without any help from any outside company, electricity, or anything else, because it’s 100% independent, for obvious reasons. It’s "six times larger than the United Nations compound in New York, and two-thirds the acreage of Washington’s National Mall." Think about that a minute. There’s going to be a lot going on in this building and it doesn’t seem plausible that it’s all for Iraq. Surprise, surprise, right?
The project went to First Kuwaiti Trading & Contracting, with other contracts going to six other companies, five of which are American. However, no one knows who they are, because they’re working in classified sections of Embassy Baghdad. Want to take a guess?
Congress appropriated $592 million in the emergency Iraq budget last year, but the "original cost estimates ranged over $1 billion." However, if we’ve learned anything from Bush’s preemptive adventure, it’s that the bottom line has no bottom line.
We haven’t heard much about this from anyone, no single Democrat talking about it. We know the Republicans will stay mum. But just like the long-term bases, it sends the signal that’s not altogether comforting. Except for this guy, as the propaganda campaign continues.
Look, no one is naive enough to believe that we’ll vamoose from Iraq, leaving no trail behind. However, between the gigantic long-term bases and Embassy Baghdad, a place that replicates the empire image of Vatican City, this is falling into the I told you so category for permanent residency. It sure would be nice if the pin headed politicians in Washington let us know what we’re spending our tax dollars on. You know, just to inform us that we’re going to be on the ground in Iraq permanently. After all, our plans in Saudi Arabia worked out so well, now didn’t they?
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fitz!!
When you colonize a country, you need a big presence. This is a colonial war.
Which makes Rumsfeld’s record all the more bizarre. The French put 400,000 troops into Algeria, out of a population less than a fifth the size of ours, to maintain their colonial power.
The Iraq war is one of the most insane mistakes in world history. I wonder if they are including a heliport on the roof to fly off the last Americans (cf. Saigon)?
Turd!
http://www.informationclearing…..e12499.htm
Fitz! Norske! Edward Teller! VG! Everybody!
Reisz, we say fitz to honor him, your glorifying rove demeans what we are trying to do.
If they’ve already built the Burger King and the A&W, we’re never leaving.
Taylor–troll alert 5 blue/green
“self contained water and power”: They’ve figured out how to make water from what, exactly? Are they going solar or wind-generated electricity? Because otherwise they’re getting it from outside those walls, and it can be cut off. And someone will try, as soon as they can figure out a way.
Wait til ArabDisney moves in.
I hate to go off topic a little, but there is a folkloric backstory here.
I remember having a conversation a few years back about the Islamic attraction to Al Qaeda, and of the methodological and recruiting parallels of bin laden’s zealots with one Al Hassan i-Sabbah and his band of hashashins in the 9th century.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hashshashin
My best guess is that we are adopting pre-medieval methods in order to sustain our presence in the region.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alamut
Riesz–oops sorry misspelled your name. Must wake up before posting.
Score one more for our cultural sensitivity
Temple of Babylon now a U.S. helipad and parking lot…
This base sounds like the airport in Colorado built on an indian burial ground.Maybe it will be cursed.
That’s an old link, I know, but they were discussing the archaealogical impact on NPR last night.
Taylor–another great post. We need to pursue where all the money is going. This project, large and scary as it is, represents only a fraction of what is being spent/wasted over there. Between the inflated invoices and outright stealing, we are digging ourselves deeper into debt…for what? More facilities to turn over to the locals when they kick us out? And so many, many people being wounded and killed for a fraud. I am ashamed to have my tax dollars fund this.
Good Morning Everyone,
Another informative post Taylor, thanks !
Sharkbabe, when do you sleep ?
Arbogast – my memory is fuzzy, didn’t the French try some kind of wall in the Algerian conflict ?
Taylor – love you and your posts. Thank you.
Also btw Chris Floyd, one of the most eloquent and starkly depressing truth writers on this fascism we’re in. Must-read horrible brilliance every week. Latest wanna shoot myself from Chris:
http://tinyurl.com/d2s5j
“Score one more for our cultural sensitivity
Temple of Babylon now a U.S. helipad and parking lot…”
This sickens me to the core. Antiquities are far more finite than oil and our inability to protect what is not only a source of pride for Iraqis, but also for civilization in general, leaves us without the most powerful commonality we share – history. Seeing how Egypt has successfully harnessed it’s role as a vibrant and far-reaching culture through it’s own atiquities and worldwide interest therein; I find it hard to believe that we could of not done the same with Iraq in order to strengthen common bonds and shared historical values.
And who is going to use this when we leave next year?
Good morning, everyone, and thanks.
You’ve really got to wonder if the violence in Iraq isn’t working towards Bush’s advantage on things like Embassy Baghdad and the long-term bases. The other thing is that NO ONE is talking about this, not even the Democrats.
Anyone want to take a guess on the other companies building the fortress?
cbl – i sleep all day at work so i can be in tip top commenting shape here :)
Hubris Sonic,
Are we going to pull out or be run out ?
Sure would like to hear your general impressions/comments on Iran as well.
More on Babylon– but, hey we are willing to say we are sorry.
‘Col Coleman told the BBC that if the Iraqis wanted an apology for the destruction caused by his men he was willing to give one.
The 2,000 troops who were deployed there did immense damage as they set up camp amidst the ruins of old temples.
A helicopter pad was constructed at the site. The vibration from landings led the roof of one building to collapse.
The soldiers also filled their sandbags with archaeological artefacts, just because they were lying around and easy to pick up.
The head of the Iraqi State Board for Heritage and Antiquities, Donny George, is angry and says the mess will take decades to sort out.
Col Coleman argues that whatever his troops did, the alternative would have been far worse.
If they hadn’t moved in, Babylon would have been left at the mercy of looters, he says.’
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4908940.stm
Taylor, nice post. I think this massive spend-a-thon will end up being wasted money like the billions spent on that air base in Saudi Arabia. We’re going to be invited to leave that country soon, because any self-respecting leader will do so.
Taylor-
1.Haliburton
2.Haliburton
3.Haliburton
Did I name the companies correctly?
Don’t forget the subsidiaries of Haliburton.
FKTC is probably the prime on these bids, I wonder if the subs are halliburton and bechtel..hehe.
http://www.alternet.org/waroniraq/32927/
Every once in while, I get the eerie feeling that this nation is beyond redemption.
Today is one of those days.
-GSD
GSD @ 29. I had the same thought. I feel like I am living in an insane asylum. Totally surreal.
Taylor is right, nobody is talking about this or the bases. I printed out Taylor’s piece on the bases and shared it with some like minded folks – they treated me as if I’d sent all my money to some Nigerian. Well except for this 14 year Air Force Trainer. Thank goodness he was there to verify or there’d have been a ‘blogger intervention’ right there on the deck.
I was sad to hear that Cheney only made 8.8 million last year. How does he get by?
GSD, jere–welcome to my world.
ot – nice hit job on the “angry left” in today’s Wash Post. Too bad they didn’t interview Taylor or Jane or Christy for an adult perspective
cbl–at least it wasn’t Nigerien. Then we would have to wonder if you were trying to buy uranium from Niger. Stupid analogy, but about as factual as the administration’s uranium claims that led us to this fraudulent war.
it’s a beautiful day here in southern Maryland as I prepare to drive to the beach in Delaware to entertain drunken humans.
Everybody fucking HATES bush. Humanity will prevail. LISTEN TO NORSKE!
Ya don’t suppose any of these buildings will house a ‘Ministry of Truth’ where ‘terrorists’ will be ‘interviewed’?
The Big Embassy, like the Big Bases, is just one more lane on the Highway to Hell. Obviously, the only reason to have this kind of facility is to run a neo-colonial enterprise from. Is the new Iraqi “national unity government” going to be run from inside this self-sufficient compound? Well, yes, whether they actually hold parliament inside the walls or not. How well is this all going to work out? Not well. I wonder if some of the (rapidly expanding) 65,000 refugees are going to set up camp around the Taj McBush to see if they can get some of that tasty water, power, and Baskin-Robbins.
The bottom line is that this adventure is going to make Napoleon marching into Russia look like a stroke of military genius before it is over. Count on it.
peace,
jim
egregious, thanks for the welcome. I enjoy your comments and insight. I am so glad to have found refuge in the sanity at FDL. I take comfort in knowing that there are still people who are free and rational thinkers.
At this point, cbl, everyone is just crushed by Bush fatigue, so that even the truth about bases freaks ‘em out.
Oh, and you nailed it, cathy.
Does anyone have any quotes of Wolfowitz, Rummy and the gang talking about how we wouldn’t stay in Iraq? I’d love to see their words come back and bite them.
And exactly why aren’t Democrats talking about this one? I’m not an isolationist by any stretch of the imagination, believe me, but we’re building Embassy Baghdad while New Orleans still lies in a heap? What’s wrong with this picture, not to mention our priorities? How about America first?
For once Bush and his bunch are telling the truth: subsequent presidents will have to continue dealing with Iraq. Despite Murtha’s redepolyment, Kerry’s deadlines and any other ad hoc plan for the future of this war, no one—no one, hardly even an occasional Democrat—has any intention of ending U.S. presence in Iraq. If necessary, the U.S. military will withdraw into the permanent bases, provision itself by air and let a civil war go its own way until another strongman manages to put the lid on the violence. The U.S. will then, finally, have a democratic leader to do business with. The stories about the enormous size of the embassy have been circulating for a long time now. The embassy is being built as a command and control center for the Middle East. From this compound, the future U.S. plans in the region will be planed, monitored and prosecuted. This the epitome empire: the world belong’s to the U.S. You ain’t seen anything yet.
A minor quibble: perhaps owing to my Texas bias….104 acres “aint all that big!” But that’s a side issue.
Several things come to mind:
1. OF COURSE this is more Bush crony sleaze. Funnel the money to your cronies. Business as usual.
2. The article you quoted ended with something like “and within easy mortar range of anti-US forces…”. Yep! And look for that to start happening in about a year. The bad guys will set up mortars in urban Baghdad, lob a few across the river, and onto this compound. Every now and then they’ll score a direct hit, and people will die.
3. And..just wait. Soon, this too will become another “rally cry”, another “recruiting message” for Bin Laden. “And now the crusaders again occupy our sacred moslem lands, they defile our religion and us in the ancient land of the Tigris”, and on and on. The MSM may not be paying too much attention to that story of soldiers stuffing sand bags with old pottery….but al queda is. Look for more instability. What a mess. Ghostman
Taj Bush is a habitat for inhumanity.
~~~
Imagine what New Orleans could build with $1B+.
It is sstrange to watch the entire story unfolding. Someone mentioned the French Revolution last week and how the right-wing is devolving into the cannibalizing phase of their reign.
I just watched a General–Downing I think–on MSNBC who pooh-poohed the “Revolt of the Generals” as a small handful of men who wanted to sell books and get better speaking fees. There have been the requisite attacks on them as “offering aid and comfort to the enemies” too.
Now in the smog and fog leading up to the Iranian confrontation and we have the vulgar Richard Perle chiming in with his war mongering ways—I know that Ahamdinejad is a nut—but the exact same dolts who led us to war with Iraq are getting airtime again to push their same agenda.
I do take solace knowing that Cheney gets booed in public–loudly according to one old time usher–and that Fudgie McLellan is looked upon like Piggy from Lord of the Flies and that Bush is seen as a gum flapping and dishonest man by most..But it is not enough yet for me. They are still pulling this nation asunder with everyday that they still remain in power.
Their departure cannot come soon enough.
-GSD
To get a picture of what Iran is up against, look at Swoopa’s map of the ME in the thread down below if you haven’t already.
Taylor,
Great work and thanks for headlining this. Why can’t we know what our embassy is going to contain? It is OUR EMBASSY?
Of course CIA will be all over… they are always using diplomatic cover.
But most embassies are involved with trade issues and things like tourism.. visas, passports and development project liason.
This one sounds like something more is intended…
How can we find out how this facility will be staffed?
This embassy will be a terrific monument to one of the greatest military fiascos in history. They’d better get this “hardened” site built before they attack Iran because Iranian cruise missles will light up the Green Zone like a Roman candle. Remember the Alamo!
Fair enough, ghostman, but as a city girl, also having visited Vatican City many times, 104 acres is pretty big to me, though not so big when sitting out in the middle of the Iraqi desert.
Also, make sure you all take a look at the link kurotenshi offered up. It’s a good one. Thanks, kurotenshi.
http://www.alternet.org/waroniraq/32927/
This story–permanent bases, permanent US presence–has been driving me crazy for years. The basing strategy was discussed at length more than two years ago in the ChiTrib. But that’s about all the coverage I’ve seen.
This story makes hash of a number of positions that people take. Bush’s stand-up, stand-down thing is clearly nonsense. But so was Kerry’s recent NYT op-ed, where he said that the US should expressly say the troops will be entirely withdrawn. He knows that is not gonna happen; he voted on these appropriations.
We can’t have a policy debate on any future Iraq policy until the US comes clean on its plans to remain in Iraq, in force, indefinitely. It looks to be a permanent number of troops of between 30 and 40 thousand. There are four megabases under construction with a capacity for something like 9000 soldiers apiece.
It astounds me that this is not being covered. I’ve been pestering Fred Kaplan over at Slate to write this story for the last couple of years. His reply to my last email was that the story is in the works.
And, you know, that makes any claims of Iraqi sovereignty prima facie ridiculous. There is no government to give the US basing rights. But the bases are being built, and hardened, nonetheless. They’re not being hardened against threats from out country.
Great Job Taylor.
Simple fact is the plan was the PNAC plan all along. This is colonialism, always has been. Like all their bullshit, it has to be done “in code”, because it goes against the wishes of the vast majority of us who are paying the bills, and losing our children.
The PNAC Cabal is smart enough to understand that if done in an above-board manner, this never would get off the ground, so they lie and obfuscate, while diverting bodies and cash towards their grand plan. It’s been this for 5 years, since day one, even before 9/11.
Like in other areas of their scheming, this group seems to think that their “divine” plan will be “judged” as a success “eternally”.
Each day, more evidence comes out that proves what we already knew. God help us.
It all depends on what the definition of “stay” is…
The WTC site was 20 acres and 50,000 people worked there each day.
Un-f’ing-believable, by which I mean, of course, all too believable. Talk about a symbol of colonial oppression (”So big, you can see it from outer space!”). The entire population is busy arming itself, down to the family and household level, if only as a defense against their neighbors, who are busy arming themselves, etc.
So let the office pools begin: how many months after its completion (if they’re smart and wait that long) will it take before “armed insurgents” or “swarms of Iraqi students” or “giant legions of pissed-off citizens” attack, overwhelm, and commandeer this folly? I’ll start the bidding at four.
As far as New Orleans, are you kidding?
It is being bought up every day on the cheap by speculators and investors, and will soon be gentrified into a new grandeur completely unrelated (except for the marketing aspect) to the New Orleans we all used to love.
Then the wall will be built, to protect the people “who deserve” to be protected. We all know this. They don’t even hide it anymore.
I hope Bush/Cheney/Rove and the PNAC Pansie Division remember that the Iranians still have the coordinates to Baghdad..the same ones they used in the 80’s during the “war of the cities” where Iran and Iraq launched tit for tat missile strikes on each others population centers.
Also I can still never quit grasp the illogic of most of the war cheerleaders. There is talk of using a “Fallujah option” in Baghdad to pacify the “terrrrists” and level much of the city in the process and “capturing and killing them” as Filed Marshall Bill Kristol so suavely asserts….But this is always in contravention to the “painted schools, returfed soccer fields” happy talk that the apologists always engage in.
See, when we are not torturing them, blowing up their houses and killing them with bombs..we are painting schools and passing out Everlasting Gobstoppers to shiny, happy children.
-GSD
Too bad Bushie fell asleep before the History Channel program about the Siege of Jerusalem. And if he’d done his own homework getting that gentlemanly C at Yale, he might’ve noticed a lesson of history or two.
King Guy and Saladin have nothing on our Boy King.
I posted late in the last thread, DarkSyde at DailyKos has a terrific essay up this morning. Appreciating and protecting antiquities fits right into his theme.
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2006/4/15/6556/58209
And calling what we’re building in Baghdad an Embassy is a joke. More like the Emperor’s Citadel in Star Wars. Bushco & his minions are the real dark side of the force.
Okay, I just went to the WaPoo site and looked at the first page of Finkel’s screed about leftwing bloggers. Picking the OConnor woman as the poster child of leftwing bloggers makes as much sense as Bushco dropping the ball in Afghanistan and invading Iraq.
Figures.
Until Seymour Hersh’s recent article on the Iran attack I had never ever considered a military coup in the US a welcome prospect. But I’ve been thinking that maybe the big money folks in the financial sector –which would be devastated by the blowback of an attack on Iran–and the rebels in the Pentagon could get together with Patrick Fitzgerald and work out a scenario in which inditements would be issued against Bush/Cheny, backed up by a threat from the Pentagon to remove them forcefully from office if they don’t resign, in order to restore the Constitution. Bush was appointed the first time in violation of the Constitution so I don’t see why he can’t be removed the same way. He is a traitor after all. These are unusual times.
Perhaps Scalia would like to retire to Sicily as well.
Yowza!
O/T – This is Matt Taibi’s Abramoff piece in Rolling Stone. Younger folks, this is what journamalism used to look like. Not only is it fact based, it is snarkalicious as well. Sure have enjoyed watching this kid’s evolution as a Reporter. apologies if it’s already been posted
linked text
Angie,
was it you who posted the latest Sidney Blumenthal piece ? Saw it in one of the threads but was too busy banging my head on the desk to find it again
On the subject of how big 104 acres is, there is a joke that they used to tell in Switzerland (skip it if you’ve hear it).
A Texan was visiting Switzerland, and got a tour of an alpine farm, with the cowbells, the little barn up on rocks, and the whole bit. At the end of the tour, he told the Swiss farmer, “At my ranch back in Texas, you can drive your car the whole day and never leave my property.” The Swiss farmer replied, “Yes, I had a car like that once.”
peace,
jim
Well, we can only hope the “insurgents” will get their act together and blow up the crap out of that place. What a sitting duck! A sitting golden goose.
Calling Dr. Trex.
Morning FDl’ers! Thanks for another great post Taylor and filling in for Redd.
In #40 you said: “And exactly why aren’t Democrats talking about this one? I’m not an isolationist by any stretch of the imagination, believe me, but we’re building Embassy Baghdad while New Orleans still lies in a heap? What’s wrong with this picture, not to mention our priorities? How about America first?”
Absolutely, I do hope you will add something along that line to the bottom of your post, as a reminder, to highlight the absurdity and extreme contrast of how New Orleans is being shamefully neglected while millions if not billions are being siphoned off for this embassy folly.
The Guardian(UK) has a story this morning about the British and U.S. forces holding joint exercises in anticipation of military action against Iran. I guess the comments by Jack Straw a few days ago were just a lot of bullshit.
The embassey story is just another reminder that the guys calling the shots in Washington and London don’t give a shit about what we think. They know what’s best. Our responsibility is to provide the revenue (taxes) for their grandiose plans.
“/n”… hehe, fy seems to be a script. lame.
Although off topic, I thought it might prove helpful to post the following paragraph from the Internal Revenue Service:
http://www.irs.gov/individuals…..06,00.html
Form 4868 is good for six months.
“Well, we can only hope the “insurgents†will get their act together and blow up the crap out of that place. What a sitting duck! A sitting golden goose.”
Well, being that most folks here are decicdely against warmongering and death…this is not a hope of anyone that I know of.
-GSD
OT: Where are all of our protest songs? Neil Young knows. And so does this girl.
egregious: Riesz, we say fitz to honor him, your glorifying rove demeans what we are trying to do.
Good point. I should think of something negative to say about him if I’m going to put his name up. Shouldn’t be too hard to come up with something bad to say about Turd Blossom, should it?
Sorry, if you’re spamming, you deserve to be banned.
Is it just me, or do those high rise buildings look like an easy target for rocket attacks?
Oh lovely – our “stir up hatred of greens” friend has returned … got a new IP addy perhaps?
Taylor – awesome post – thank you!
And from Kurotenshi’s very good link:
When first asked about mistreatment of FKTC’s labor force last August, al Absi threatened to sue if the allegations were published. At the time, CorpWatch was investigating the claims of Ramil Autencio and other Philippinos working for FKTC in Tikrit in late 2003 and early 2004. They claimed they were overworked, served poor food, and received less salary than what was agreed to in their contracts.
Originally recruited for employment by MGM Worldwide Manpower in the Philippines, Autencio said he had planned to work at Crown Plaza Hotel in Kuwait for $450 a month. Then his recruitment contract was sold to FKTC when he reached Kuwait where he says he was “forcibly” pressured to work in Iraq.
More recently, an October 10 story in the Chicago Tribune reported on four-dozen other Nepalese workers waiting in Kuwait for jobs on American military bases in Iraq. In September 2004, after watching television reports that 12 Nepalese hostages in Iraq executed at the hands of insurgents, they changed their minds.
A FKTC manager in Kuwait handed the panicked workers an ultimatum, reports the Tribune: either travel to Iraq to fulfill their contracts and they would be released on the streets of Kuwait City to fend for themselves. Undoubtedly, none had the resources to find their way back to Nepal.
“The company was forcing them to go to Iraq,” Lok Bahadur Thapa, the former acting Nepalese ambassador to Saudi Arabia, told the Tribune.
Has looked to me for quite a while that the “embassy” is meant to handle “diplomacy” in a much larger area than Iraq – headquarters of the US Imperial Forces for the Greater Liberated Middle East?
damn them
What disturbs me most about this issue is that it is abundantly clear many of the ‘journalists’ who are writing about this issue (and the permanent military bases in Iraq) have never taken time to read the defining document for this administration’s foreign follies:
Rebuilding America’s Defenses
Strategy, Forces and Resources For a New Century
A Report of
The Project for the New American Century
September 2000
The report is roughly 100 pages in length and while I can understand that the average American could not be bothered to read such an incredibly massive tome, ‘journalists’ who fail to read this are just being lazy. It is simply not possible to understand this administration’s foreign policy without reading this report. It’s tantamount to reporting on the American form of government without ever having read the Constitution.
Last week, I saw a ‘journalist’ state that (I’m paraphrasing) “experts on Iraq have recently concluded that in order for democracy to succeed, permanent military bases will be required”. I damn near choked. Not only was this not a recent ‘conclusion’, but this ‘conclusion’ had nothing whatsoever to do with democracy.
The debate that needed to happen before we invaded Iraq was whether other not the agenda laid out in “Rebuilding America’s Defenses” made sense for our country. And for it’s part, the members of PNAC made no effort to hide their agenda – this document has been publicly available on their web site since it was published. It is still there for anyone who cares to read it. I do believe PNAC members made a largely successful effort to misdirect the debate. But that the real debate did not occur was due, in large part, to lazy and sloppy journalism.
-x-
egregious don’t waste your time on Riesz who lurks here only to post “turd” on the third comment and has never AFAIR posted anything else. One has to wonder what sort dweeb he she or possibly it is.
For the record the hashshÄshÄ«n, entry on wikipedia is largely taken from Bernard Lewis’ work and is highly suspect. The analogy with al-Qae’da indoctrination methods is largely taken from a side article by Juan Cole about the perpetrators of the 2001 Sept 11 attacks and is disputed by pretty much everyone including me. A better analogy to my mind is to the Knights Templar and the Knights Teutonic, and the Sword Brothers all of whom used ritual blasphemy such as trampling on the Cross, swearing by the name of Bahoptmet and so on, for the purposes of preventing forcible conversion if they were captured. As with the templars all sorts of fake storie were planted against them by (Turkish) ulemma including the one about them using hashish. It’s far more likely that it comes from the Arabic root word hss “to kill”
Ismailis are still around btw – mostly in Yemen. A bloody awful prt of the world and they’re welcome to it. I’ve yet to meet a non-Yemeni Arab who a good word to say about the place and for once I agree with the majority report Hell on earth and that’s just the people the geography is Hell on Hell.
Fx & Kx can take a hike… Definate Troll Alert! Bad Troll…. bad, bad, bad…. (newspaper snap to nose)…. go sit in the corner until you grow up.
Taylor did you mean $1 Billion here?
I was stationed in Greece from 1977-1980 during the fall of Iran and hostage situation. The hatred for Americans was palapital then. We did not identify where we lived and tried to blend into the communities. Until you have been spit on for being a Amerikee, you have no idea the depth of hatred. And yes they would spit on a woman with her infant son walking the streets of Athens and call her a filthy Amerikee. Can you imagine how hard it is for Americans living abroad now? How safe is it for military dependent families around the globe due to BushCo?
What is occuring in the middle east does not surprise me. This embassy is probably well known in the rest of the world except the US because of our Media blackout.
Urban Pirate and others are absolutely right to bring up PNAC. They announced their intentions to the whole world on their web site. I think most of us who were aware of it thought they would at least wait to see how things would turn out before they proceeded to phase two. By building the bases and embassy, they are committing us to their vision.
The embassy part is not just scary for Iraq. It also means the Bush Regime may not be planning to exit power in DC anytime soon. Don’t they think Dems will “cut and run” at the first opportunity? Unless this is a just boondoggle contract for Halliburton, I don’t think this bodes well for democracy in the US either.
News of permanent bases doesn’t get the coverage it should. Of course, this is the main outcome that has been planned all along that the admin doesn’t want discussed.
The main objection shouldn’t be cost, or neglect of New Orleans, but should be “Is it worth dying over?” Let’s face it, our soldiers are being picked off convoys at a clip of 10~20 per week. That is how they are dying, and the convoys sole purpose is to build these bases, not schools or hospitals for the Iraqis.
Every time a soldier dies it should be reported that the convoy he was on was supplying a US base construction site.
I have seen Riesz post other, useful comments, and I was pleased that s/he is willing to consider changing the opening turd comment.
Sometimes people are not willing to discuss ideas [see right wing series] but in general I try, first, to speak the truth with love.
You’re more tolerant than I egregious :-) I’ll take your word for it I did say AFAIR after all :-)
markfromireland – interesting point, I wasn’t aware of Lewis’ work being suspect – although I was refering more to Amin Maloof. The Templar angle sounds very interesting though.
I’ve heard some other similiar etymological iterations of the word assassin as well…
From the library at Alamut, Hassan’s followers were called Assassiyun, which means the people who are faithful to the Assass or “foundation” of the faith.
Also –
Hassassin, or followers of Hassan…
I do however disagree about the Juan Cole connection as being the source of this school of thought since the legends of Hassan and the man in the mountain motifs have been around since I was a child. The connection to Al qaeda and them were already being voiced amongst expats in the region during the mid 90’s as well.
new thread – old generals
I’m sure the Iranian government will send us a thank-you note for building it such a nice embassy.
Thanks, Kattymine, it’s fixed.
BTW, Bernard Weiner recently published a very good summary of how we came to be in this mess:
Bush’s Grand Game: A “PNAC Primer” UPDATE
It’s a condensed version but very useful for even the most attention span-challenged.
Supposedly the names of US contractors working on this embassy is classified. But we do know at least one company’s name – “MilVet”.
A Corpwatch article gives us this piece of information – One US bidder complained after “MilVets” received the contract for the Baghdad embassy.
“Bill Waldron is one contractor who will talk about the embassy project. He claims his Rocky Mountain Group lost more than $250,000 while preparing a bid to perform engineering oversight for First Kuwaiti and project inspection. Waldron said that his 25-year-old, veteran-owned Colorado company had already been given the word that his company would be the leading contender for the deal, which is why the firm spent so much effort on the proposal, including compiling a 2 inch thick file on the company’s personnel experience in Iraq – experience that State Department contract officers said they were looking for.
Then the State Department put the job up for open bid three different times, each time with a new revision. The last solicitation was cancelled after the contracting officer went of vacation, according to Waldron. Waldron’s patience finally burst. Only after doggedly hounding the State Department for reasons why the competition had been cancelled did he find out what happened.
The contract was awarded without competition on an emergency basis to a Maryland company, Mil Vets, Waldron said. “We contacted Mil Vets and asked if they had any experience working in Iraq prior to being awarded the embassy project,” Waldron said. “The answer was no.”
http://www.corpwatch.org/article.php?id=13258
And here’s the funny part. Mil Vets is not an engineering company at all. “MilVets System Technologies, Inc.” is an information technology company. http://www.milvets.com/about_companyprofile.htm . They supposedly are a little veteran’s-owned business that develops databases & software. But when you look at their contracts, they’re playing with the big boys. Mil Vets seems to deal exclusively w/huge gov. contracts for the Defense, Army, & State Dept. Their list of subcontractors include – SAIC, CSC/Dyncorp, Booz Allen, Halliburton, Baker & Assoc. http://www.milvets.com/projects_other.htm It reads like a who’s who list of Bush crony corp. And these huge corp. are all the subcontractors for this little IT company. There is no mention of the Baghdad embassy contract on the website. However, MilVets is currently hiring “security officials” to “re-establish police, justice and prison functions in various foreign countries.” (Meaning – mercenaries).
http://www.civpol.org/portal/h…..ews…
Ed N Sted, let me just draw attention to what should be one of the most politically volatile sentences in the “Rebuilding America’s Defenses” document you cited in post #72:
“And advanced forms of biological warfare that can ‘target’ specific genotypes may transform biological warfare from the realm of terror to a politically useful tool.”
Can you say “Let’s make the people who vex us very ill,” boys and girls? To see the full context of that explosive idea, read it on page 60 of the document (pdf page 72).
Taylor, thanks for the post.
Here’s some interesting perspective from Jeff Wells including this,
“We’re talking about the centerpiece of empire in the New American Century. So this war – and it will not be contained to Iraq – will not be over until the American Empire falls.”
http://rigorousintuition.blogs…..death.html
You’ll find an interesting comparison of this fortress to Guantanamo here. Note that this land is “owned” by the United States.
hm, did we ASK our government to build that ?
I think we should be protesting very loudly about this ! Sure, they can say that they’re hiding this for security reasons, but maybe it’s because they know what they’re doing is WRONG.
Since no one has mentioned it, Dahr Jamail wrote about the permanent military bases & the embassy last month, in his piece Iraq: Permanent US Colony in the light of military planning documents.
19 kurotenshi says:
April 15th, 2006 at 7:11 am
“Score one more for our cultural sensitivity
Temple of Babylon now a U.S. helipad and parking lot…â€
This sickens me to the core. Antiquities are far more finite than oil and our inability to protect what is not only a source of pride for Iraqis, but also for civilization in general, leaves us without the most powerful commonality we share – history. Seeing how Egypt has successfully harnessed it’s role as a vibrant and far-reaching culture through it’s own atiquities and worldwide interest therein; I find it hard to believe that we could of not done the same with Iraq in order to strengthen common bonds and shared historical values.
This may be part of the problem as to why we are not protecting Iraqi antiquities: Wouldn’t the rightwing nutjobs hate to discover antiquities that might be so old that they seriously impair the concept of Creationism??? Don’t the nutjobs claim that the whole world is only something like 6,000 years old? If Indiana Jones were to discover a jug that is 7,000 years old…….well there’d be a lotta splainin to do!
26 cathy says:
April 15th, 2006 at 7:22 am
Taylor-
1.Haliburton
2.Haliburton
3.Haliburton
Did I name the companies correctly?
cathy – you missed two. The article said FIVE companies. Here’s two more to add to your three:
4. Haliburton
5. Haliburton
That should take care of the entire list!
We’re not colonizing a country. We’re colonizing the Middle East.
Well, at least the contract didn’t go to Bin Laden Construction.
I guess.
“We’re not colonizing a country. We’re colonizing the Middle East.”
Yeah, see, it’s Darth Dick’em’s take on economic globalization.
Instead of outsourcing jobs, we invade countries, thereby creating new employment opportunities for Americans right there in the colonies.
“I had never ever considered a military coup in the US a welcome prospect. But I’ve been thinking that maybe the big money folks in the financial sector –which would be devastated by the blowback of an attack on Iran–and the rebels in the Pentagon could get together with Patrick Fitzgerald and work out a scenario in which inditements would be issued against Bush/Cheny, backed up by a threat from the Pentagon to remove them forcefully from office if they don’t resign, in order to restore the Constitution.”
Sorry, won’t happen. The “big money folks in the financial sector” have already moved their holdings to more secure depositories off shore and elsewhere. They will sit back and watch us drown in our debt. Just as they sat back and watched the stock market crash of 29. The truly wealthy suffered no losses on that day and won’t on any future crash either. Probably about time for another “harvest” anyway.
Did everyone else notice that I. Lewis Libby was a contributor or participant for the PNAC document posted as a .pdf in a prior post. He’s listed on the last page. Great example of how these guys are inserted all over our governemnt. What a web.