( – promoted by buhdydharma )
A rain of mortars and artillery rockets has commenced on the Green Zone, the headquarters of the US occupation authorities in Iraq. Rumors have circulated that US embassy personnel have withdrawn from the Green Zone to undisclosed locations. What is now in question is the fate of the colossal, newly-constructed US embassy compound. The half-billion-dollar complex of massive buildings has never been fully occupied, because of numerous construction flaws, but there is now a larger issue.
How well does a complex of office buildings hold up under daily mortar and rocket fire? Although the buildings are heavily reinforced, all structures have weak points. The air conditioning, water, and electrical systems are all potentially vulnerable to damage or disruption through incoming rocket fire. The insurgent rockets are inaccurate, but the embassy complex is a huge target. Day by day, it is likely that serious damage is being done. Unless the rockets are stopped, the embassy is doomed. Even if it is not physically destroyed, if the grounds of the embassy become so dangerous that vehicles and helicopters cannot safely approach it, the embassy becomes useless, and is functionally nullified.
America made a huge error is constructing this enormous symbol of occupation power in the heart of Baghdad. It was like putting up a huge “come and get us” sign to the insurgents. Now Al Sadr’s insurgents are pounding away, and the dearth of news coverage of damage in the Green Zone suggests that things are not going well there.
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what else is there to day…
A portion of the new U.S. embassy under construction is seen from across the Tigris river in Baghdad, Saturday, May 19, 2007. The new $592 million embassy occupies a chunk of prime Baghdad real estate two-thirds the size of Washington’s National Mall, with desk space for about 1,000 people behind high, blast-resistant walls.
Check out all the Halliburton cranes.
I will not be happy until all of this is turned to rubble. While it continues to stand, it symbolizes the most shameful moment and tragic death march in US history.
What a horrible, fucked up nation we are.
The fortress-like compound rising on the banks of the Tigris River will be the largest of its kind in the world, the size of Vatican City in Rome, 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.
Maybe about the time frame, but not about the fate.
I think Iraqis are deteremined to take their country back. They fight for their lives and the lives of their families and children, while US Troops are there only because they are ordered there.
There is a saying about those who will not learn from history………
Stalingrad:
Green Zone:
you should try to be as small and as nimble a target as is possible?
it’s a huge waste of your tax dollars, and mine, I would be pleased to see this excrescence removed from the face of Baghdad (an ancient city that deserves better than the trashing it’s gotten from Junior and the War Criminals) and reduced to rubble.