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Done. A year late and $144 million over budget. 
WASHINGTON POST via MSNBC
Amid blasts, Baghdad embassy declared ready
Rocket attacks force completion of costly, controversial compound
By Glenn Kessler
April. 17, 2008
The troubled effort to build the giant U.S. Embassy in Baghdad seemed to be months away from completion when a team of top State Department officials flew to Iraq on March 20 to meet with senior staff from the prime contractor, First Kuwaiti General Trading & Contracting. But as insurgent rockets began to rain down on the flimsy trailers housing diplomats inside the Green Zone, the two sides suddenly found ways to settle many of the major issues dividing them.
"The only way to do this was for us to get in the room, nail the door shut and get this resolved," said Robert S. Nichols, a partner with the Crowell & Moring law firm who attended the meeting and provides legal advice to First Kuwaiti. "It started out as the 'Gunfight at the O.K. Corral' the first day or so, but then we got past it."
READ MORE
U.S. Embassy in Baghdad declared ready - Washington Post - MSNBC.com
The Iranian press has a different take on the subject...
PRESS TV (Iran)
Pharaonic US Embassy in Iraq ready
Wed, 16 Apr 2008 04:53:51
EXERPTS:
It is a 104-acre complex, which is the size of approximately 80 football fields. It includes two office buildings, one of them designed for future use as a school, six apartment buildings, a gym, a pool, a food court and its own power generation and water-treatment plants.
Last May, Sen. Patrick Leahy criticized the ballooning size and cost of the embassy in a hearing with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.
“Now, having said over and over again that we don't want to be seen as an occupying force in Iraq, we're building the largest embassy that we have -probably the largest in the world- in Baghdad. And it just seems to grow and grow and grow,” said Leahy.
(PHOTO: Baghdad street flooded with sewage)
The US embassy is likely to create even greater Iraqi resentment toward the US occupation.
While Americans will be living in posh quarters, the citizens of Baghdad are forced to survive with just 5.6 hours of electricity a day. Baghdad was also recently rated the world's worst city in which to live.
READ MORE
Press TV - Pharaonic US Embassy in Iraq ready
WASHINGTON POST via MSNBC
Amid blasts, Baghdad embassy declared ready
Rocket attacks force completion of costly, controversial compound
By Glenn Kessler
April. 17, 2008
The troubled effort to build the giant U.S. Embassy in Baghdad seemed to be months away from completion when a team of top State Department officials flew to Iraq on March 20 to meet with senior staff from the prime contractor, First Kuwaiti General Trading & Contracting. But as insurgent rockets began to rain down on the flimsy trailers housing diplomats inside the Green Zone, the two sides suddenly found ways to settle many of the major issues dividing them.
"The only way to do this was for us to get in the room, nail the door shut and get this resolved," said Robert S. Nichols, a partner with the Crowell & Moring law firm who attended the meeting and provides legal advice to First Kuwaiti. "It started out as the 'Gunfight at the O.K. Corral' the first day or so, but then we got past it."
READ MORE
U.S. Embassy in Baghdad declared ready - Washington Post - MSNBC.com
The Iranian press has a different take on the subject...
PRESS TV (Iran)
Pharaonic US Embassy in Iraq ready
Wed, 16 Apr 2008 04:53:51
EXERPTS:
It is a 104-acre complex, which is the size of approximately 80 football fields. It includes two office buildings, one of them designed for future use as a school, six apartment buildings, a gym, a pool, a food court and its own power generation and water-treatment plants.
Last May, Sen. Patrick Leahy criticized the ballooning size and cost of the embassy in a hearing with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.
“Now, having said over and over again that we don't want to be seen as an occupying force in Iraq, we're building the largest embassy that we have -probably the largest in the world- in Baghdad. And it just seems to grow and grow and grow,” said Leahy.
(PHOTO: Baghdad street flooded with sewage)
The US embassy is likely to create even greater Iraqi resentment toward the US occupation.
While Americans will be living in posh quarters, the citizens of Baghdad are forced to survive with just 5.6 hours of electricity a day. Baghdad was also recently rated the world's worst city in which to live.
READ MORE
Press TV - Pharaonic US Embassy in Iraq ready
