American Embassy Fails to Open in Iraq
I wrote an article on May 6th, 2007 about the construction of the American Embassy in Iraq which was supposed to open this past summer. The massive American Embassy, planned to be the largest embassy in the world, is still not open.
As far as I know the US Department of State has remained completely silent on this issue citing that it can not comment due to this being a “national security issue”. That sounds exactly like the kind of statement that you would expect from the secretive Bush administration, right?
Now information is emerging out of Baghdad that the reason for all of the hush, hush may be a bit more than that. It appears that the construction by First Kuwaiti General Trade and Contracting Company has been so shoddy that the embassy can not open. The embassy complex has been marred by repeated problems, both large and small.
For example, in May, when kitchen facilities at a guard camp that is part of the embassy complex were tested, the electrical system malfunctioned and wires melted. An inquiry showed that First Kuwaiti had used counterfeit electrical wiring that did not meet specifications. All of the wiring must be replaced.
The most recent disclosed problem in the $592 million project was discovered several weeks ago when the fire-safety systems were tested and pipe joints burst. State Department representatives recently informed Congress of that and other problems. Who wants to bet that a request will soon be made to congress for more money or that money will quitely be taken from one program and transfered to the embassy construction fund?Â
This is beginning to take on the unpleasant smell of the Iraqi police academy school that has never opened because of serious construction defects. And of course that decision was made after more than a few million dollars were spend on what became a junk pile.
In addition, there are allegations that First Kuwaiti failed to construct blast-resistant walls to protect the embassy, as required by its contract. Since the embassy has recently been under attack by mortar and rocket fire this is more than a small matter for the safety of embassy employees.
It remains unclear when the embassy, intended to be the largest U.S. diplomatic post in the world, will open for business. An American embassy spokesman in Baghdad as usual had no comment Saturday on the latest problems or on a projected time of opening.
