US builds self-contained bunker of an embassy in Iraq

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http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,511579,00.html

BAGHDAD'S FORTRESS AMERICA

US Builds Bunker of an Embassy in Iraq

The United States is building a fortress in Baghdad's Green Zone to serve as its embassy. But the giant project may turn into a disaster as questions are raised about how the construction is being run -- and whether a self-contained bunker is the best approach to diplomacy.

The new American embassy currently rising from the dust of the Green Zone in Baghdad will break all records. It covers an area of 400,000 square meters, six times that of the United Nations complex in New York and 10 times that of the new US embassy in Beijing. It's said to be the largest embassy the US has ever built; at a cost of $592 million (€416 million), it's certainly the most expensive.

But now the State Department in Washington is having to face accusations of mismanagement and shoddy building practices. Due to last-minute repairs that will add an estimated $150 million to the building's price tag, the embassy, which was scheduled to open in September 2007, won't open its doors until the beginning of next year.

So far, criticism has been restrained. But behind closed doors, Democrats and senior Iraqi politicians are quietly wondering whether the giant project might turn into a giant disaster. snip

The bunker mentality behind the project has also been questioned. "What kind of embassy is it when everybody lives inside and it's blast-proof, and people are running around with helmets and crouching behind sandbags?" asked Edward Peck, a former American diplomat in Iraq, in remarks quoted by the Associated Press.