The US embassy being built in London will cost $1B -- it's designed as a fortress and even includes a moat. We are afraid of terrorism, and so we now design expensive buildings to protect our civil servants from the rabble.
Posted on 11/03/2010 11:15:24 AM PDT by Shermy
KABUL, Afghanistan – The U.S. government will spend $511 million to expand its embassy in Kabul, the U.S. ambassador said Wednesday, describing the work as a demonstration of America's long-term commitment to Afghanistan.
"We make this commitment by commemorating the recent award of a $511 million contract to expand the U.S. Embassy here in Kabul," Ambassador Karl Eikenberry said during a ceremony at the construction site that marked the formal announcement of the contract.
"We're going to get a day when that embassy's up and there's not going to be these barriers out there, there's no barbed wire, there's not going to be all kinds of obstacles out there," Eikenberry said.
Currently the road to the embassy, located in downtown Kabul, is blocked by large concrete barriers and the building is surrounded by armed security guards.
"This next generation of Afghans growing up, we hope that they come to this embassy, they're welcome here and this is going to be the new normal for Kabul," he added.
Eikenberry's remarks come amid Afghan concerns that the proposal to begin drawing down U.S. forces by July 2011 could leave Afghanistan alone to fight the Taliban insurgency.
... ...
Over the last two years, the U.S. has signed contracts to expand American diplomatic facilities in Kabul and consulates in Mazar-e Sharif and Herat provinces that total $790 million, he said. The figure includes the embassy expansion, which should be completed by June 2014.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
Should have a helicopter pad on the roof for evacuations.
America - bankrupt
Heavily nuke the border with Pakistan to create an impassable zone.
Are there still suckers here who believes that Barack Obama is antiwar and/or wants to withdraw from Afghanistan and Iraq? The trouble is tha the new GOP leadership is likely to roll over and play dead on this issue.
511 MILLION???!!!!
WTF are they going to build? The Taj Majal?
It’s also intrusive and stupid culturally. Like that monstrosity in Baghdad.
No doubt much of the size debate comes from political donations from the contractors.
Shovel ready jobs for Afghanis.
The US embassy being built in London will cost $1B -- it's designed as a fortress and even includes a moat. We are afraid of terrorism, and so we now design expensive buildings to protect our civil servants from the rabble.
He is totally anti war. His problem is that it is politically impossible for him to just pull out. That is why he has set a timetable (unrealistic) and given his field commanders poor support and unreachable objectives. He will be covered politically when the whole venture fails. I direct your reference to "The Roots of Obama's Rage" now at your local bookseller or library.
Well then, the equivalent of five days of Barry Bastard’s travel to India we could have a new embassy. So, this bastid in the oval orifice can soak taxpayers for another billion plus to take his hood to India or anything else the bass turd wants to indebt us for. Time for this commie bastard and his hood to go to hell.
That same US could not spend $100,000 to get ballots to military members on duty.
disgusting.
That rationalization for the false "peacenik" image of Obama is starting to wear thin after two years of esclation. Let me get this right: you are saying that he has create a massive embasssy in an age deficits because it was "politically impossible not to do so, right?
The more obvious explanation (based on Obama's actual deeds) makes more sense. Despite the fact that most Americans thought the war was a mistake when Obama took office, he decided to send in even more troops that Bush had tried to send it. If Obama was really a peacenik, he he could have easily appealed to public opinion in an age of deficits and said that we could no longer afford it and it was "Bush's fault." He showed his true feelings when he reappointed Bush's pro-war secretary of war (err...defense) and kept bailing that hopelessly corrupt and unpopular Karzai.
Obama is also not "totally antiwar" when it comes to Yemen where he has been intervening in a major way. I could also point out that (again in a age of massive deficits) Obama has actuallY INCREASED the size of active duty forces. Obama is in the PROGRESSIVE Wilson and FDR tradition when it comes to foreign policy.
Yikes! Here I thought that $21 million that we spent to refurbish the U.S. Mission in Havana in the 90s was outrageous!
Heavily nuke Iran and Pakistan and remove two very large problems.
Cut all bureaucracy's by 1/2..end department of education, no czar staff, Cut EPA, and all other depts that make rules (laws) so that congress can get what it wants without having to put their fingerprints on it...eliminate any animal from endangered species unless it has only 4 legs and is larger than a rat...no plants, no bugs can be endangered.
To those that say, gee thats only a small percent of the budget. You have to start somewhere, and every year the budget can only grow by 1 % instead of 10% a year as it is now...When there is talk about cutting the budget, they just mean cutting the 10% that is already in the budget...automatic 10% raise a year in budget was put into law decades ago by the democrats....If there was 0 % raise in budget for a couple of years, the debt would drop drastically...
and the water of this country belongs to people not bait fish..
BTW, how much does a MIRVed nuclear warhead cost? I bet we’d get a lot more for our tax dollar if we deployed a couple of these in the Hindu Kush/Pakistan border area. An embassy is nothing more than a target for terrorists in a barbarian place like Afg.
Kill two birds...
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