Top Ten Cloves: Ways To Tell Your Newly Constructed Iraq Embassy Is Poorly Built

News Item: Iraq Embassy Cost Rises $144 Million Amid Project Delays

10. The office pool is firmly betting on the Chicago Cubs winning the World Series over when they get to move into the Embassy

9. Whispers in Washington are surfacing, that this wouldn't be happening if Condi Rice had a husband

8. You keep getting unsolicited suggestions from the contractors building Iran's nuclear plants

7. Even Andy Card says he couldn't market, no matter what month he tried, something this fucked up

6. Everytime General Petraeus criticizes Prime Minister Maliki, Maliki just snickers back "Embassy"

5. Instead of sending and receiving cables, cables are what’s holding the building up

4. You reach out, but architect Frank Gehry turns you down, wanting no part of it

3. Embassy staff prefers to work and live in the moving vans

2. Your query on how to fix it stumps the Ask This Old House guys

1. You keep getting unsolicited suggestions from the people that run the Winchester House


Bonus Bad Embassy Riffs

McClatchy Newspapers: Even sprinkler systems fail at U.S. embassy in Baghdad

TimesOnLine: Welcome to the new US embassy; It’s bigger than Saddam’s palace and, with a cinema, gym and pool, is the safest and smartest place to live in Iraq...

Tom Engelhardt: Imperial life in a brand-new city; What plans for a gigantic new U.S. Embassy in Iraq say about the Bush administration, the occupation of Iraq, and Americans themselves.