Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream Embassy

It's getting so that the saga of this is becoming more-and-more comical, perhaps surpassing the Cary Grant-Myrna Loy classic we culled the title from ...

It's been called, due to first, the sprinklers not working, and also having pipes burst from the water pressure, a fire trap.

It' has gone (big surprise) tremendously over-budget.

It has had calls for it to be shut down.

And, there was also the mandatory call by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, issuing an edict, in order to fill vacant positions, to State Department employees, that they would have to render service in Iraq.

We speak of the Bush Grindhouse's Xanadu ("cost: no man can say"), it's Winchester House, or, otherwise known as the U.S Embassy in Iraq.















The latest?

New US Embassy in Iraq Can't House All Its Workers

Baghdad - The new U.S. Embassy complex does not have enough fortified living quarters for hundreds of diplomats and other workers, who must remain temporarily in trailers without special rooftop protection against mortars and rockets, government officials have told The Associated Press.

Sorting out the housing crunch and funding could further delay moving all personnel into the compound until next year and exposes shortcomings in the planning for America's more than $700 million diplomatic hub in Iraq.

Hmmm ... Something tells me this could become a campaign issue ... In the 2012, or 2016 elections ...

Bonus "She's A Brick House" Riffs

The Guardian: One building that's been built on time and on budget in Iraq: America's fortress embassy ...Vatican-sized bomb-proof structure to cost £300m ...· Builders in Green Zone already insurgent targets

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

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