The World Biggest Turkey

The World’s Biggest Turkey

by Jean Carnahan

Wow!  Does George Bush have a “turkey” for you.  This “turkey” is on the other side of the globe and stuffed with all kinds of goodies, but, sorry, it won’t be ready for the holidays.

I speak of the $750-million concrete monument to American hubris, the new Bagdad embassy scheduled to open last month, but now delayed indefinitely, because of faulty electrical and water systems—or, so we are told.

Interestingly, the biggest embassy on earth was designed in Missouri by the architectural firm of Berger, Devine, Yaeger of Kansas City.  But, it was constructed primarily by an inexperienced Kuwaiti firm that is now being accused of shoddy workmanship, poor treatment of its workers, and kickbacks for contracts.

With a cost overrun of some $144 million, Rep. Henry Waxman, who heads a House oversight committee, is hot on the trail of this “Bagdad Turkey.”  As of now, the 104-acre compound on the banks of the Tigris River has 21 buildings, 6 apartment complexes, and a wall that is 15-feet wide in some places.

Housing 1000 military and diplomatic personnel, the embassy will provide a fire station, commissary, cinema, a school, a state-of-the-art-gymnasium, tennis courts, a night club, swimming pool, (the largest in Iraq some say), chain food restaurants, as well as electric, water, sewage, and anti-missile defense systems.  The high-tech, well-fortified bunker will be stocked with food and supplies brought into Kuwait and trucked by convoy to Bagdad.

Sometimes referred to as the “Fortress of Folly” or “George W’s Palace,” the Vatican-sized compound is ten times larger than our embassy being built in Beijing.   To the Iraqis, who are without dependable utilities and security, this palatial stronghold looks like the Forbidden City, the ancient Chinese compound that once walled off reality.

Our footprint in the Iraq desert appears to be very deep, costly, and permanent.  If George Bush has his way, our troops will be eating Thanksgiving dinner in Iraq for years to come.

During the Cold War computer techies joked that the Soviets were proud to have created the largest microchip in the world.  Let’s hope that we don’t wind up owning the biggest “turkey” in the world.