Published: April 22, 2008 10:55 am            

Newest destination

The U.S. Embassy in Iraq is ready for occupancy, with fortified space for 1,000 people and living quarters for several hundred.

The move into the largest diplomatic mission in the world is expected in June. Changes to the original $592 million contract have increased the project’s cost to $736 million for the 27-building, 104-acre site.

The U.S. State Department will soon be assigning American diplomats and workers to staff the embassy and outlying provinces for the coming year. The amenities at the Vatican-size compound; recreation building, beauty parlor, gymnasium, swimming pool, infrastructure and utilities of a small city should make Iraq a much sought-after tour of duty for U.S. diplomats.

However, a call-up last year of foreign service officers to work in war zones caused an uprising. A State Department spokesperson said, “We face a growing challenge of supply and demand in the 2009 staffing.” The department will identify qualified diplomats to serve in Iraq and other war zones; if enough do not volunteer, some officers will be forced to serve.

Presidential candidate Sen. John McCain has been criticized for saying, “We’ll be in Iraq for 100 years.” Whether he misspoke or not, the “Colossus of Baghdad” will survive many, many decades. Someday the embassy may be a tourist attraction, as the “Hanoi Hilton” of the Vietnam War.

McCain recently returned to Vietnam, commemorating the 25th anniversary of the war’s end. He visited the few remaining cells of the prison where he was held for five years, and the lake where his jet aircraft crashed.

So, 25-30 years from now, the travel industry will fly Iraqi war veterans and other tourists to Baghdad International; they will board buses to tour the “Baghdad Bellagio.” It is a veritable fortified prison, just as the Hanoi Hilton was.

        

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