Beware of gringos bearing ‘gifts’

William Bowles , I'n'I

"Staying the course", the battle cry of the republic. Then comes the Iraq Study Group and predictably all the headlines parrot the news bites about a war 'lost’ and a 'change of course’. But is it a change of course or the same wolf dressed up as a dove creeping in through the back door of the biggest embassy on the planet? The US Embassy in Baghdad covers about 100 acres and sits within the so-called Green Zone right in the heart of Baghdad, in effect a small town within a town, and not exactly a temporary dwelling, so regardless of whether the Marines et al continue to blow the country to pieces or not, you don’t build a gigantic piece of real estate costing billions on someone else’s land without every intention of staying (on the course). It’s the 21st century equivalent of one of those French Foreign Legion’s forts, built to police a colony and keep the natives in their place and, retreat to when under attack...

continua / continued