The Daily Background

Above is a photo of the planned pool to be built at the US embassy in Baghdad. The expansive 104 acre embassy will also include outdoor tennis facilities, a full basketball court, movie theater, mall, and multiple restaurants. Talk about opulent. While Baghdad residents are limited to an average of less than six hours of electricity each day, the embassy will have its own built-in power plant.

I wrote about the embassy earlier in May, when it was reported that the half-built embassy was coming under frequent mortar attack:

The embassy, though not complete, is already attracting frequent attacks from insurgents. Embassy staff are required to wear body armor and helmets when they are outdoors within the compound, because of the mortar attacks that have become routine. “We assume there will be a significant, enduring U.S. presence in Iraq,” the AP quotes Secretary of State Rice’s top Iraq advisor saying.

If it’s completed as expected by September of this year, it will be the largest embassy in the world, encompassing about as much land as Vatican City. With all of its self-sustaining ability (other than farming), it might as well be a colony on Mars.

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