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December 20, 2007
Department Head of US Embassy Project in Iraq Resigns
The person in charge of building US embassies around the world, including the controversial and beleaguered $740-million new embassy in Iraq, has tendered his resignation effective December 31.
Despite his assurances last summer that the sprawling 104-acre Baghdad embassy complex would open on schedule and on budget in September, the project is likely to be extended well into next year. (The original completion date was intended to be June 2007.)
Retired Army Maj. Gen. Charles Williams, head of the State Department's Overseas Building Operations is the third high-level State Department official to step down amid serious problems related to the U.S. State Department's Iraq mission. Earlier this month, the department’s inspector general also announced his resignation after being barraged with allegations that he covered up and ignored complaints related to the Iraq embassy and other matters. The head of diplomatic security resigned in October following growing concern over the private security firm, Blackwater.
Ongoing criminal investigations of the Iraq embassy project by the US Justice Department and Congress continue to focus on allegations of contract rigging, shoddy work and labor trafficking. The embassy contractor is Lebanese-owned, Kuwait-based First Kuwaiti General Trading and Contracting.
First Kuwaiti has been accused of tricking foreign laborers into working on the embassy, mistreating them and paying $200,000 in kickbacks in return for two unrelated Army contracts in Iraq. The company denies the charges.Two other key subjects of the investigations: James Golden, an independent contractor who continues to head the State Department's Emergency Project Coordinating Office and Mary French, Senior Project Director for the new Iraq embassy.
Project creep: The Baghdad embassy originally was to cost $592 million. But the State Department informed Congress this year that design changes and new requirements would cost an additional $144 million. Some believe those revisions will be used to repair and cover up poor work already completed. Interestingly, when the Bush administration first proposed the project, Congress rejected the suggested billion-dollar-plus price tag and trimmed the appropriations request back to $600 million. That cost seems to be creeping back upward through the backdoor.
Posted by davidphinney at 10:37 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
December 19, 2007
A Fresh Take on the Origin of the 'Christmas Tree'
My view: Even the most spiritual and abstract rituals are rooted in practicality.
Ancient people of northern climes rarely opened their window shutters and doors during the dark, chilly depths of winter.
Coop up an extended family of a dozen or so into a small house with little soap and then add in a few dogs and livestock that you don't want to freeze to death. What do you get? A household that probably started smelling awfully ripe around the end of December.
Solution: Air Freshener. A young evergreen tree running flush with fragrant, tangy sap smells wonderfully green....
Opinions vary: on the origin of the Christmas tree, but most concede that dragging trees and boughs into the home long predates Christianity. Some say it was an early Egyptian and Middle Eastern tradition. Others credit the Romans. Most are certain Northern Europeans in prehistory were bringing trees into their homes at winter solstice time.
History.com offers a simplified take:
Before the advent of Christianity, plants and trees that remained green all year had a special meaning for people in the winter. Just as people today decorate their homes during the festive season with pine, spruce, and fir trees, ancient peoples hung evergreen boughs over their doors and windows. In many countries it was believed that evergreens would keep away witches, ghosts, evil spirits, and illness.And, as I already explained, to also keep the stink away.
Posted by davidphinney at 07:03 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
December 07, 2007
Krongard Resigns
The US State Department's top investigator, inspector general Howard Krongard, is resigning after being battered by allegations that he thwarted and halted investigations that might be embarrassing to the Bush Administration. Those investigations included claims of labor trafficking and poor work at the US embassy in Baghdad (related stories here, here , here, here and here), the possibility of arms trafficking by Blackwater and other matters.
Here's the Reuters bulletin.
The Washington Post fills in some details, but glosses over the allegations of labor trafficking by the embassy contractor -- probably because it was a story broken by non-mainstream media despite the fact that mainstream reporters are frequent visitors to this blog, including those with The Washington Post.
Will this be an end to the questions Krongard neglected to investigate? Or did his apparent foot-dragging cover up any tracks of wrongdoing? Stay tuned.
Posted by davidphinney at 04:39 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack