Tom Engelhardt considers the new American embassy being built in Baghdad and writes Here…

As an outpost, this vast compound reeks of one thing: imperial impunity. It was never meant to be an embassy from a democracy that had liberated an oppressed land. From the first thought, the first sketch, it was to be the sort of imperial control-center suitable for the planet’s sole ‘hyperpower,’ dropped into the middle of the oil heartlands of the globe. It was to be Washington’s dream and Kansas City’s idea of a palace fit for an embattled American proconsul - or a khan.

This is a recommended piece for those interested in understanding the imperial designs of this whole venture in the Iraq. Its also great for quoting from the poem “Ozymandias” by Percy Bysshe Shelley, a favorite of mine for its descriptive qualities of the futility of man’s hubris and arrogance (and it makes for a great b-side by The Stranglers’ bassist Jean-Jean Burnel).

Read The Full Article