Whatever happens in Iraq in the coming months and years, there will be one large scale monument to the invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein; namely, the world's largest embassy.
The US is currently constructing a monolith, that dwarfs in size all the other embassies in the world.
Congress has been told that the bill for the embassy has now reached a staggering $592M.
The heavily guarded 42 hectare will have a 15ft thick perimeter wall once it is finished.
It will house around 8000 US staff, and will contain every comfort. There will be residences for the Ambassador and his deputy, six apartments for senior officials, and two huge office blocks for 8,000 staff to work in.
It is also rumoured that it will contain the largest swimming pool in Iraq, a state-of-the-art gymnasium, a cinema, restaurants offering delicacies from US food chains, tennis courts and an American Club for evening functions.
Some cynics suggest that it out "blings" even Saddam Hussein's palaces, in terms of opulence and grandeur.
There are a number of questions that do need to be addressed, in relation to this monument:
1 Why does it need to be so big?
2 Why is it that this will be completed on target, yet other construction projects in Iraq are way off target?
3 Why is it that the electricity, water and other essential utilities for the construction site are on stream, and have not suffered the same cuts and disruptions that ordinary Iraqis suffer everyday with their essential utilities?
4 Why are the construction workers being employed to build this edifice not local Iraqis, but mainly Kuwaitis?
5 Does Washington really feel that this will win the hearts and minds of the Iraqis? Does Washington even care?
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