I'm published!!!

The following letter to the editor was printed in Sunday's Daily Bulletin newspaper.

Behemoth in Baghdad

I recently learned that a mega-embassy is being built in the heart of the green zone in Baghdad, Iraq. Dubbed "Fortress America" by some and "Bush's Baghdad Palace" by others, the embassy is the only construction project in Iraq to finish on time and on budget.

The embassy is described by MSNBC as the largest embassy in world history - a bomb-proof super-bunker with 21 buildings on 104 acres, residences for the ambassador and his staff, the biggest swimming pool in Iraq, a gym, tennis courts, a movie theater and restaurants.

And what did you and I pay for this? MSNBC is reporting that the costs so far are in the neighborhood of $700 million. It's believed that it will cost $2 billion a year to run it once it is fully functional.

This leaves me with several thoughts:

1. How can we in good conscience build such a behemoth in the face of the Iraqi people who still don't have clean water or electricity for more than a couple of hours a day?

2. As a taxpayer, when was I asked if this money should be spent on this project?

3. Aren't there a few things we could have spent that money on here in the U.S., like, say, health care, our tattered infrastructure, or maybe Social Security?

4. And finally, if you had any thoughts about the U.S. pulling out of Iraq anytime soon, I think this embassy should put that to rest.

KEN FERGUSON
Ontario