Events Calendar
In This Section
Rape culture condemned in South Africa
Analysis: Obama's global reach only goes so far
Worst violence since U.S. pullback hits Iraq
Official says 7 South Korean Web sites attacked again
Hundreds protest in Iran, defying crackdown vow
Indian police say toxic home brew has killed 86
Irish Catholics say tree stump looks like Mary
Afghan blast kills 25, half of them children
Most Read Stories
Akron police investigate teen mob attack on family
Woman, 75, charged with beating fawn to death
Akron woman found dead at Brimfield Township store
Man shot in back near Akron park
Man shot outside his Akron home during robbery attempt
Man admits repeatedly biting 2-year-old
Tragic day puts man on path to be Pinnacle owner
Blogs:
Pets:
Dogs' Bark: Not fair! Study shows pups get jealous
The Heldenfiles:
Who Will Get the Michael Media Treatment Next?
Patrick McManamon:
More on Varejao
Akron Zips:
Opponent outlook: Kent State
Browns Bulletin:
Quick thought on Browns rookies
Tribe Matters:
Wedge challenges relievers
Cleveland Browns:
Stallworth test showed marijuana
Kent State Sports:
Men's Basketball Scheduling update
Cleveland Cavaliers:
Andy’s Signed According to ESPN
All Da King's Men:
Does Medicare Have Lower Administrative Costs ?
Blog of Mass Destruction:
CIA Did Mislead Congress
Akron Law Café:
Breaking Story: CIA Lied to Congress about Secret Program
Varsity Letters:
East basketball update
See Jane Style:
Oh Baby!
Car Chase:
Where do We Go from Here?
Let's Talk Real Estate:
Closings….Not the Good Kind!
Ohio Travels with Betty:
Margy inquires-when is a Taste of Hudson?
Sound Check:
LeVert II live performance Saturday night — "Dedication" album due July 13,
HRLite House:
DDI One of Best Places to Work
Akron Gamer:
First 24 'Guitar Hero 5' songs announced
$700 million complex in Baghdad Green Zone is largest in the world
By Chelsea J. Carter
Associated Press
Published on Tuesday, Jan 06, 2009
BAGHDAD: The United States inaugurated its largest embassy ever on Monday, a fortress-like compound in the heart of the Green Zone and the most visible sign of what U.S. officials call a new chapter in relations between America and a more sovereign Iraq.
U.S. Marines raised the American flag over the adobe-colored buildings, which sit on a 104-acre site that has space for 1,000 employees more than 10 times the size of any other American Embassy in the world.
''Iraq is in a new era and so is the Iraqi-U.S. relationship,'' Ambassador Ryan Crocker proclaimed.
In perhaps an unintended sign of the new relationship, Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki did not attend Monday's ceremony because he was traveling in Iran, a country the U.S. has accused of aiding and arming Iraqi militants.
Explaining the opening of such a large embassy three years before the U.S. must withdraw its 146,000 troops, Crocker told the Associated Press that it is vital for the U.S. to remain involved in nonmilitary ways.
''I think we have seen a tremendous amount of progress,'' Crocker said before the ceremony, ''but the development of this new Iraq is going to be a very long time in the making, and we need to be engaged here.''
Crocker said Baghdad was looking to the West for the first time since the Army's 1958 revolution that toppled Iraq's monarchy and set the stage for the ascendance of the Baath party, which dominated Iraq until the 2003 invasion.
''Iraq has defined itself in general hostility to the West and the United States. You now have a fundamentally different state and society taking shape that values those relations, that values those contacts, that wants its children educated in American and other Western universities. And we need to be there as a partner to ensure that those relationships are solidly built and well maintained,'' he said.
''We will be engaged in different ways as security continues to improve and as Iraqi security forces are more and more in the lead. But that engagement over the long term is key,'' he added.
The veteran diplomat has served many years in the Middle East, where a lack of U.S. resolve in Lebanon 20 years ago opened that country to meddling from Iran and Syria.
The inauguration of the $700 million embassy came just days after a security agreement between Iraq and the United States took effect, replacing a U.N. mandate that gave legal authority to the U.S. and other foreign troops to operate in Iraq.
Under the new security agreement, U.S. troops will no longer conduct unilateral operations and will act only in concert with Iraqi forces.
BAGHDAD: The United States inaugurated its largest embassy ever on Monday, a fortress-like compound in the heart of the Green Zone and the most visible sign of what U.S. officials call a new chapter in relations between America and a more sovereign Iraq.
Get the full article here.

