Why build a $500 million embassy if the US is withdrawing

[caption id="" align="alignright" width="300" caption="Site of the former US Embassy, Saigon, now used as a spot for parking and recreation Wikipedia"][/caption]

President Obama's public announcements and private actions contradict each other. One the one hand, we had the surge, on the other had there is a withdrawal date. One the one had the US is talking to the Taliban, on the other hand, Washington is pressuring Islamabad to continue the war on the same Afghans. One the one hand Washington calls the US an ally, asking for help in a safe exit, on the other hand,  the US is bombing Pakistani cities. On the one hand the US is giving military aid to Pakistan, on the other hand, it has a 3000 strong "CIA Army" causing murder and mayhem in Pakistan

U.S. Ambassador to Afghanistan Karl Eikenberry recently briefed the press about the new building that the US is constructing in Kabul.

The United States has announced it would spend $511 million to expand its embassy in Kabul.

Speaking at the construction site, Ambassador Karl Eikenberry said the work would enable the United States "to carry out its pledge to maintain into the future its very significant security, government, economic, and civil society programs."

He said the project, which is to be completed by 2014, started earlier this year and currently employs about 500 Afghans.

If the US is beginning the withdrawal of its forces from Afghanistan, and the withdrawal is to be completed by 2014, the purpose of building the colossal fort in the heart of Kabul is a clear indication of American goals in the region.

The US had similar plans for Vietnam, but the huge Embassy complex in Saigon was run over by events and Saigon became Ho chi Minh City.

Analysts believe that once the withdrawal begins, the US will be unable to support this white elephant.

One wonders about he scenes? Will it be just like Saigon, or slightly different. The USSR did not allow any pictures of its withdrawal--will the US be able to hide them.

TEHRAN (FNA)- An Afghan academic figure dismissed the justifications cited by the US for expanding and enlarging its embassy in Kabul, and disclosed that Washington is setting up the largest espionage center in the occupied country.




"The new US embassy complex in Kabul would become CIA's (the Central Intelligence Agency) major base in Afghanistan and Central Asia," Deputy Head of Afghanistan's Science Academy Mohammad Sharif Pakrai told FNA in Kabul on Saturday.

He pointed out that the United States' claims that it intends to spend $550mln to expand the Kabul embassy for diplomatic objectives is a sheer lie since no common sense can accept that such a large budget is spent on such "an unnecessary move".

"Given the current economic, security, military and cultural conditions of Afghanistan, the expansion of the US embassy has no diplomatic justification," Pakrai stressed.

"The move is a complementary part of the six US military bases that are under construction and the center is due to command and control espionage and cultural activities in the region in future," the Afghan figure cautioned.

The comments by Pakrai came after the United States announced on Wednesday that is bolstering its presence in Afghanistan with a 500 million dollar expansion of its Kabul embassy and the construction of two consulates.

Washington's Kabul embassy is already its biggest in the world, with about 1,100 employees, projected to rise to 1,200 by the end of the year, officials said.

The United States and NATO have 150,000 troops in Afghanistan, following a military surge ordered by President Barack Obama.

The embassy expansion contract was worth 511 million dollars and had been awarded under US law to an American company, Caddell Construction Inc., ambassador Karl Eikenberry said.

Another two contracts, worth 20 million dollars each, have been awarded for the construction of consulates in Herat, the main city in Western Afghanistan, and Mazar-I-Sharif in the North, he said.