Though nine years of American military presence in Iraq came to an end on December 15 of last year, the United States planned to maintain a massive diplomatic presence in Baghdad’s Green Zone consisting of almost 16,000 people working for the U.S. Department of State. Just recently, State Department officials announced they may cut embassy operations by almost half.
At the height of American involvement in Iraq, Coalition administrators chose Baghdad’s Green Zone as a starting point from which to rebuild the country after toppling Saddam Hussein. At the same time, the Bush administration planned to build the largest embassy in the world within the Green Zone. While some said the embassy would be a symbol of democracy and freedom in the Middle East, critics suggested the embassy was merely a symbol of continuing American hegemony.
Rajiv Chandrasekaran wrote about American reconstruction efforts and their long-term implications in his 2006 book Imperial Life in the Emerald City: Inside Iraq’s Green Zone:
Imperial Life in the Emerald City from WAC: Connecticut on FORA.tv