Posted on 05/06/2008 2:40:52 PM PDT by houston1
Picture, if you will, a tree-lined plaza in Baghdad's International Village, flanked by fashion boutiques, swanky cafes, and shiny glass office towers. Nearby a golf course nestles agreeably, where a chip over the water to the final green is but a prelude to cocktails in the club house and a soothing massage in a luxury hotel, which would not look out of place in Sydney harbour. Then, as twilight falls, a pre-prandial stroll, perhaps, amid the cool of the Tigris Riverfront Park, where the peace is broken only by the soulful cries of egrets fishing. Improbable though it all may seem, this is how some imaginative types in the US military are envisaging the future of Baghdad's Green Zone, the much-pummelled redoubt of the Iraqi capital where a bunker shot has until now had very different connotations. The US military released the first tentative artists' impression yesterday. An army source said the barbed wire, concrete blast barriers and checkpoints that currently disfigure the 5 sq mile area would be replaced by shopping malls, hotels, elegant apartment blocks and leisure parks. "This is at the end of the day an Iraqi-owned area and we will give it back to them with added value," said the source ...snip... Despite the apparent Pentagon enthusiasm, other US officials in Baghdad seemed more skeptical. "We approach this with perhaps a dose of realism," offered one. "These are issues for the Iraqis to discuss. We do not own the International Zone, and its future is really up to the Iraqis."
For many Baghdad residents, the Green Zone has been a no-go area for years, first under Saddam and now under the occupation. "What do I care?" shrugged one, Ahmed Hussein. "I don't have electricity, I don't have fresh water and I don't have a job."
(Excerpt) Read more at guardian.co.uk ...
That’s because it’s the Guardian UK. Little difference.
/johnny
whats the penalty in golf when your ball gets destroyed by incoming mortar fire? two strokes right?
It’s a good idea actually the only way we’ll win the hearts and minds is to buy them. KFC, Mc Donalds, and all the chains need to set up shop and provide for the people.
Whatever happens in Iraq, I have no egrets.
LOL
Wait till first Subway, Starbucks, and Wal Mart open up LOL!
LOL! Keeping them in the 10 ring I see. ;o)
Subway and Green Bean Coffee are already in the Green Zone. Along with Burger King and Pizza Inn. ;-)
They look to be pining for the fjords, squire.
OH LORDY I may have spoken too late LOL!
Okay how about Target’s or Costco club LOL!
Or Walgreen or CVS Store
Incoming!
Every so often, I re-read your home page, just to see what you’re up to lately.
And every time, I come away with the same thought.
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