Taxpayers, a robust group huzzah please! The US Embassy in Baghdad has taken a bold, innovative step towards resolving all problems in Iraq, large and small: The Embassy is now paying someone with your tax dollars to Tweet!
Sorry neigh sayers, it is true. We all know that social media is the key to public diplomacy at the State Department and now the machine is alive in Iraq.
Because of the obvious crazy high start up costs and the complexity of using Twitter, the one mission that just couldn’t seem to get Tweeting was the World’s Largest Embassy (c), Baghdad, still without a first Tweet until just August 27. They have been prioritized for a robust MySpace and used up all the electrons in Iraq there, though Baghdad does have a nice Facebook page for study in the US (a lot of Iraqis would like to get on that train; almost all of the postings are asking for visas, scholarships or for someone to answer their emailed requests for visas and scholarships) and a YouTube channel. This blog even did its patriotic duty by suggesting some Tweets for the diplowarriors to begin with, but never mind, here is the real thing:
Of the 3,000 some employees the State Department has in Iraq, one (maybe more; no one at State can write anything without two other people to supervise and clear it) is now staffing the Tweets. And look at the things you’ll see there:
First Tweet (8/27): Generic repeat of State worldwide Tweet on absentee voting
8/29 Generic repeats of State worldwide Tweets on para-Olympics (NOTE: Relevant, given how many people lost limbs in the US invasion! FTW)
9/5 (Took a few days off) First Tweet in Arabic, which many speak in Iraq, and it is… it is… a link to a CNN article about Facebook.
And so on. See for yourself.
May Allah please help these people. They are pathetic. No doubt some State Department person will be promoted for resuscitating the Twitter account, written up as “Robustly enhancing the social media outreach of Embassy Baghdad, dramatically increasing interactive outflow metrics with the Iraqi people. And world peace.”
But really, this is just sad. With State Department Director of PT Barnum Affairs Alec Ross popping up worldwide to announce how innovative the State Department is, you’d think the world’s largest embassy staff could come up with something, anything better than generic propaganda Tweets and links to CNN articles. Maybe something unique to Iraq? Of interest to Iraqis?
Your tax dollars at work Americans!
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Great piece.
Twittering to the edge: The Sydney Morning Herald reported that the declassified Air Force counterintelligence documents declare that military personnel who make contact with WikiLeaks or “WikiLeaks supporters” are at risk of being charged with “communicating with the enemy” — an article of the Uniform Code of Military Justice that carries the death penalty. http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/sep/27/wikileaks-investigation-enemy
If Bradley Manning somehow managed to send out links to all those cables via the Twitter- universe, would that make all of US guilty of “communicating with the enemy” just for linking to this —
https://twitter.com/JulianAssange_
Citizen Bauer, please report for re-education.
The Management
Right behind Libby, Cheney and the rest of the leaky traitors.
If Libby et al had not leaked the CIA’s business cover, perhaps the CIA would not have to hide behind the consular cover.
Speaking of “communicating with the enemy”, I see Clinton, to avoid the embarrassingly absurd debacle of certain members of the Washington political elite
doing exactly that, by advocating for the removal of one MEK…who, as a then US Government “listed terrorist group” paid these bottom dwelling cockroaches thousands of dollars for their advocacy while on said list…has now REMOVED the MEK from this “list”
http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2012/09/28/world/middleeast/28reuters-iraq-iran-mek.html?hp&_r=0
U.S. Formally Drops Iranian MEK Dissident Group From Terrorism List
NEW YORK (Reuters) – The State Department on Friday formally removed the Iranian dissident group Mujahadin-e Khalq (MEK) from its official list of terrorist organizations, but underscored that it still has “serious concerns” about the group.
I’d submit ole fatass Clinton couldn’t face the mirror in the morning..or these people who under the law, should be prosecuted.
Meanwhile…the US Gov prosecutes various “non-politically connected”
individuals for the same exact..ahem “crime”.
And worse……
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/sep/28/iraq-us-constitution-and-civil-liberties
Fucking priceless. Every single day..I see more and more proof of how despicably evil, perverse, and loathsome this US Federal Cockroach Cartel really is. Especially the State Department of Sub Zero IQ and Ethics.
Given that one tenth of a percent of the Iraqi people have access to internet this should really give us bang for the buck. Maybe we should also try just hollering out the window. Almost all Iraqis have ears.
Where Did U.S. Money Go In Iraq?
According to a report in The Washington Post, Gen. David Petraeus and other American military commanders were given access to $5 billion in discretionary funds to spend on various projects like a now-defunct $1 million water park in Baghdad. Here are some of the places the money went to:
$10 million—Free “I Love the Surge” bumper sticker and T-shirt program
$13 million—Retrofitting Saddam’s sex palace to create municipal sex library
$125,000—Amphibious, duck-shaped Tigris River tour boat
$300,000—Funyuns Military Blend
$9,000—The Offspring’s booking fee
$100 million—Given to this guy who promised he would build a chain of really awesome after-school clubs and skate parks but who, in retrospect, was probably Muqtada al-Sadr
$7.1 million—Really nice big statue of Muhammad to cheer everyone in Baghdad up
$6 million—Ultimately abandoned Frank Gehry blueprints for Iraq’s entire infrastructure
$4 million—Dance hall; men only
$60 million—Blowing up bridge E.U. forces need to leave
http://www.theonion.com/articles/where-did-us-money-go-in-iraq,18798/