{"id":5298,"date":"2012-02-23T20:02:06","date_gmt":"2012-02-23T20:02:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wemeantwell.com\/blog\/?p=5298"},"modified":"2012-02-23T20:02:06","modified_gmt":"2012-02-23T20:02:06","slug":"iraq-now-with-more-democracy-and-cookies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wemeantwell.com\/blog\/2012\/02\/23\/iraq-now-with-more-democracy-and-cookies\/","title":{"rendered":"Iraq: Now with More Democracy (and Cookies)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"https:\/\/wemeantwell.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/artexhibit.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/wemeantwell.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/artexhibit.jpg\" alt=\"\" title=\"artexhibit\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-5299\" align=\"left\" style=\"padding-right:15px\" \/><\/a>What was to be America&#8217;s 51st state, still the proud location of the World&#8217;s Largest and Most Expensive Embassy without Purpose, Iraq took some more baby steps toward democracy.<\/p>\n<p>Today&#8217;s democratic acts included a series of explosions and shootings that <a href=\"http:\/\/edition.cnn.com\/2012\/02\/23\/world\/meast\/iraq-violence\/index.html?hpt=hp_t3\">killed 44 people<\/a> and injured more than 200 in Baghdad. The bombings were all coordinated\/timed and took in <a href=\"http:\/\/en.aswataliraq.info\/(S(fo0tix45dilziw55a1q14m2t))\/Default1.aspx?page=article_page&#038;id=147084&#038;l=1\">both Sunni and Shia <\/a>neighborhoods. 2012 is well-placed to outperform 2011 in civilian deaths.<br \/>\n<BR><\/p>\n<p>Luckily the World&#8217;s Largest and Most Expensive Embassy without Purpose wasn&#8217;t just shuffling papers as these terrible acts unfolded across Iraq. After what was no doubt hours of consultations, the Embassy <a href=\"http:\/\/edition.cnn.com\/2012\/02\/23\/world\/meast\/iraq-violence\/index.html?hpt=hp_t3\">released<\/a> a statement saying it &#8220;strongly condemns&#8221; what it called terrorist attacks.  The US Embassy also continues its planning for <a href=\"http:\/\/iraq.usembassy.gov\/feb11bhmconcert.html\">a concert<\/a> in honor of Black History Month, as well as a reception and <a href=\"http:\/\/iraq.usembassy.gov\/jan30artexhibit.html\">art exhibit<\/a> featuring five Iraqi artists who took part in programs sponsored by the U.S. government. According to the Embassy, &#8220;The event not only created opportunities for people-to-people interactions but also celebrated our shared values, including freedom of expression. Such interactions are crucial to forging the strong bonds of friendship and mutual respect that we seek.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>So, it is apparent that the $5 billion a year it costs to operate the World&#8217;s Largest and Most Expensive Embassy without Purpose in Baghdad is not going to waste. At least they aren&#8217;t burning Korans. Pass the cookies, please.<br \/>\n<BR><br \/>\n<BR><\/p>\n<div id=\"apf_post_footer\">\n<h4>Related Articles:<\/h4>\n<ul>\n<li class=\"apf_footer\"><a href=\"https:\/\/wemeantwell.com\/blog\/?p=40460\">What I Miss the Most About Pre-9\/11 America<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"apf_footer\"><a href=\"https:\/\/wemeantwell.com\/blog\/?p=39926\">Why the Ben Franklin Fellowship at State?<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"apf_footer\"><a href=\"https:\/\/wemeantwell.com\/blog\/?p=39906\">Is Iran a Turning Point?<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"apf_footer\"><a href=\"https:\/\/wemeantwell.com\/blog\/?p=39882\">Whistleblowers, Leakers, and Spies<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"apf_footer\"><a href=\"https:\/\/wemeantwell.com\/blog\/?p=39838\">Can the U.S. Win the Iran War?<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"apf_footer\"><a href=\"https:\/\/wemeantwell.com\/blog\/?p=39802\">The One Absolute Non-Negotiable Item with Iran<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"apf_footer\"><a href=\"https:\/\/wemeantwell.com\/blog\/?p=38277\">Trump versus the Visa Office<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>What was to be America&#8217;s 51st state, still the proud location of the World&#8217;s Largest and Most Expensive Embassy without Purpose, Iraq took some more baby steps toward democracy. Today&#8217;s democratic acts included a series of explosions and shootings that killed 44 people and injured more than 200 in Baghdad. The bombings were all coordinated\/timed [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10,8,7],"tags":[657,1025,1020],"class_list":["post-5298","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-democracy","category-embassystate","category-iraq","tag-bombs","tag-cookies","tag-koran"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wemeantwell.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5298","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wemeantwell.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wemeantwell.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wemeantwell.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wemeantwell.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5298"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/wemeantwell.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5298\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wemeantwell.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5298"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wemeantwell.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5298"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wemeantwell.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5298"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}