January 29, 2005, They hate us for our big embassy
That would be the biggest embassy of any country in the world, our American embassy to Iraq, which suffered a rocket attack today, killing two Americans. The Green Zone, as I am fond of reminding people, is several square miles-- I suppose the size of Manhattan from 14th or 23rd Street all the way down to the Battery.
It's nice to see the insurgents including the Americans in what had mostly been an internal Iraqi celebration of their newfound democratic process. As I said elsewhere (such as over at American Street), if you wanted a formula on how not to do this, we have provided it. Such a formula would reward violence by assuring that a low turnout somewhere (caused by said violence) would lower ultimate representation, and thereby, maximize resentment toward Americans and toward whoever prevails in the election.
The best part of all: no matter what happens, the President can hail having brought "democracy" to the Arab world, and maybe get his ever-dropping approval rating off of its recent low water marks. Iran gets a Shia-dominated government favorable to it, Sunni "insurgents" get a freshly stoked and resentful Sunni populace...
Man, talk about a "win-win-win" situation.