"A mortar shell smashed into the hulking new U.S. Embassy that's under construction in Baghdad last May, damaging a wall and causing minor injuries to people inside the building. It also exposed enormous problems in the management of what's become a $592 million government construction project (http://thinkprogress.org/2007/05/29/photos-embassy-iraq/).

The State Department contractor in charge of the project, James L. Golden, attempted to alter the scene of the blast, according to government officials familiar with the incident. The State Department inspector general prevented Department officials from investigating the incident (http://www.mcclatchydc.com/227/story/20676.html), according to interviews and documents.

A congressional committee is examining whether the walls of the still-unfinished embassy complex, which are supposed to be blast-resistant, performed as they should have during the mortar attack.

The Baghdad embassy complex, while incomplete, is about to be dramatically expanded to make room for a U.S. military presence that wasn't anticipated when the structures were first planned in 2004."

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"The U.S. Army will continue to rely on an unpopular program that forces some soldiers to stay on beyond their retirement or re-enlistment dates, despite repeated pressure from Defense Secretary Robert Gates to reduce and eventually eliminate the practice.

"Until there is some reduction in the demand, we're going to have to rely, unfortunately ... on stop loss (http://www.usatoday.com/news/military/2007-10-18-stop-loss_N.htm?csp=34)," Rochelle told reporters. "Until the demand comes down a bit, we can't do it without it."


http://www.whitehouse.org/images/gs/draft.gif

"The men gathered in the evening at the schoolyard to execute their attack. By the time they finished, at least seven rockets had crashed down nearly four miles away inside the American military headquarters compound in Baghdad, killing two U.S. soldiers and wounding at least 38 other people (http://icasualties.org/oif/), according to U.S. soldiers.

From the courtyard of his concrete-barricaded garrison in southwestern Baghdad that evening, Lt. Col. Patrick Frank heard the distinctive sound of rocket fire. He hurried inside his command office to flat-screen panels displaying aerial imagery to pinpoint the launch site.

Within minutes, his cellphone began ringing. Several Iraqi informants told him the attack had originated near the decrepit school in al-Amil, recalled Frank, the battalion commander in the neighborhood. His sources agreed on another thing, too, he said: "There were several Iraqi police vehicles spotted leaving the scene (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/20/AR2007102001009.html?hpid%3Dtopnews&sub=AR)."

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.....And, The Idiot Son's Legacy (http://home.comcast.net/%7Ewizardofwhimsy/myglory.jpg) just keeps growing........ :bombout: