U.S. Unveils Plan for $1 Billion London Embassy, Complete with a Moat to Act as a Deterrent from Terrorists

Coming soon, the most expensive U.S. embassy built, will be on Battersea wasteland in London, complete with a moat. Where is the fiscal oversight President Obama promised us?

While millions of workers in America continue to lose their jobs and their homes, the best thing the American government could do is to spend $1 billion on a new embassy in London. According to the U.K. Times Online, the embassy is one of the most expensive ever built.  It is absolutely unfathomable that the powers that be could sit aside and let this occur, when education is on the chopping block in so many states. For example, in Dekalb County, Atlanta, four schools will most likely be shuttered and the school week and year reduced to cover  budget shortfalls. This is crazy.

The embassy will be built on the Battersea wasteland as a crystalline cube surrounded by a moat. It will be designed by Kieran Timberlake, a Philadelphia architect. So, is this the best use for our money? Of course, the moat is being touted as a deterrent for would-be bombers by separating the building from the road and would reportedly remove the need for the blast barriers. Still, isn't this a colossal waste of resources, considering we are in the midst of an economic quagmire?

The State Department sought to play down the cost of security measures, noting the expense of London building work. But the price puts the London embassy above the US’s most fortified missions, including the Baghdad embassy, which cost $600 million (£390 million) but required a further $100 million of work on air conditioning, and the Islamabad embassy, still under construction, which has cost more than $850 million. Source: Times Online

I continue to be dismayed at the actions of the Obama administration. There is a serious disconnect in what then-presidential candidate Obama said and what he has done since ascending the presidency. Where's that budgetary oversight that would eliminate waste? Why do we need to build a new embassy at this juncture, all things considered?