WASHINGTON — The United States has concluded that its relations with Iraq will likely be vastly reduced.
A government report has asserted that the United States must scale down its embassy in Baghdad amid the American military withdrawal. The State Department's inspector-general said the embassy would need far less than its nearly 2,000 employees, the largest such mission in the world.
"It should be able to carry out all of its responsibilities with significantly fewer staff and in a much-reduced footprint," the inspector-general report said.
The State Department audit outlined U.S. plans to reduce its presence in Iraq by 2012. The report said nearly 30 provincial reconstruction teams would be phased out, which would significantly reduce U.S. activity in Iraq, Middle East Newsline reported.
"[The reduction in the embassy staff] has to begin immediately," the report said.
The U.S. embassy, construction of which began in 2005, has cost more than $700 million. The embassy, with 21 buildings on 104 acres, employs
1,873 staffers, making it the largest in the world.
The audit reviewed decisions by the former Bush administration, which approved the embassy in Baghdad. The inspector-general said the previous administration did not impose standards on either staffing or cost.
