It’s always nice to hear about the U.S. being respected and liked around the world but this doesn’t sound like the smartest plan…
When I think most about pride and respect towards America around the world, Kosovo is the first place that comes to mind. During our visit, we spent some time on Bill Clinton Boulevard and visited a square that has a statue of the former POTUS himself. (A post about our time at Bill Clinton Boulevard is long overdue.)
While walking around Kosovo people were genuinely nice to us and even more so when they heard that we were American.
However, the replica of an iconic American building is a bit much, especially when you think about where it is currently being built.
A replica of the White House is being built by an “Iraqi tycoon” in the northern Iraqi city of Erbil. It will be part of Dream City, “a ritzy community in the Kurdish capital”.
The property isn’t even completed yet but there has been an offer of $17 million to purchase it. The owner turned it down.
Building a White House replica in the war-torn country of Iraq sounds like it could become a major target for those with anti-America sentiment, especially from groups like the IS.
What do you think of building a replica of the White House in Iraq? I don’t feel that this was a well thought out or very wise decision.
Find out more from ABC News here.
Darije- I never said I felt proud of Kosovo. While in Kosovo, the people there seemed to genuinely respect America and were very happy to see American tourists there.
I can not add towards the atrocities that you claim took place. I am no expert nor do I have any real knowledge of the situation that has taken place in Kosovo in recent years. I would agree that there are two sides to each story.
Graham- Good points for sure!
To be fair, it’s being built in Erbil, which is the capital of Kurdish Iraq. A place of relative calm and serenity in the vast war zone of Iraq as a whole. The Kurdish are fiercely secular and have their own standing army who are very well trained (the Peshmerga). They are also very pro-American, and enjoy a large amount of support from the US govt, both publicly and in the shadows. I wouldn’t worry too much about this as a target. Maybe if Erbil falls, but that would be a whole separate issue in its own right.
You are proud of Kosovo? I hope your kin never have to experience that kind of “liberation”. Destroying Christian heritage almost a thousand years old, killing people for their organs, ethnic cleansing of unprecedented scale, all financed by euroasian narco trade. Nothing to feel proud of, I assure you.