[Bush Administration] Where Two Wrongs Again Fail to Make a Right

Found over at Americablog, I couldn't pass up commenting on this WaPo story:

"This is serious enough to get someone killed," said a State Department official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he feared retaliation. "The fire systems are the tip of the iceberg. That is the most visible. But no one has ever inspected the electrical system, the power plant" and other parts of the embassy complex, which will house more than 1,000 people and is vulnerable to mortar attacks.

This is an embassy that shouldn't exist in the first place. I'd be eternally amused if this disaster was some sort of passive-aggressive tactic on the part of mid-level bureaucrats to get the U.S. out of Iraq.

It's also the logical consequence of what is passes for a free-market system these days (but is really a crony-centered, accountability-free system).

I am reminded of the anger my more conservative relatives show when it comes to "wasting" the taxpayers' money.

Two things: 1) They are, unfortunately, referring to public education and not war; 2) Apparently "freedom" means that it's morally acceptable for private companies to waste as much money as they want.