U.S. Embassy plans for Iraq turn up online

WASHINGTON — Detailed plans for the U.S. Embassy being built in Baghdad appeared online Thursday in a breach of the security surrounding the sensitive project.

Computer-generated projections of the soon-to-be completed, heavily fortified compound were posted on the Web site of the Kansas City, Mo.-based architectural firm that was contracted to design the facility in the Iraqi capital.

The images showing the $529 million embassy were removed by Berger Devine Yaeger after the firm was contacted by the State Department.

"We work very hard to ensure the safety and security of our employees overseas," said Gonzalo Gallegos, a department spokesman.

The 10 images included a scheme of the overall layout of the compound, plus depictions of individual buildings including the embassy, office annexes, the Marine Corps security post, swimming pool, recreation center and the ambassador's and deputy ambassador's residences.

U.S. officials said the posted plans conformed at least roughly to conceptual drawings of the embassy being built on the banks of the Tigris River behind huge fences due to concerns about insurgents' attacks.

Dan Sreebny, a spokesman for the embassy in Baghdad, declined to discuss the accuracy of the posted images.

Berger Devine Yaeger's parent company, the Louis Berger Group, said the plans had been preliminary.

"The actual information that was up there was purely conjectural and conceptual in nature," said company spokesman Jeffrey Willis. "Google Earth could give you a better snapshot of what the site looks like on the ground."

Some U.S. officials acknowledged that damage may have been done by the postings and used expletives to describe their reactions. Still, they downplayed the overall risk.

"People are eventually going to figure out where all these places are, but you don't have to draw them a map," said one senior official, speaking on condition of anonymity.

In Baghdad, the construction is under heavy guard and treated with extreme secrecy. It is off-limits to all but those with special passes, surrounded by tall, concrete blast walls and impossible to see except from the air.

The images posted on the Web site showed that the embassy, expected to be completed in September, will be a spacious and comfortable facility, albeit dangerous.

Identified as the "Baghdad U.S. Embassy Compound Master Plan," the images showed palm-lined paths, green grass gardens and volleyball and basketball courts outside the Marine post, and the swimming pool.

"In total, the 104-acre compound will include over twenty buildings, including one classified secure structure and housing for over 380 families," the Web site said.

A U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee report last year said embassy security will be extraordinary: Setbacks and perimeter no-go areas will be especially deep, structures reinforced to 2.5 times the standard and five high-security entrances, plus an emergency entrance-exit.