The Green Zone in Baghdad contains the heaviest fortified real estate in the Middle East. Concrete blast walls line every street. Checkpoints stop every vehicle. And inside this bubble sits the American Embassy, a complex the size of Vatican City.
This embassy tells the whole story of America and Iran. America built it after invading Iraq and toppling Saddam. They made it huge because they planned to stay forever. They made it fortified because they knew Iran would fight back.
Iranian rockets hit this embassy repeatedly. In 2020 after Soleimani’s killing, rockets struck the compound and nearly killed people inside. In 2021 and 2022, more attacks followed. Iran-backed militias launched them almost always. America responded with airstrikes against militia bases almost always. The cycle never ended.
The embassy functions as a fortress and a prison. Thousands of Americans work inside those walls. They rarely leave. They cannot walk through Baghdad markets or visit Iraqi friends. They fly in on helicopters and leave on helicopters. The country they occupy remains completely foreign to them.
Iraqis watch this fortress with resentment. American diplomats live better than almost any Iraqi. They have air conditioning during summer heat waves that hit 120 degrees. They have swimming pools and gyms and restaurants. They have generators when the Iraqi grid fails. Their walls keep out the poverty surrounding them.
Iran exploits this resentment constantly. Their media shows the embassy as proof America colonizes Iraq. Their militias attack the embassy as proof they resist occupation. They want America to leave so Iran can dominate completely.
America refuses to leave. They remember what happened after they left in 2011. ISIS rose. Iran filled the vacuum. Now American troops stay and American diplomats stay and American money keeps flowing. The embassy remains the symbol of American commitment and American failure.
