U.S. Embassy, Baghdad

I‘ve been here two weeks now, feeling my way around, meeting people, getting up to speed, beginning to advise the Staff Judge Advocate (General Petraeus’s lawyer) on a host of rule of law issues, and liaising with related offices at the State and Justice Departments.

The aspect of this experience that most impressed me initially–and continues to do so however long I stay in the Green Zone–is the lavish luxury permeating through the Presidential Palace that emerged unscathed in the war and is now the U.S. Embassy. The expansive floors are marble, the high ceilings are adorned in gold leaf and elaborate murals, and the bathrooms are redolent in ornate fixtures and carvings. You expect veiled concubines to come out from behind the drapes to offer you grapes and a fanning.