TRIPOLI, Libya (WMR) -- In a gesture aimed to improve re-established diplomatic relations between Libya and the United States, the Libyan government of Colonel Muammar Qaddafi offered to the Obama administration the seaside royal palace of the former King, Idris al-Senussi, as the site for the new U.S. embassy in Tripoli.

However, the U.S. State Department, under Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, turned down the offer without batting an eyelash. Clinton is maintaining the State Department’s policy of only building fortress-like structures to serve as American embassies around the world. This policy has enriched U.S. building contractors, as well as security companies that provide millions in redundant security systems for new U.S. embassies.

WMR learned from a Libyan government source that the U.S. rejection of the Libyan offer of the palace was a belief by the Americans that the embassy could be riddled with listening devices. The U.S. fear is mired in the Cold War when the new U.S. embassy in Moscow was discovered to have been built by Soviet contractors with bugging devices hidden in the concrete.

If the new U.S. embassies in Baghdad, Kabul, and Islamabad are any indication, the new U.S. embassy in Tripoli will be yet another white elephant built courtesy of the American taxpayers.

Previously published in the Wayne Madsen Report.

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