The new complex is being built 10 miles northeast of Beirut’s historic core (Picture: @usembassybeirut/x)
America is building a mega fortress. Just like food portions in the ‘Land of Plenty,’ it is supersised – the only difference is that it is costing the US taxpayers $1 billion.
Overlooking the Mediterranean Sea, the new US Embassy in Lebanon will be the second largest in the world, after the one they have in Iraq.
Located in the suburb of Awkar, around 10 miles from the centre of Beirut, it is built next to the site of the current embassy.
The compound, which has been under construction since 2017, looks more like a city of its own.
It is larger than any government facility in Lebanon and is expected to house 5,000 staff (Picture: @usembassybeirut/x)
Construction began seven years ago, in 2017, and is expected to be finished by 2026 (Picture: @usembassybeirut/x)
Sprawling over a 43-acre site, the complex is larger than any government facility in Lebanon.
For context, it is about 10 times the size of the one in Nine Elms, London, almost two-and-a-half times the size of the land the White House is built on and almost double the Pentagon size.
No specific reason has been offered for building such a megastructure in Lebanon – and about 60 miles from the Lebanese border with Israel.
According to the State Department’s website, the ‘primary purpose’ of any US Embassy is to ‘assist American citizens’ in a host country.
A 3D image showing what the access to the main campus would look like (Picture: @usembassybeirut/x)
The complex is 10 times larger than the US Embassy in London (Picture: @usembassybeirut/x)
Questions have been asked, however, about why the US government is spending as much $1 billion on a new embassy complex in a country with only around 86,000 US citizens.
Territory-wise, Lebanon is smaller than 4,036 square miles. To put this in perspective, it is smaller than Yorkshire.
The Middle Eastern country is also home to only six million people and is currently being rebuilt after months of Israeli bombardments and an on-the-ground invasion.
Former British Ambassador to Uzbekistan Craig Murray stressed that this is ‘not an embassy, but something 50 times bigger’ and speculated about its real purpose.
It is located about 60 miles from the Lebanon-Israel border (Picture: @usembassybeirut/x)
The USA is building a new megastructure HQ in Lebanon over 43 acres as an "Embassy".
Lebanon is a country with the area and population of Yorkshire or Connecticut, but a tenth of the economy.
So what is it? pic.twitter.com/iVK6Mjeq9l— Craig Murray (@CraigMurrayOrg) January 18, 2025
In an interview with Leila Hatoum, MENA Uncensored editor-in-chief, he said: ‘This is plainly something else. What is it? Why is it so big?’
The Lebanese journalist claimed the compound could be used for ‘logistics and torture’ and to support ‘their espionage’ in the region.
She said: ‘The US started building it a few years back and the mass scale of it is scary. It is the second largest US Embassy after the one they have in Iraq. To have both in the Middle East shows you how important the region is to them.
‘When it comes to Iraq, it is for military purposes, because it joins the three countries they want to control or attack – Iraq, Syria and Iran. In Lebanon, it is a different scenario.
‘They need it for logistics, for torture, for interrogation, to support their espionage missions across the region.’
Hatoum added: ‘This Embassy is not built to cater to Lebanese-American citizens and for good, friendly relations… It is there to control Lebanon.’
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