BEIRUT (Middle East Eye) – Photographs of the new U.S. embassy compound under construction in Lebanon shared on Twitter have sparked questions and conspiracies.
The photographs, posted by the U.S. embassy in Beirut with the caption, “things are progressing at our new compounds”, had gotten 2.1 million views by the time of publication.
The U.S. announced plans to build the new embassy in 2017 and the compound has been under construction ever since.
Many have questioned why the U.S. needs to build what will be the world’s second-largest embassy in the world after the American embassy in Baghdad, given that the Mediterranean country is home to only six million people.
“This is bigger than the Pentagon,” one Twitter user said. “What’s planned for this compound other than issuing visas???”
“Room for hundreds of spies and infiltrators? A weapon factory too? another Twitter user asked.
“Any secret bio labs tucked away in that military complex-like building?” asked another.
The embassy is expected to cost $1bn and will occupy 43 acres once completed. The price tag has also raised eyebrows because it comes as Lebanon is facing an economic crisis.
The U.S. investment comes after Washington’s top Middle East diplomat claimed last year that Lebanon faced the potential of a complete “unraveling” of the state and “disintegration”.
Lebanon has been without a functioning government since Former President Michel Aoun’s term ended in October without a replacement.
“Thanks for destroying all those trees for a massive military base no real Lebanese wants in their country. Hooray for the Yanks…” said a third.
Washington’s embassies in Lebanon were previously targeted by protests because of anti-U.S. sentiments in the country.
The U.S.’s embassy in mainly Muslim West Beirut was decimated in a 1983 bombing that killed eight CIA agents. It then moved to predominantly East Beirut, but that building was hit in 1984 by a truck bombing that killed 241 U.S. Marines and 58 French soldiers.