The new $6 million Iraqi embassy in DC

As a PR matter, allow me to suggest that spending $5.8 million on a Washington mansion was perhaps not the best move for an Iraqi government consuming billions of U.S. taxpayer dollars. Especially when it comes with, per the Washington Post:

bright skylights, inset lighting fixtures, a top-floor kitchenette with a built-in espresso machine, new hardwood floors and soft pistachio carpeting up the winding stairs... heated floors, a firefighting system, speakers for music throughout the building, and spacious bathrooms, one with a Jacuzzi. "We have bathrooms coming out of our ears," said Iraqi Ambassador Samir Sumaidaie, inspecting the new digs.

[A]t a minimum, could they maybe not have bought a mansion directly across the street from Cheney's house?

A Washington design and restoration company, Skynear and Co., painstakingly repaired the building after a 2004 fire, replicating almost every detail. Original plaster moldings were recast and French chandeliers imported to replace the originals. "A lot of blood, sweat and tears went into it," said Lynn Skynear. "We think we resurrected it back from the dead."

The Iraqi government bought the building in October. [..]

Asked about spending oil revenue on embassy buildings while Iraq is in the throes of war, [Ambassador] Sumaidaie turned off the television's sound. "Rebuilding is part of our recovery, regaining normalcy is part of our recovery," he replied. "It is building, not destroying."