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Obama doesn’t rule out US embassy in Iran:

Realistically, what purpose or worthwhile functions do Embassies serve?

It common knowledge the positions of ambassadorships are given out as a pay back for the support a person has extended in some way to the president. Many times these favors/appointments are to family members of the supporters.

The following is a list of all of the USA’s ambassadors by country. Tell me they don’t cost our country a bundle. Do the math.

Wikipedia

Host country	List	Ambassador	Website	Confirmed
Afghanistan	List	Michael McKinley	Kabul [1]	December 9, 2014
Albania	List	Donald Lu	Tirana [2]	November 20, 2014
Algeria	List	Joan Polaschik	Algiers	July 29, 2014
Andorra[3]	List	James Costos	Madrid	August 1, 2013
Angola	List	Helen La Lime	Luanda	May 15, 2014
Antigua and Barbuda[4]	List	Larry Palmer	Bridgetown	March 29, 2012
Argentina	List	Noah Mamet	Buenos Aires	December 2, 2014
Armenia	List	Richard Mills	Yerevan [3]	December 16, 2014
Australia	List	John Berry	Canberra [4]	August 1, 2013
Austria	List	Alexa Wesner	Vienna [5]	August 1, 2013
Azerbaijan	List	Robert Cekuta	Baku	December 16, 2014
Bahamas	List	Vacant since November 21, 2011 Lisa Johnson, Chargé d’Affaires a.i.	Nassau	July 9, 2014
Bahrain	List	William Roebuck	Manama [6]	November 18, 2014
Bangladesh	List	Marcia Bernicat	Dhaka	November 18, 2014
Barbados[4]	List	Larry Palmer	Bridgetown	March 29, 2012
Belarus	List	Vacant since March 12, 2008 Scott Rauland, Chargé d’Affaires a.i.	Minsk	June 30, 2014
Belgium	List	Denise Bauer	Brussels	August 1, 2013
Belize	List	Carlos Moreno	Belmopan	May 14, 2014
Benin	List	Michael Raynor	Cotonou	May 24, 2012
Bhutan	The United States does not maintain formal diplomatic relations with Bhutan. Informal contact through the Indian embassy.
Bolivia	List	Vacant since September 10, 2008 Peter Brennan, Chargé d’Affaires a.i.	La Paz	June 2014
Bosnia and Herzegovina	List	Maureen Cormack	Sarajevo [7]	November 19, 2014
Botswana	List	Earl Miller	Gaborone	November 19, 2014
Brazil	List	Liliana Ayalde	Brasilia	August 1, 2013
Brunei	List	Craig Allen	Bandar Seri Begawan	November 18, 2014
Bulgaria	List	Marcie Ries	Sofia	August 2, 2012
Burkina Faso	List	Tulinabo Mushingi	Ouagadougou	July 9, 2013
Burma (Myanmar)[5]	List	Derek Mitchell	Rangoon [8]	June 29, 2012
Burundi	List	Dawn Liberi	Bujumbura	September 22, 2012
Cambodia	List	William Todd	Phnom Penh	March 29, 2012
Cameroon	List	Michael Hoza	Yaoundé	July 29, 2014
Canada	List	Bruce Heyman	Ottawa [9]	March 12, 2014
Cape Verde	List	Donald Helfin	Praia	December 12, 2014
Central African Republic[6][7][8]	List	Vacant since December 28, 2012 David Brown, Charge d’Affaires, a.i.	Bangui	August 1, 2013
Chad	List	James Knight	N’Djamena	May 23, 2013
Chile	List	Michael Hammer	Santiago	March 6, 2014
China	List	Max Baucus	Beijing [10]	February 6, 2014
Colombia	List	Kevin Whitaker	Bogotá	April 1, 2014
Comoros[9]	List	Robert Yamate	Antananarivo	November 19, 2014
Congo-Brazzaville	List	Stephanie Sullivan	Brazzaville	August 1, 2013
Congo-Kinshasa	List	James Swan	Kinshasa	August 1, 2013
Costa Rica	List	Vacant since June 12, 2013 Gonzalo Gallegos, Chargé d’Affaires a.i.	San José	July 2013
Croatia	List	Kenneth Merten	Zagreb	March 29, 2012
Cuba	List	No diplomatic relations since January 3, 1961. Informal contact via the U.S. Interests Section in the Swiss embassy. Havana Interest Section
Cyprus	List	John Koenig	Nicosia	August 2, 2012
Czech Republic	List	Andrew Schapiro	Prague [11]	July 23, 2014
Denmark	List	Rufus Gifford	Copenhagen [12]	August 1, 2013
Djibouti	List	Thomas Kelly	Djibouti	June 25, 2014
Dominica[4]	List	Larry Palmer	Bridgetown	March 29, 2012
Dominican Republic	List	Wally Brewster	Santo Domingo	November 14, 2013
East Timor	List	Karen Clark Stanton	Dili	November 17, 2014
Ecuador	List	Adam Namm	Quito	April 26, 2012
Egypt	List	Robert Beecroft	Cairo	June 26, 2014
El Salvador	List	Mari Aponte	San Salvador	September 22, 2010
Equatorial Guinea	List	Mark Asquino	Malabo	June 29, 2012
Eritrea	List	Vacant since July 19, 2010 Louis Mazel, Chargé d’Affaires a.i.	Asmara	July 10, 2014
Estonia	List	Jeffrey Levine	Tallinn [13]	March 29, 2012
Ethiopia	List	Patricia Haslach	Addis Ababa	August 1, 2013
Fiji[10]	List	Judith Beth Cefkin	Suva	November 19, 2014
Finland	List	Bruce Oreck	Helsinki	August 12, 2009
France[11]	List	Jane Hartley	Paris [14]	September 16, 2014
Gabon[12]	List	Cynthia Akuetteh	Libreville	July 30, 2014
Gambia	List	Vacant since July 28, 2013 George Staples, Chargé d’Affaires a.i.	Banjul	July 28, 2013
Georgia	List	Richard Norland	Tbilisi	March 29, 2012
Germany	List	John Emerson	Berlin [15]	August 1, 2013
Ghana	List	Gene Cretz	Ghana	August 2, 2012
Greece	List	David Pearce	Athens [16]	August 1, 2013
Grenada[4]	List	Larry Palmer	Bridgetown	March 29, 2012
Guatemala	List	Todd Robinson	Guatemala	September 16, 2014
Guinea-Bissau[13]	List	James Zumwalt	Bissau VPP	November 18, 2014
Guinea-Conakry	List	Alexander Laskaris	Conakry	August 3, 2012
Guyana	List	Vacant since July 3, 2014 Bryan Hunt, Chargé d’Affaires a.i.	Georgetown	July 3, 2014
Haiti	List	Pamela White	Port-au-Prince	March 29, 2012
Holy See (Vatican City)	List	Ken Hackett	Vatican [17]	August 1, 2013
Honduras	List	James Nealon	Tegucigalpa	July 15, 2014
Hungary	List	Colleen Bell	Budapest	December 2, 2014
Iceland	List	Robert Barber	Reykjavik	December 12, 2014
India	List	Richard Verma	New Delhi	December 9, 2014
Indonesia	List	Robert Blake	Jakarta [18]	November 5, 2013
Iran	List	No diplomatic relations since April 7, 1980. Informal contact via the U.S. Interests Section in the Swiss embassy. Virtual Embassy Tehran since December 2011
Iraq	List	Stuart Jones	Baghdad [19]	June 26, 2014
Ireland	List	Kevin O’Malley	Dublin [20]	September 18, 2014
Israel	List	Daniel Shapiro	Tel Aviv [21]	May 26, 2011
Italy[14]	List	John Phillips	Rome [22]	August 1, 2013
Ivory Coast	List	Terence McCulley	Abidjan	August 1, 2013
Jamaica	List	Luis Moreno	Kingston	November 20, 2014
Japan	List	Caroline Kennedy	Tokyo [23]	October 16, 2013
Jordan	List	Alice Wells	Amman	June 16, 2014
Kazakhstan	List	George Krol	Astana	November 20, 2014
Kenya	List	Robert Godec	Nairobi	January 2, 2013
Kiribati[10]	List	Judith Beth Cefkin	Suva	November 19, 2014
Kosovo	List	Tracey Ann Jacobson	Pristina	March 29, 2012
Kuwait	List	Douglas Silliman	Kuwait City	July 10, 2014
Kyrgyzstan	List	Vacant since November 20, 2014 Laura Griesmer, Chargé d’Affaires a.i.	Bishkek	December 12, 2014
Laos	List	Dan Clune	Vientiane	August 1, 2013
Latvia	List	Vacant since August 6, 2014 Sharon Hudson-Dean, Chargé d’Affaires a.i.	Riga	August 6, 2014
Lebanon	List	David Hale	Beirut	August 1, 2013
Lesotho	List	Matthew Harrington	Maseru	September 16, 2014
Liberia	List	Deborah Malac	Monrovia	August 2, 2012
Libya	List	Deborah Jones	Tripoli	May 23, 2013
Liechtenstein[15]	List	Suzan LeVine	Bern	May 1, 2014
Lithuania	List	Deborah McCarthy	Vilnius	January 2, 2013
Luxembourg	List	Robert Mandell	Luxembourg	October 18, 2011
Macedonia	List	Jess Baily	Skopje	December 16, 2014
Madagascar[9]	List	Robert Yamate	Antananarivo	November 19, 2014
Malawi	List	Virginia Palmer	Lilongwe	December 12, 2014
Malaysia	List	Joseph Yun	Kuala Lumpur	August 1, 2013
Maldives[16]	List	Vacant since November 19, 2014 Andrew Mann, Chargé d’Affaires a.i.	Colombo	December 6, 2014
Mali	List	Vacant since December 2014 Andrew Young, Chargé d’Affaires a.i.	Bamako	December 2014
Malta	List	Gina Abercrombie-Winstanley	Valletta	March 29, 2012
Marshall Islands	List	Thomas Hart Armbruster	Majuro	August 2, 2012
Mauritania	List	Larry Andre	Nouakchott	July 29, 2014
Mauritius[17]	List	Shari Villarosa	Port Louis	September 22, 2012
Mexico	List	Earl Anthony Wayne	Mexico City	August 2011
Micronesia	List	Doria Rosen	Kolonia	June 29, 2012
Moldova	List	James Pettit	Chişinău [24]	November 20, 2014
Monaco[11][18]	List	Jane Hartley	Paris	September 16, 2014
Mongolia	List	Piper Campbell	Ulaanbaatar	June 29, 2012
Montenegro	List	Margaret Ann Uyehara	Podgorica	December 16, 2014
Morocco	List	Dwight Bush	Rabat	March 13, 2014
Mozambique	List	Douglas Griffiths	Maputo	June 29, 2012
Namibia	List	Thomas Daughton	Windhoek	September 17, 2014
Nauru[10]	List	Judith Beth Cefkin	Suva	November 19, 2014
Nepal	List	Peter Bodde	Kathmandu	June 29, 2012
Netherlands	List	Tim Broas	The Hague [25]	March 13, 2014
New Zealand[19]	List	Mark Gilbert	Wellington [26]	December 12, 2014
Nicaragua	List	Phyllis Powers	Managua	March 29, 2012
Niger	List	Eunice Reddick	Niamey	July 21, 2014
Nigeria	List	James Entwistle	Abuja	August 1, 2013
North Korea	The United States does not maintain diplomatic relations with North Korea. Limited consular matters handled by the Swedish embassy.[20]
Norway	List	Vacant since September 28, 2013 Julie Furuta-Toy, Chargé d’Affaires a.i.	Oslo [27]	September 28, 2013
Oman	List	Greta Holtz	Muscat	August 2, 2012
Pakistan	List	Richard Olson	Islamabad [28]	September 22, 2012
Palau[21]	List	Amy Hyatt	Koror	December 12, 2014
Panama	List	Jonathan Farrar	Panama	March 29, 2012
Papua New Guinea[22]	List	Walter North	Port Moresby	November 22, 2012
Paraguay	List	Leslie Ann Bassett	Asunción	November 18, 2014
Peru	List	Brian Nichols	Lima	June 19, 2014
Philippines[21]	List	Philip Goldberg	Manila [29]	November 14, 2013
Poland	List	Stephen Mull	Warsaw	September 22, 2012
Portugal	List	Robert Sherman	Lisbon	February 12, 2014
Qatar	List	Dana Smith	Doha	July 10, 2014
Romania	List	Vacant since December 14, 2012 Dean Thompson, Chargé d’Affaires a.i.	Bucharest	July 2014
Russia	List	John Tefft	Moscow [30]	July 31, 2014
Rwanda	List	Erica Barks-Ruggles	Kigali	November 17, 2014
Saint Kitts and Nevis[4]	List	Larry Palmer	Bridgetown	March 29, 2012
Saint Lucia[4]	List	Larry Palmer	Bridgetown	March 29, 2012
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines[4]	List	Larry Palmer	Bridgetown	March 29, 2012
Samoa[19]	List	Mark Gilbert	Wellington	December 12, 2014
San Marino[14]	List	John Phillips	Florence San Marino VPP	August 1, 2013
São Tomé and Príncipe[12]	List	Cynthia Akuetteh	Libreville	July 30, 2014
Saudi Arabia	List	Joseph Westphal	Riyadh	March 26, 2014
Senegal[13]	List	James Zumwalt	Dakar	November 18, 2014
Serbia	List	Michael Kirby	Belgrade	August 2, 2012
Seychelles[17]	List	Shari Villarosa	Port Louis	September 22, 2012
Sierra Leone	List	John Hoover	Freetown	September 11, 2014
Singapore	List	Kirk Wagar	Singapore	August 1, 2013
Slovakia	List	Theodore Sedgwick	Bratislava	June 30, 2010
Slovenia	List	Brent Hartley	Ljubljana	November 20, 2014
Solomon Islands[22]	List	Walter North	Port Moresby	November 22, 2012
Somalia[23][24]	List	Vacant since January 5, 1991 James McAnulty, Special Representative	Somalia VPP	August 29, 2013
South Africa	List	Patrick Gaspard	Pretoria	August 1, 2013
South Korea	List	Mark Lippert	Seoul [31]	September 18, 2014
South Sudan	List	Vacant since August 24, 2014 Charles Twining, Chargé d’Affaires a.i.	Juba [32]	August 24, 2014
Spain[3]	List	James Costos	Madrid	August 2013
Sri Lanka[16]	List	Vacant since November 19, 2014 Andrew Mann, Chargé d’Affaires a.i.	Colombo	December 6, 2014
Sudan[25]	List	Vacant since February 7, 1996 Jerry Lanier, Chargé d’Affaires a.i.	Khartoum	May 13, 2014
Suriname	List	Jay Anania	Paramaribo	June 29, 2012
Swaziland	List	Makila James	Mbabane	May 24, 2012
Sweden	List	Mark Brzezinski	Stockholm	October 2011
Switzerland[15]	List	Suzan LeVine	Bern	May 1, 2014
Syria[26]	List	Vacant since February 28, 2014 Daniel Rubinstein, Special Envoy	Damascus	March 17, 2014
Taiwan	Since January 19, 1979, diplomatic relations have been carried out by the American Institute in Taiwan Taipei Office
Tajikistan	List	Susan Marsh Elliott	Dushanbe	June 29, 2012
Tanzania	List	Mark Childress	Dar es Salaam [33]	April 7, 2014
Thailand	List	Vacant since November 1, 2014 Patrick Murphy, Chargé d’Affaires a.i.	Bangkok [34]	November 1, 2014
Togo	List	Robert Whitehead	Lomé	March 29, 2012
Tonga[10]	List	Judith Beth Cefkin	Tonga	November 19, 2014
Trinidad and Tobago	List	Vacant since November 2, 2012 Margaret Diop, Chargé d’Affaires a.i.	Port of Spain	July 2013
Tunisia	List	Jacob Walles	Tunis	March 29, 2012
Turkey	List	John Bass	Ankara	September 17, 2014
Turkmenistan	List	Allan Mustard	Ashgabat	November 19, 2014
Tuvalu[10]	List	Judith Beth Cefkin	Suva	November 19, 2014
Uganda	List	Scott DeLisi	Kampala	May 24, 2012
Ukraine	List	Geoffrey Pyatt	Kiev [35]	July 9, 2013
United Arab Emirates	List	Barbara Leaf	Abu Dhabi	November 17, 2014
United Kingdom[27]	List	Matthew Barzun	London [36]	August 1, 2013
Uruguay	List	Vacant since December 10, 2014 Brad Freden, Chargé d’Affaires a.i.	Montevideo	December 10, 2014
Uzbekistan	List	Pamela Spratlen	Tashkent	November 20, 2014
Vanuatu[22]	List	Walter North	Port Moresby	November 22, 2012
Venezuela	List	Vacant since July 16, 2010 Lee McClenny, Chargé d’Affaires a.i.[28]	Caracas	July 7, 2014
Vietnam	List	Theodore Osius	Hanoi	November 17, 2014
Yemen	List	Matthew Tueller	Sana’a	March 27, 2014
Zambia	List	Eric Schultz	Lusaka	September 17, 2014
Zimbabwe	List	David Bruce Wharton

I am sure if someone would take the time to scrutinize who all of the ambassadors were related to, they would be shocked.

Chew on these numbers.

Houston Chronicle

Basic Salary Range

Ambassadors are classified as senior foreign service employees. The 2010 through 2012 minimum pay for ambassadors is $119,554 a year. The maximum is $179,700. The State Department is one of many governmental agencies that have adopted a certified performance appraisal system. This system allows an ambassador’s base salary to exceed the established maximum based on merit or value to the mission, but it may not go over the salary set for the Vice President of the United States, which was $230,700 a year as of 2011.

These figures are only reflect their salaries. On top of that, add in all of their accommodations, servants, drivers, food, entertainment and anything else their little hearts desire. We can bet that none of them have a restricted expense account. Is it any wonder why our country is broke??

It is mind boggling that the USA feels all of these ambassadorships are necessary.

If the purpose/concept of these embassies is to stay in contact when the locals, 2015 is right around the corner and the electronic age is in full swing. Teleconferences and communication throughout the world is possible in a matter of milliseconds.

Not to mention the safety and security of our US service men and women that protect these places. That sad story was well depicted in Benghazi where 33 of our finest were gunned down. I will live and die by my cliche, don’t go where you don’t belong.

Just as one example of out of control extravagance. The embassy in Baghdad was built on 104 acres. It is the largest and most expensive embassy in the world that cost US taxpayers $ 750 million to build and employs 15,000 people. Why is it necessary to employ 15,000 people? What can they all possibly do?

Take a look at what $750 million will buy. The people/foreign diplomats occupying these palatial digs in foreign countries that the USA taxpayers paid for are living better than 95% of the US population. I just doesn’t make sense to me. I guess sense or I they don’t care are the key words.

It may be a good idea for whomever put together the workforce in Baghdad came to the USA and spearheaded the unemployment problem we have in the country. The people that are supposed to be creating jobs in the homeland are not doing such as stellar job.

Keep in mind, this over the top spending is at a time in history that the USA is 18 trillion dollars in debt. That staggering figure doesn’t seem to bother any of the politicians. Under conventional circumstances, I don’t ever see the USA being able to settle up their debt.

If in fact the USA did need representation in all of these foreign countries, a more economical solution would be is to set up a consulate that would be considerably smaller and less expensive to operate.

If we were still in the early 1900’s and did not have the luxury we have today with instant communications, then I may agree that embassies would be necessary; but not one that cost American taxpayers $ 750,000,000.00. That is probably unfurnished and sacrilegious.

It is absolutely unconscionable that our politicians spend the taxpayers money as extravagantly as they do.

Once again being redundant; if the people in DC were spending their own money they would be eating at the Golden Arches and staying at Motel 6.

So Mr. O wants to set up and embassy in Iran. You can bet they will have to TOP the one they built in Baghdad. Maybe they will spend 200 trillion; what’s the difference at this point.

I really don’t see the purpose or value in embassies. Paybacks can be very costly. 

Optimistically, some of the DC Duds will read the GG and get the hint but I am not holding my breath.