Filling Baghdad: Rice reacts

In a cable sent to all U.S. missions abroad and obtained Wednesday by The Associated Press, Rice disclosed a new hiring plan amid increasing criticism of American efforts in Iraq. It is designed to prevent a potential severe vacancy problem and, in part, reduce resistance from anti-war elements in the State Department who have been accused of holding up appointments and discouraging diplomats from going to Iraq.

"We must ensure that these top priority requirements are met before any other staffing decisions are made," Rice said in the cable. "To that end, we have decided to take the unprecedented step of creating a special country-specific assignment cycle for Iraq, commencing with the release of this message."

Don't get this confused with leadership, the AP article sheds more light on Amb. Ryan Crocker's memo I posted on yesterday:

Officials familiar with the situation said Crocker was more importantly addressing concerns that Iraq policy is being obstructed by opponents of the war who have influence on staffing decisions.

They cited numerous examples, including three involving qualified mid-level staffers and two involving more senior diplomats, who volunteered for Baghdad duty but whose appointments were delayed for months or discouraged at the expense of the embassy and its tasks.

One senior State Department official described the resistance as "passive-aggressive," but said it was clearly related to differences over the Iraq war and at odds with the requirement for career diplomats to promote the policies of any administration for which they serve.

Yes, State is actively competing to be the most dysfunctional government bureaucracy. SecState Rice has a duty to lead her department, but she doesn't seem capable or willing to do so. Instead she relies on her "faith-based" approach apparently hoping will work out over time. Debates over staffing and participation have been going for literally years as she was apparently bowled over by former SecDef Rumsfeld.

Tell me again why SecDef was fielding questions about reconstituting USIA and SecState wasn't? Hughes doesn't count because you have to be available for Q&A to get the Q.

Now, with Rumsfeld gone, she is still reacting to events, even those within her own department. The United States deserves better.

Thanks Mike for sending over the original AP article (and check out his blog's great new look).

Update: Blake Hounsell at Foreign Policy notes the general "Learn Arabic Now" edict, besides being years late, doesn't address the issue of which flavor of Arabic to learn.