governmentality

Steer Clear of WikiLeaks If You Want a Job at State

I thought this was an interesting tidbit from The Arabist. Despite this last major WikiLeaks disclosure of a quarter-million documents, the State Department still considers them classified documents. And so the students at Columbia University's School of International and Public Affairs are being encouraged by an alum who currently works at the State Department to not post anything (or comment) on Facebook, Twitter or blogs from the WikiLeaks dump.

Why? The State Department may well call into question one's ability to handle confidential documents.

As if there weren't enough hoops to jump through to get a job at State.

U.S. Makes Request for New Ambassador to Syria

The Obama administration continues to move forward on a better regional position in the Middle East by presenting a formal request for Syria to accredit a new U.S. ambassador in the country. It would be the first time in five years that the U.S. has had an ambassador, following the Bush administration's decision to withdraw the ambassador in 2005 following the assassination of Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.

Syria's Foreign Minister, Walid al-Moualem, was cool but clearly interested.

"The United States has nominated an ambassador. This is an American sovereign issue and it is Syria's right to study the nomination," Moualem told reporters in Damascus.

Moualem confirmed media reports that Washington intends to name Robert Ford for the post.

A U.S. embassy official said a request for an ambassador to be approved had been passed to the Syrian government. The official did not name the proposed envoy.

Read the full Reuters report here.

Iraqi IT Interns Coming to the U.S.

Yesterday, the State Department announced the beginning of their new Information Technology internship exchange program for Iraqis. The program, originally announced in October, brings six interns to work in U.S. companies for 12 weeks.

Among the leading companies participating in the pilot program are AT&T, Howcast, Mercy Corps, Engine Yard and Blue State Digital. During the 12-week internship program, the interns will meet with government officials, visit such leading universities as the University of California-Berkeley, Stanford University, the University of Maryland and develop hands-on experience at leading companies such as Google and Twitter.

I'm assuming these internships are geared toward young executive types. And it sounds like a program with good access to industry leaders, but will six interns at a time be enough to have an impact in Iraq?

What do you guys think?

The Elusive Richard Holbrooke

As I read the article on Gen. Stanley McChrystal in the New York Times Magazine over the weekend, I thought I hadn't seen or heard much from the President's Special Representative to Afghanistan and Pakistan Richard Holbrooke lately. He had been everywhere and then he seemed to be nowhere.

I assumed that I hadn't been paying close enough attention.

But, as it turns out, my initial instinct was right. Holbrooke has been staying out of the media--apparently a result of direct instructions from the White House.

From the Nukes & Spooks team at McClatchy:

Three administration officials, who asked not to be identified by agency, told us that, while Holbrooke is laboring away hard behind the scenes, he's received direct orders from the White House to cool it publicly while Washington desperately tries to unscramble the Afghan electoral mess between President Hamid Karzai and his main challenger, Abdullah Abdullah.

"This process is so sensitive. He'd love to deal with this. The White House thinks ... it's not the time for him" to be out front, one of the officials said of Holbrooke.

Perhaps it was that reported shouting match in Kabul a few weeks back between Karzai and Holbrooke?

Instead, it's Sen. John Kerry - a man not known for shouting - who has been in the Afghan capital, dickering with Karzai in the hopes of getting him to accept a run-off, or a compromise with Abdullahx2.

Read the full report here.

Snappy Hillary: Video on Clinton vs. Clinton in the Congo

Ok, it was a little worse than I thought after seeing it, compared to when I read about it.

There are all sorts of questions as to whether the student meant to say President Obama rather than President Clinton and whether there was a language barrier.

No matter.

Hillary really needed to show better restraint. Even if the student was talking about her husband--in which case she had a reason to be outraged--she needs to be able to say the same thing without saying it like that. She's still early in the Secretary of State position and significantly more offensive things will be said; and she'll have to hold it together.

Is the U.S. Lifting Sanctions on Syria?

While U.S. Middle East envoy George Mitchell was in the region this week, he met with Syrian President Bashar al-Asad, where he told al-Asad that Washington will seek sanctions waivers in order to export aircraft and other equipment to Syria.

The Obama administration was careful to point out that this does not signify a lifting of sanctions put in place by the Bush administration in 2004.

From al-Arabiya:

"Senator Mitchell told President Assad that the U.S. would process all eligible applications for export licenses as quickly as possible," State Department spokesman Ian Kelly said as Mitchell continued his regional tour.

Kelly, speaking after the daily briefing, cited in particular "requests to export products related to information technology and telecommunication equipment and parts and components related to the safety of civil aviation."

But Kelly said "there hasn't been any decision to lift the sanctions" imposed under president George W. Bush's administration. "Any changes to U.S. sanctions require close coordination with Congress," he told reporters.

Read the full report here.

Neocons Still Trying to Shape Middle East Policy

Neocon Elliott Abrams made waves yesterday when he wrote a piece that, among other things, suggested Middle East negotiation George Mitchell was planning on retiring by year's end. He then went on to advance a number of propositions/scenarios based on this assumption. 

For National Review he wrote:

Mitchell, who is reported to want to leave his negotiator position at the end of 2009, would be able to quit while this “freeze” is in place.

Reported? Who reported? It doesn't exist.

Mitchell has no plans on retiring according to a report from Laura Rozen at her Foreign Policy "The Cable" blog.

"Mitchell says [the claim] is an utter fabrication," a State Department official told Foreign Policy on behalf of Mitchell Monday. "Mitchell said, ‘I have never experienced the thought, let alone expressed it.'"

"There is no truth to the rumor," State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley said by e-mail.

Get the full report here.

Going Back to Syria

The U.S. is reportedly sending an ambassador back to Syria after a four year absence, according to a number of reports. 

From Laura Rozen at her FP blog, The Cable:

Acting Assistant Secretary for Near Eastern Affairs Jeffrey Feltman reportedly informed Syrian ambassador to Washington Imad Mustapha of the decision this afternoon. No word yet on who the ambassador will be. Earlier this month, a U.S. military mission visited Syria to discuss in particular cooperation on stopping the flow of insurgents into Iraq.

This makes sense on so many levels. Aside from desperately needing their help along the border with Iraq, the events in Iran over these weeks also highlight a need to have better relations with Syria.

The Syria-Iran-Hezbollah triangular relationship that the U.S. would at least want to stifle, if not dismantle, can be better achieved by building a better relationship with Syria.

State Department Begs Twitter to Delay Maintenance

So, the State Department requested Twitter to delay its scheduled maintenance for today so that we (read: they) could learn what is transpiring in Iran.

Not too hard to believe since foreign correspondents are not being allowed to report on the streets if not being tossed from Iran outright.

Get the story at FishbowlDC.

Dennis Ross is in at State: Clinton's Special Adviser

Yesterday the State Department announced that Secretary Hillary Clinton appointed Dennis Ross as her special adviser for the Gulf and Southwest Asia, which will include Iran according to the New York Times.

Mr. Ross, whose appointment had been rumored for weeks, will provide Mrs. Clinton with “strategic advice and perspective on the region, offer assessments and also act to ensure effective policy integration throughout the region,” said the acting State Department spokesman, Robert A. Wood.

They make it sound as though Ross plays the role of a policy coordinator, but I'm not convinced that he will be satisfied with that role.

And then there's Iran...

Mr. Ross had advocated a tough approach toward Iran that included persuading Europe to increase economic pressure on the government in Tehran. He is a co-founder of United Against Nuclear Iran, a group dedicated to stopping the country from acquiring nuclear weapons.

Check the official State Department statement here.

Coincidentally the State announcement doesn't mention Iran.

And take a look at United Against Nuclear Iran here.

Do you think Ross can do the work with Iran that President Obama envisions?