Article

2007-03-08 Iraq

Senate confirms Crocker as US envoy to Iraq

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Posted by Fred 2007-03-08 00:00|| || Front Page|| [7 views since 2007-05-07] Top

#1 Verlaine's thoughts on this would be helpful.

Posted by trailing wife 2007-03-08 06:58|| 2007-03-08 06:58|| Front Page Top

#2 Verlaine's thoughts on most anything are helpful.

Posted by Who Gin Now 2007-03-08 07:26|| 2007-03-08 07:26|| Front Page Top

#3 Geez, folks, I am humbled by the comments - and rightly so, as I have no particular insight into Crocker. He obviously is a senior, savvy sort in the mold of Negroponte, who ruled the roost during my first 8 months in the Palace.

Zal was almost impossibly well suited to the task and chosen strategy of his time in Iraq - a savvy guy in the souk, constantly wrangling deals and commitments and walk-backs and forebearance from the rather daunting array of Iraqi political forces he was trying to mold into a new sovereign government. He operated (AFAIK) with extraordinary autonomy - he, much more than Bremer, was a true viceroy.

I guess if I had to collapse all my (inadequately informed or thought-through) analysis of Zal's tenure into one sentence, it would be that while Sunni engagement and pressuring all parties to form a unity govt. was a sound strategy, it was not backed up by the coercion (primarily against Sunnis) needed to make it more meaningful. The noxious mix of support/collaboration/tolerance by the bulk of the Sunni community for barbarous terrorism and insurgency against an elected govt., not seriously checked by MNF-I, both prevented the needed internal shake-out from happening inside the Sunni camp and provided most of the oxygen supporting the growth of Shi'a militias.

Among the many things we wondered about, constantly and openly, was why the one-legged strategy was pursued long after it was clearly shown to be faulty.

If Crocker is like Negroponte, the place is in good hands. For all the problems with the State Dept., there are some senior figures who are "the real thing" - smart, experienced professionals who take their marching orders and do their utmost to see them through.

I was just talking to a buddy (still involved, though not resident in B'dad full-time) today about how the relationship between Petraeus and Crocker might go. Too early to say, of course, but early reviews are that Petraeus is an improvement on his predecessor in areas well beyond the core military strategy.

Posted by Verlaine 2007-03-08 23:24|| 2007-03-08 23:24|| Front Page Top

14:13 Ðîìàí
23:46 Verlaine
23:41 Verlaine
23:35 Shipman
23:35 anon1
23:31 Shipman
23:28 anon1
23:28 Barbara Skolaut
23:24 Verlaine
23:19 Shipman
23:12 Shipman
23:10 Flolumble Elmuling1667
23:07 USN, ret.
23:05 Shipman
23:02 Old Patriot
22:56 USN, ret.
22:54 DMFD
22:48 USN, ret.
22:44 Shieldwolf
22:37 USN, ret.
22:36 Shieldwolf
22:34 RD
22:32 Shieldwolf
22:21 Frank G