Nothing, absolutely nothing in George Bush's Iraq policy has gone right. Nothing. Now the new ambassador is saying his embassy can't do the job:
"In essence, the issue is whether we are a Department and a Service at war," Crocker wrote. "If we are, we need to organize and prioritize in a way that reflects this, something we have not done thus far." In the memo, Crocker drew upon the recommendations of a management review he requested for the embassy shortly after arriving in Baghdad two months ago.
"He's panicking," said one government official who recently returned from Baghdad, adding that Crocker is carrying a heavy workload as the United States presses the Iraqi government to meet political benchmarks.
"You could use a well-managed political section of 50 people" who know what they are doing, the official said, but Crocker doesn't have it because many staffers assigned to the embassy are "too young for the job" or are not qualified and are "trying to save their careers" by taking an urgent assignment in Iraq.
"They need a cohesive, coherent effort on all fronts," the official said, speaking on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media. "It's just overwhelming."
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