rssChris Hill to Be Named Ambassador to Iraq
Tuesday, February 03, 2009 at 9:11 am
- 5 Comments
Coming on the heels of Lt. Gen. Karl Eikenberry’s nomination to become ambassador to Afghanistan, Ambassador Chris Hill, most recently the Bush administration’s extremely-well-regarded North Korea troubleshooter, is set to succeed Ryan Crocker as ambassador to Iraq, The Washington Post reports.
With the voting still being tallied in this weekend’s provincial elections, this remains a time of upheaval in Iraq: new Sunni power blocs coalescing in disputed territories in the northern provinces of Ninewah and Tammim/Kirkuk herald friction with the Kurds, who want to annex part of those provinces to their autonomous area, that has long threatened to escalate. As The Post’s Glenn Kessler writes, Hill has deep experience dealing with intransigent negotiating partners — the North Koreans, former Vice President Dick Cheney — and his persistence in part resulted in Pyongyang taking significant steps toward nuclear disarmament.
Hill doesn’t have experience in the Arab world, though, and doesn’t speak Arabic. My understanding is that the Obama team wanted someone who was a career diplomat — but Hill wasn’t its first choice. An inability to nail down a candidate for the position, as well as the Afghanistan envoy, prevented President Obama from rolling out both new ambassadors during his Jan. 22 visit to the State Department, when both George Mitchell and Richard Holbrooke were unveiled as Mideast and South Asian envoys, respectively.
What’s more, some longtime Iraq hands have expressed frustration that the U.S. embassy in Baghdad seems overeager to act like a “normal” embassy — establishing bilateral political and economic ties — when Iraq still has 140,000 U.S. troops on its territory; violence continues, albeit “only” at 2004 levels; and its entire political structure is in flux. Hill will have a lot on his plate, and it’ll be interesting to hear how he conceives of the requirements of his job during his confirmation hearings.
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5 Comments
Pingback posted February 4, 2009 @ 5:30 am
[...] by Jari The upcoming nomination of Chris Hill as ambassador to Iraq has had some of the best blogging minds stumped. But I can see where the idea comes from. And no, I don’t mean Richard [...]
Pingback posted February 5, 2009 @ 8:13 pm
[...] the next Ambassador to Iraq, confirmation pending. Though the Washington Post had the scoop, Spencer Ackerman in The Washington Independent has a great take: Hill doesn’t have experience in the Arab world, though, and doesn’t speak [...]
Comment posted February 10, 2009 @ 7:09 am
The US Government always Ready to Sale Kurds
The history of the Kurdish people in Middle East are full of betrayal and double crossing by their own leaders and outside forces too. Since the US Government are involved in the Middle East politics they are ready always to betrayal and back step the Kurdish people one way or another. The Kurdish people’s territories are occupied by three nations in that region. Persian, Arabs and Turks nations are in control of the Kurds nation territories. The US Government are dealing with those three nations and offering them the Kurdish people as sacrifice lam to get business and political concision's from them always.
The Kurds keep going back and going back to the US Government and ask them for help. It is very strange indeed. Why the Kurdish nations are not learning the listen.
The Kurdish nation has the same problem for selecting the leaders. They are most of the time in their history selecting leaders with the characteristics like Talabani and Barzani. The Talabani are comparing himself to the President Bush of America; he is saying I do not read newspaper and I do not listen to TV and radio either. Talabani are calling his critics dogs barking on the moon. The Kurds are not capable to do what American people did in the elections of President Obama as an answer to the President Bush’s policy of not listening to his critics.
The Kurdish people have leaders like Barzani; who happened to be uneducated and involved in the corruptions like Talabani. But the Kurds are supporting them blindly without thinking about their own children futures. Their support of American and begging American Government for help are matching the pattern of selecting their own leaders.
What is wrong with the Kurdish people? Why they are not capable to differentiate between good and evil when coming to select leaders and friends.
The leaders are the kind of people who cares about his people welfare and their future. After fifty years of Barzani and Talabani family in Southern Kurdistan what is not known by the Kurdish people to keep them as their own leaders.
The US Governments are very close to the Arabs because of their Oil. The US Governments are very close to Turkey because they are part of NATO and important to stop Russian advance into warm water. The US governments are very friendly to the Persian because they are united among themselves to run Iran alone. They are not looking for help from the USA or other countries either. The US government always seeking to be friend with the Persian, Arabs and Turks.
The US Government under President Nixon answered the Kurdish questions through his Secretary of State Hennery Kissinger. As Kissinger once said about the CIA's betrayal of Iraqi Kurds, covert action should not be confused with missionary work.
The US Governments and EU are labeling Kurdish movement like PKK, PJAK as terrorist and not doing any thing for Kurds who are fighting peacefully either. The Kurds should understand that the US Governments are pro Arabs. The Arab terrorists are fighting the US Forces in Iraq but the US Governments are trying to have peace with them without paying attentions to the Kurdish people needs.
The US Government helped Barzani and Talabani families without any feeling for the Kurdish people well being. The Bush administrations’ was capable to build Kurdistan and have democratic system if they are friend of the Kurdish people. But they choice Barzani and Talabani family and allowed them to take the Kurdish people budget money instead of helping Kurdish people to have constitutions and rule of laws.
The US Governments are not friend of Kurdish people in Iran, Iraq, Turkey and Syria period. The Kurdish leaders are not serving Kurdish people interest. They are in the business to make money; they are “War Merchant” only.
We are at the “Jaff Sassani organizations” are calling up on you our fellow Kurds to support our plan for building the “Aryan Economic Union (AU)”; for the Aryan or Iranian people from “Pakistan to Turkey and from Kurdistan to former Soviet Union countries”. We are offering independent country for each nation within that “Economic Union”. If Turks want to join us we are going to have ATU instead of AU.
Stop supporting leaders like Barzani and Talabani kind. Stop begging the US Government for help. The US governments are not going to help the Kurdish people.
Sincerely,
Jaff Sassani
From the SKDC
jaff.skdc@googlemail.com
Comment posted February 10, 2009 @ 3:09 pm
The US Government always Ready to Sale Kurds
The history of the Kurdish people in Middle East are full of betrayal and double crossing by their own leaders and outside forces too. Since the US Government are involved in the Middle East politics they are ready always to betrayal and back step the Kurdish people one way or another. The Kurdish people’s territories are occupied by three nations in that region. Persian, Arabs and Turks nations are in control of the Kurds nation territories. The US Government are dealing with those three nations and offering them the Kurdish people as sacrifice lam to get business and political concision's from them always.
The Kurds keep going back and going back to the US Government and ask them for help. It is very strange indeed. Why the Kurdish nations are not learning the listen.
The Kurdish nation has the same problem for selecting the leaders. They are most of the time in their history selecting leaders with the characteristics like Talabani and Barzani. The Talabani are comparing himself to the President Bush of America; he is saying I do not read newspaper and I do not listen to TV and radio either. Talabani are calling his critics dogs barking on the moon. The Kurds are not capable to do what American people did in the elections of President Obama as an answer to the President Bush’s policy of not listening to his critics.
The Kurdish people have leaders like Barzani; who happened to be uneducated and involved in the corruptions like Talabani. But the Kurds are supporting them blindly without thinking about their own children futures. Their support of American and begging American Government for help are matching the pattern of selecting their own leaders.
What is wrong with the Kurdish people? Why they are not capable to differentiate between good and evil when coming to select leaders and friends.
The leaders are the kind of people who cares about his people welfare and their future. After fifty years of Barzani and Talabani family in Southern Kurdistan what is not known by the Kurdish people to keep them as their own leaders.
The US Governments are very close to the Arabs because of their Oil. The US Governments are very close to Turkey because they are part of NATO and important to stop Russian advance into warm water. The US governments are very friendly to the Persian because they are united among themselves to run Iran alone. They are not looking for help from the USA or other countries either. The US government always seeking to be friend with the Persian, Arabs and Turks.
The US Government under President Nixon answered the Kurdish questions through his Secretary of State Hennery Kissinger. As Kissinger once said about the CIA's betrayal of Iraqi Kurds, covert action should not be confused with missionary work.
The US Governments and EU are labeling Kurdish movement like PKK, PJAK as terrorist and not doing any thing for Kurds who are fighting peacefully either. The Kurds should understand that the US Governments are pro Arabs. The Arab terrorists are fighting the US Forces in Iraq but the US Governments are trying to have peace with them without paying attentions to the Kurdish people needs.
The US Government helped Barzani and Talabani families without any feeling for the Kurdish people well being. The Bush administrations’ was capable to build Kurdistan and have democratic system if they are friend of the Kurdish people. But they choice Barzani and Talabani family and allowed them to take the Kurdish people budget money instead of helping Kurdish people to have constitutions and rule of laws.
The US Governments are not friend of Kurdish people in Iran, Iraq, Turkey and Syria period. The Kurdish leaders are not serving Kurdish people interest. They are in the business to make money; they are “War Merchant” only.
We are at the “Jaff Sassani organizations” are calling up on you our fellow Kurds to support our plan for building the “Aryan Economic Union (AU)”; for the Aryan or Iranian people from “Pakistan to Turkey and from Kurdistan to former Soviet Union countries”. We are offering independent country for each nation within that “Economic Union”. If Turks want to join us we are going to have ATU instead of AU.
Stop supporting leaders like Barzani and Talabani kind. Stop begging the US Government for help. The US governments are not going to help the Kurdish people.
Sincerely,
Jaff Sassani
From the SKDC
jaff.skdc@googlemail.com
Pingback posted February 5, 2010 @ 8:50 pm
[...] reported plan to appoint Christopher Hill as ambassador to Iraq seemed strange given his lack of background in [...]
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