The Washington Independent

Posts Tagged robert wood

State Department on Mehsud: Nothing Is Over!

By | 08.07.09 | 3:26 pm

I’ve poked fun at State Department deputy spokesman Robert Wood before, so it’s only right that I say that he strikes a pleasing tone about the reported death of Pakistani Taliban leader Beitullah Mehsud.

QUESTION: Can you talk about [what] it means if he is dead? I know

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State Dept.: No Comment on N. Korea

By | 08.04.09 | 6:34 pm

Before Bill Clinton secured the release of Euna Lee and Laura Ling, I made the longshot prediction that the noontime State Department press briefing would be dominated by questions about the former president’s North Korea trip. Well, just now I got the transcript, and here’s my favorite exchange More…

Two Weeks in Islamabad, Or Not

By | 05.01.09 | 4:51 pm

State Department spokesman Robert Wood got asked today whether the Obama administration fears for the viability of the Pakistani government. Enjoy:

QUESTION: In Pakistan, the military is taking action against the Taliban. Has the U.S. asked Pakistan to take action against – within the two – next two weeks, as

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Another Day, Another Obama Administration Dodge on Af-Pak Benchmarks

By | 04.15.09 | 4:48 pm

For the second day in a row, here’s State Department spokesman Robert Wood eliding the issue of how to conditionalize aid to Pakistan and Afghanistan. He’s asked about President Asif Ali Zardari’s blessing of the Swat peace deal with the Taliban:

Well, look, you know, our views on the

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So Elusive, Those Af-Pak Benchmarks, So So Elusive

By | 04.15.09 | 11:28 am

The Congressional recess grinds along — somehow it doesn’t make Mike Lillis any less busy — and yet Hill people are starting to get frustrated at the absence of the Obama administration’s promised conditions on aid to Afghanistan and Pakistan. To take a quote at random from CQ’s More…

Best State Department Presser Kiss-Off Ever

By | 03.24.09 | 9:18 am

From yesterday’s press briefing. A reporter asks State Department spokesman Robert Wood about an international conference in the Hague next week on Afghanistan:

QUESTION: Did you get any sign from the Iranians that they are going to attend this conference?
MR. WOOD: I haven’t heard anything about the

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State Department Nobly Defines ‘Southwest Asia’

By | 02.25.09 | 3:21 pm

We all had a good laugh yesterday when State Department spokesman Robert Wood refused to say which countries fell under the purview of Dennis Ross, the Special Advisor to the Secretary of State for — ahem — The Gulf and Southwest Asia. But superfun happytime is over, judging More…

State Department: We Will Not Tell You What Dennis Ross Will Be Doing!

By | 02.24.09 | 4:00 pm

Earlier today I wrote that Dennis Ross was finally getting made an Obama administration “envoy” to… uh… a country with a name that rhymes with Gee-Dan. (Or, if you’re fancy, Gee-DAWN.) Not so, says acting State Department spokesman Robert Wood! But what will his job actually be, then? Hard to More…