Famous fifth-columnists of the State Dept.: Iraq edition

National Review ^ | 6/9/2003 | Joel Mowbray

[ash-housewares]

Paul Bremer, the U.S. civilian administrator in Iraq, is now facing underhanded attempts at undermining his agenda from State Department officials in Baghdad, with one referring to his sweeping de-Baathification policies as "fascistic," according to an informed source in Iraq. The senior administrator who made the comment, Robin Rafael, is not alone in her sentiments, as several other Foggy Bottom officials stationed in the country are trying to covertly remake Iraq as they want it, not as Bremer — or the president who sent him there — wants it...

...At least Rafael and O'Sullivan only have bad judgments working against them. One member of the State Department's Iraq delegation handled herself in a clearly unethical manner — and skirted dangerously close to illegal behavior. Part of Yael Lempert's responsibilities in the Near Eastern Affairs (NEA) bureau included "working" with the auditors that NEA had sicced on the pro-democracy Iraqi National Congress (INC) not just once, but twice. As reported in the Wall Street Journal, Lempert essentially suggested that the auditors should falsify their findings. According to the minutes of a May 17, 2002 meeting, "During the meeting, Ms. Lempert stated that NEA would appreciate any assistance the OIG could provide with NEA's desire to 'shut down the INC...'"

[ash-housewares]

The State Department never ceases to amaze me.

[longtermmemmory]

The state department needs a serious purging of socialists infecting the department. Too many carter era idiots in authority.

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Why the excerpt?

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[Jonah Hex]

Sounds like we need to send Jamie Retief.

(with a nod to Keith Laumer)

[ash-housewares]

Why the excerpt?

You mean why'd I pick that part? or excerpt it all? If the latter, it's cuz the article's medium-length and NRO could use the traffic.

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

I suspect most people won't chase the links!

[lilylangtree]

Colin Powell stated earlier that he refused to clean house at State. However, he's (and ultimately Bush) going to keep on getting discontented career leftovers talking to the press unless he starts doing the job he was hired to do. He really needs to start with the Middle East desk. One example is this Robin Rafael. Read several weeks ago a small blurb in the local paper about Robin Rafael that reads as follows:

"The U.S. diplomat now assigned to help decide who will lead Iraq is Robin Rafael, the same woman who, in 1996, helped choose the Taliban to take control in Afghanistan. Joel Mowbray of National Review writes that "Rafael obviously had no idea at the time the true nature of the threat posed by the Taliban, but there were plenty of indications that she--and the rest of State Department--willingly ignored."

[cake_crumb]

Leave it to State to insist that Ba'athist thugs be allowed to remain in power after our boys fought and died to get the Ba'athist thugs OUT of power!

[AdmSmith]

add this:

American Robin Rafael is another of the key players in selecting the new leadership for Iraq. She recently okayed Saddam's personal physician, Mohammed al-Rawi, to be installed as president of Baghdad University, allowing the Baathists to retain control over the school. Ahmed Makki Saaed, a powerful party member whose wife is Huda Salih Mahdi Ammash, the microbiologist whose work on biological weapons for Saddam caused her to be known as "Mrs. Anthrax," is also still in place at Baghdad University as head of its computer programs.

[lilylangtree]

Good grief! This Robin Rafael needs to be out of the State Dept ASAP. Yo, Colin Powell, wake up and smell the BS being shoveled under your command you turkey.

[Skywalk]

They named, what 3 fascist-symps in this article?

All 3 of them women?

Is it because they tend to be academic-imports and leftists generally? What's the deal with that?

Root out these scum from the State Dept.

[Oschisms]

Does the present behavior of the State Department leave any doubt that Joe McCarthy was right about them?

That Newt Gingrich is right about them?

They need a housecleansing as much as Justice does.

[jriemer]

The state department needs a serious purging of socialists infecting the department. Too many carter era idiots in authority.

The State Department was that way long before Carter was elected...