Obama Choice For Next Ambassador To Iraq Withdraws Nomination Amid Allegations Of Impropriety

[Purveyor]

By MATTHEW LEE | Associated Press | 4 minutes ago in

The Obama administration's pick to be the next ambassador to Iraq is withdrawing his nomination amid concerns that he engaged in improper behavior while working at the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad in 2008.
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In a letter sent Monday to President Barack Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, Brett McGurk said he was removing himself from consideration for the job with a "heavy heart." He said he was doing so after consulting with his wife, Gina Chon, because he believed it was in the "best interests of the country, and of our life together, to withdraw my nomination and serve in another capacity."

MORE...

http://www.newser.com/article/d9vfo1p80/obama-choice-for-next-ambassador-to-iraq-withdraws-nomination-amid-allegations-of-impropriety.html

[Ian David]

1. Isn't this the guy Bush had appointed? n/t

[Autumn]

2. Former national security staffer under President George W. Bush

Supposedly there may have been a video of him and another State Department officer at the Republican Palace in Baghdad , that was not his wife, or his current mistress at the time.

http://www.opednews.com/articles/Brett-McGurk-Embarrass-ad-by-Cheri-Roberts-120608-391.html

forgot the link

[sad sally]

3. What was it about Bret McGurk that made him acceptable to the President & Secretary in the first

place? Ousted State employee (whistleblower under investigation) Peter Van Buren reminds us what McGurk actually did in Iraq when working for Bush; why did President Obama want him back there?
-----------------------

Good idea. Let’s have a conversation about the unparalleled success of McGurk skateboarding America through nine failed years of war and occupation in Iraq. Take a look at his crap from 2006-2007, newly discovered blog posts, where he spinelessly defends the Bush policies and predicts happy sunshine for Team America in Iraq.

Let’s also talk about whether not speaking any Arabic is a good or bad thing for McGurk. Let’s ask what experience he has had managing a $6.5 billion enterprise with 16,000 employees. Let’s ask what job if any he has held other than appointed political hack. Let’s talk about how many Iraqi groups see him as so close to PM Malaki that they initially refused to even work with him. Let’s talk about the little paid-for nooky at Harvard. Let’s talk about whether using US Government email to conduct an extra-marital affair suggests you have the discretion, maturity and personal credibility to be an ambassador. Let’s talk about John McCain’s objections. Let’s talk about Inoufe’s objections.

Let’s talk about all those issues, and whether they add up to someone who deserves to be an ambassador.

And as if to make sure the story drags on for another news cycle, Chon also spoke to CNN. Better yet, some apology email Chon sent to her “friends” ended up leaked to CNN by one of them. The embattled spouse told CNN:

People have jumped to unfair and inaccurate conclusions using our own words against us.

Oh, the old “using our own words” defense. We call that taking responsibility for what you say and write. And this woman worked for a major newspaper?

http://wemeantwell.com/blog/tag/mcgurk

more to puzzle on as to why the President wanted this dude in Iraq:

McGurk is 38 years old and has never done any job other than help fuck up Iraq on behalf of the United States. Dude only graduated in 1999. Despite essentially doing nothing but Iraq stuff his entire adult life, McGurk has also avoided learning any Arabic. You’d kind of think that maybe that wouldn’t be the resume for the next guy in charge of cleaning up some of his own mistakes, like maybe you’d want someone who had some… depth or experience or broad knowledge or understanding of something other than failure in that God-forsaken country. Normally when you are a hand maiden to failure you don’t get promoted, but then again, this is the State Department. This is almost as good as Harriet Miers.

How could this possibly not work out?

Oh yeah, a lot of Iraqis don’t like McGurk because he is seen as a toady for Prime Minister Malaki, our brother freedom fighter in Baghdad. “Many Iraqi players outside Maliki’s circle view McGurk as an advocate for the prime minister. That may not be a fair characterization, but the perceptions are there on the ground. There’s the possibility that this sentiment could undermine our perception of neutrality and therefore our ability to effectively mediate disputes between all Iraqi factions,” one expert said.

William said...

Yes, it is true, he had sex on the roof. Everyone knew it. I was there, not on the roof, but afterwards when everyone was talking about it and he was walking around like cool man on campus.

He does lack key leadership jobs and it appears his expierience has been handed to him, but he found these positions because people like him and he does a good job. I will give him that – he is likable and does good work.

He also has a talent for attracting the ladies.

06/14/12 1:50 PM | Comment Link