Pentagon to Fill Iraq Reconstruction Jobs Temporarily

[rodeodance]

Temporary?


http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/20/world/middleeast/20military.html?_r=1&oref=slogin&pagewanted=print

February 20, 2007
Pentagon to Fill Iraq Reconstruction Jobs Temporarily
By THOM SHANKER

WASHINGTON, Feb. 19 — The Pentagon and State Department have worked out a deal to send a small number of military personnel and Defense Department civilians to Iraq for several months until Foreign Service officers and State Department contract workers with specialized skills can fill those jobs, senior officials said Monday.

The internal administration discussions over filling the posts had exposed tensions between the military and civilian agencies over how to share responsibilities in carrying out President Bush’s new strategy for stabilizing and rebuilding Iraq — in particular, how to fill hazardous positions in new provincial reconstruction teams.

The State Department had asked the Pentagon to come up with military personnel or civilians to fill about one-third of the 350 new State Department jobs in Iraq. While the numbers involved are relatively small, the debate raised larger issues of whether the government was properly organized to carry out a long-term occupation of a country like Iraq.
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But last week, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates agreed to the State Department request. About 120 military personnel or Pentagon civilians will fill the jobs for up to four months, according to three senior officials who were briefed on the discussions.

The officials said the stopgap measure would give the State Department time to identify Foreign Service officers to serve in political and economic development jobs in Iraq and to use new Congressional financing to hire people with technical skills that are not routinely part of diplomatic missions overseas.

The officials said the jobs included industrial development specialists, public health advisers, engineers, veterinarians, agricultural experts and lawyers who specialize in creating or enhancing judicial institutions.