Posted by D. Cupples (photo from State Dept.) | The U.S. State Department had a heckuva year in 2007.
In November, Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice was "called out" for having mounted a misleading media campaign in 2003, which was only half a notch above FEMA's fake press conference. Seeking to "negate American memories" of her role in marketing the Iraq invasion, Rice ordered an aide to mislead the media into thinking that Rice might run for president. (Think Progress) It worked: Rice's fake candidacy made headlines and frightened newspaper readers worldwide, thereby distracting them from Rice's past deeds.
In October, Rice testified evasively before the House Oversight Committee.
Among other things, the Committee wanted to know about her Department's questionable monitoring of contractors like Blackwater and our $730 million problem-riddled embassy in Iraq (which started as a $592 million project). Some of Rice's prominent underlings also faced fire, at least four of whom resigned amid obvious failures in the last few months of 2007.
General Charles Williams, head of the State Department's Office of Overseas Building resigned on December 19. (State Dept.) It wasn’t just that the Iraq Embassy project had gone over budget by $144 million, that it was plagued by shoddy work by contractors, or that Williams had told Congress the embassy was on budget and on schedule (it was supposed to open by September, but it likely won’t open until 2009). It turned out that other embassies Williams had been in charge of building had also suffered shoddy work ( e.g., our embassies in Europe, Latin America and Africa).
Incidentally, Williams was hired in 2001 by former Secretary of State Colin Powell, a long-time friend.
On December 7, State Department Inspector General Howard Krongard resigned. Krongard was accused of, among other things, blocking investigations into waste and fraud relating to security contractors in Iraq and shoddy work on the part of embassy-related contractors. (BN-Politics)
In October, State Department diplomatic security chief Richard Griffin resigned amid investigations into the questionable September shooting of Iraqi civilians by Blackwater security guards. (CNN) Blackwater has faced other accusations (e.g., that it charges us taxpayers too much, that its guards allegedly smuggled weaponry into Iraq, that its workers allegedly tried to steal an Iraqi military aircraft...).
Also in October, Under Secretary of State Karen Hughes resigned. Hughes' job was to polish our nation's image overseas. Though Hughes doubled the Department's public-diplomacy budget to $900 million, polls have shown no improvement in the world's view of our nation. (AP)
Apparently, the State Department has been doing much-needed housecleaning. It'll be interesting to see what other failings will be uncovered and which heads will roll in 2008.
Related BN-Politics Posts:
* Journalist Helped Rice Manipulate the Public (again)
* Oversight Hearing: Rice was Evasive, Republicans Don't Want Probe
*Defense Secretary Says Military Can't Protect U.S. Worldwide Interests
* Inspector General Blocked Waste & Fraud Investigations?
* Billions over Baghdad: Poor Accounting Allowed Waste & Fraud
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