Pacific Views

Condi's New Initiative

NY Times is reporting that the Bushies are reorganizing their Afghanistan and Iraq reconstruction missions under Condaleeza Rice. (Boy, isn't that a relief?) Four of her top aids will be responsible for carrying out this mission: Frances F. Townsend will direct the counter-terrorism efforts, Gary Edson will be responsible for economic matters, Robert D. Blackwill will be responsible for building the political institutions and Anna Perez will manage the communication issues so that everyone will be working from the same message.

So who is Robert D. Blackwill?

Robert D. Blackwill, a former ambassador to India, will run the group overseeing the creation of political institutions in Iraq, as well as directing stabilization for Afghanistan.

I had been looking into some of the various Bush administration resignations early last summer and his name popped up in my research. Reportedly he was leaving his ambassador post in India to go back into academia. Today he pops back into view by being one of Condi's four aids that will be responsible for the new initiative.

According to the Indian press, his decision to resign wasn't a surprise, but perhaps because the Indian government asked Bush to relieve him.

United States Ambassador to India Robert D Blackwill's sudden decision to quit and return to academics has taken Indian officials and analysts by surprise, even though they admit that they had reasons to be unhappy with him.

Though there were no immediate indications that Blackwill was forced to resign due to Indian pressure on the US administration, there was recent speculation that Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee had conveyed his displeasure with the ambassador to US President George Bush.

Boy, doesn't that fill you with warm and fuzzy feelings -- someone who couldn't cut it as the ambassador of India is going to have a hand in fixing things in Iraq and Afghanistan.