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2012 Foreign Policy Agenda
Posted By Laura Rozen
Wednesday, February 4, 2009 - 10:22 PM
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When retired Marine Gen. Anthony Zinni told the Washington Times that he was offered the job of U.S. ambassador to Iraq before being passed over in favor of diplomat Christopher Hill, he did not say that one of the outrages of the experience was that his friend of 30 years, fellow former Marine Corps commandant and now national security advisor James L. Jones, had offered him the job, and then failed to tell him when the decision was changed.
"Jones had called me before the inauguration and asked if I would be willing to serve as ambassador to Iraq or in one of the envoy jobs, on the Middle East peace process," Zinni told Foreign Policy. "I said yes."
"Then two weeks ago, Jones called," Zinni continued, "and said, ‘We talked to the secretary of state, and everybody would like to offer you the Iraq job.' I said yes.
"The [vice]* president called and congratulated me," Zinni said.
Then Secretary of State Hillary Clinton asked for a meeting last Monday night, Zinni said. He said he went to the meeting in her office at the State Department, where Deputy Secretary of State James Steinberg and Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs Williams Burns were also in attendance.
"She thanks me, asked me my views on Iraq," Zinni recalled. "She said to Burns and Steinberg, ‘We've got to move quickly, Crocker is leaving, we've got to get someone in there and get the paperwork done and hearings... Lots to do to get ready to go."
Zinni said he expected a call from Burns the next day. Not hearing from him, he called him.
"To make a long story short, I kept getting blown off all week," Zinni said. "Meantime, I was rushing to put my personal things in order," to get ready to go.
"Finally, nobody was telling me anything," Zinni said. "I called Jones Monday several times. I finally got through late in evening. I asked Jones, ‘What's going on?' And Jones said, ‘We decided on Chris Hill.'"
"I said, 'Really,'" Zinni recalled. "That was news to me."
Jones asked him if he would like to be ambassador to Saudi Arabia, Zinni said. "I said, 'You can stick that with whatever other offers,'" Zinni recalled, saying he had used more colorful language with Jones. Asked Jones's response and if he was apologetic, Zinni said, "Jones was not too concerned. He laughed about it."
Zinni said particularly galling is that had he not managed to get through to Jones on Monday night after repeated calls, he would have found out about the Chris Hill appointment in the Washington Post the next day with everybody else.
"You know, I would have appreciated if someone called me and said, 'Minds were changed,'" Zinni said. "But not even to get a call. That's what's really embarrassing."
Messages left for the NSC were not returned.
A former senior official familiar with the case said the matter appears to have been handled disastrously. However, he thought it might have been problematic for the Obama administration to name Zinni, a retired general, as Iraq ambassador, since they have also reportedly decided to name another general, Karl Eikenberry, as ambassador to Afghanistan.
"What if then the American government suddenly puts in both Afghanistan and Iraq both generals?" the former senior official said.
Secondly, the former senior official said, it might also have been problematic that until the end of 2008, Zinni had been executive vice president of defense contractor Dyncorp, which has hundreds of millions of dollars worth of business in Iraq. "If I was a responsible senator, I would scream about having the number two Dyncorp official" as ambassador to the country where it's making so much money, the former official said.
Asked about that, Zinni said that he had done an assessment in Iraq for outgoing U.S. Amb. Ryan Crocker and Gen. Ray Odierno last fall, and no one had raised any issues about Dyncorp then. He said he left Dyncorp at the end of 2008 for unrelated reasons that did not have to do with a possible administration job, which he had not expected until he got the offer from Jones before the inauguration.
UPDATE: A senior administration official said, "We have spoken to a number of extraordinarily talented individuals about serving in this important role, and have made no announcement about who will be the U.S. Ambassador to
*Correction: Zinni says it was the vice president who called him, not the president. FP regrets the error.
AFP/Getty Images
Sounds to me like it's a good thing they didn't give him the job. If it's this big a deal to be overlooked by your own country, what will he do when an Iraqi tells him something he doesn't like?
I don't care about whether Zinni become ambassador or not. But Obama's ham-handed handling of this affair is nuts. Who is the detail person in this administration? Are they vetting cabinet nominees before announcing them? Then how did two (or more) tax evaders become nominees? Are they making decisions before acting on them? Doesn't seem so in this case. I volunteered for Obama's campaign, and voted for him enthusiastically. But whoever is minding his store seems to be out to an extended lunch.
Okay, you didn't get the job. Stop whining and take it like a man.
Signed,
Chris and Hillary
and gutless.
Zinni would have been a good choice. He risked his career by speaking up about the War in Iraq from the outset. Bad idea to treat good people like that.
Sounds like conflict and chaos among the decision makers. Bad sign especially on this appointment. I'm glad Zinni made it public.
"Waging Peace," Tony Zinni's book about how the civilian and military parts of the US Government should be structured in the field while functioning in both peace and war settings is a terrific, thoughtful, and innovative approach to conducting practical operations and diplomacy. Tony Zinni is no light weight to be tossed aside and disparaged, and the Obama Team should be ashamed of itself. This is a man who could do a lot of good as a senior player for Team Obama and care should be taken to get him back into the fold.
Zinni's public hissy fit says more about him than about the handling of his nonappointment. Big deal. He wanted to serve his country right? He wanted to represent the United States in a sensitive position. So when he feels slighted he tries to embarass the Administration with the Washington Times no less. In a week, no one is going to remember this. Meanwhile, his prospects for a good appointment have dwindled. Come on, get over yourself. It's not about you.
Zinni should know better than go public--ego ego ego
I cannot for the life of me understand somebody with Zinni's experience not understanding...it's not a done deal until its a done deal... Which means a public announcement by the President or Secretary of State. And you never go public like this because you got your feelings hurt. It is tantamount to pouting. I am not sure if we can really call the Administration on this one. Why? because of the way Zinni has chosen to handle his disappointment. If this guy is this ego-driven, diplomacy may not be his skill base and that meeting with the Secretary of State may have proven that out. Also how does this guy Not know his connections were a problem?...Too many of these guys live in a bubble. I can only expect that he has gone public, because he had already told a lot of people he had the appointment in the bag and then he didn't... so he needs to save face. If the White House and Jones handled this badly as Zinni asserts, why wouldn't he get them in a room and cuss them out privately? He wasn't entitled to the appointment, only considered for it.
If the President called and congratulated him, and nobody apologized when he didn't get the job, personally, Zinni has a right to be very angry. And he had a right to be angry with Jones, no question. Jones, of course, has a lot of stuff on his plate, it must be recalled. However clumsily, he was trying to make amends when he brought up the U.S. Ambassadorship to Saudi Arabia -- that's not idle chit-chat. Though up to a point, Zinni had a right to feel slighted by that even, whereas most people would be honored and maybe he should have considered a more balanced reaction. What makes *no* sense is why one is reading this in print,
'Jones asked him if he would like to be ambassador to Saudi Arabia, Zinni said. "I said, 'You can stick that with whatever other offers,'" Zinni recalled, saying he had used more colorful language with Jones.'
This makes it very difficult for the Obama Administration to offer him anything at all. What does he think he accomplished by taking this dirty laundry public? Is he going to apologize now and try to walk this back? Messy, messy, messy.
See my theory on what happened.
That phone call from the POTUS was for congrads and NOT an offer which indicates someone else had already offered it to him in addition to Jones. I totally put my money on HRC, as this is all consistent with her campaign for POTUS in all respects. Why else would she meet and smile with the General and then have her staff duck and ignore him afterwards??? This may turn into the Bosnian tarmac revisited!
"What does Zinni think he accomplished by taking this dirty laundry public?"
I think he knows that this behavior (on the part of Jones, and also Hillary Clinton?) was very wrong and problematic, and he's outing it because it is important for the rest of us to know about if we have a hope of understanding what is going on. This interaction is/was not about Zinni, but is about Jones (and Clinton?)
What I said about Jones in my earlier post, that his behavior in this interaction is typical of /and indicative of / a narcissistic personality--with all the seriously bad baggage that goes along with that--goes for Clinton, as well. I certainly learned from her long campaign that she has the same personality type, and that that is a fatal flaw, in my opinion, for any task that she is going to undertake involving people, judgment, or any decision making made on behalf of public policy. The problem here is that narcissistic decision making is always made on behalf of the narcissistic person, never actually on behalf of the commonweal or public good. And I'm not bashing Hillary, here, but simply telling it like it is, or like she showed us that it is!
So Zinni did something important for us here. We need to know, and to understand, what he has revealed here, if we are to make decisions that will best serve the public interest.
This is rich! Zinni doesn't like getting stabbed in the back! "Et tu, Obamus?"
Based upon the sequence and meeting with Hillary I am not surprised this got screwed up! HRC probably smiled and then appointed someone else without telling the General or the POTUS. Her M.O. is written all over this!
Zinni is top of the line and its too bad the Stimulus Bill has put everything in a state of chaos. The POTUS should freeze everything until that gets done.
I have 1000% faith in President Obama, but acknowledge his vetting process has some serious flaws. But just like the campaign he will get better by the day. He needs a sturdy mop because Bush/Crazy Cheney left him just a few small minor things to deal with!! LOL!
The former Pres/Vice-Pres Dick needs to go hunting with some mechanical ducks! His crap commentary on Gitmo and torture was creepy at best!
JD777 said "I have 1000% faith in President Obama, but acknowledge his vetting process has some serious flaws. But just like the campaign he will get better by the day."
I have faith in Obama also, or would like to, but he apparently does have a serious flaw in judging or assessing other people. He seems to think they are all basically like him. They are not. And if he doesn't know this now, I don't think there's any reason to believe he's going to be able to learn it any day soon. His deficiency in this area could be his Achilles heel.
In other words, to spin this more positively, I think this is where his supporters who would like him to succeed need to step in, speak up, get his attention (he does and can listen, and can get it). But don't think he'll magically "get it" if he hasn't already. If he hasn't already, there's a good reason, I believe, that he hasn't. Others will have to step in here. And that might be us, his supporters, to make up for an ability he seems to be showing he does not have yet.
Notice, for example, how he thinks if you treat Republican leaders fairly and collaboratively, they'll surely reciprocate? But, will they? Have they? No, and I don't think you'll see them doing so anytime soon. Narcissists don't get it. They never will. Unless they first outgrow their narcissism, and that's never easily done. Takes decades, if ever. Usually, narcissism only gets worse with age. (Take Nixon, for example.)
So, Obama I think can't do it alone. Question is: "Can we (or others) step up and offer critical help here?"
Everything is Hillary's fault- Wow- is she powerful-
Sounds like JD777 is one of the Obama maniacs who hopes to blame Secretary of State Clinton for everything that their inexperienced, part time state senator and community organizer President screws up- Nice try- but folks are starting to catch on- guess experience does matter- "Just words" can get you only so far-
James L. Jones, problematic personality
Jones' interaction with General Zinni provides an important window into how he interacts with important other people. It shows he's self-centered, unempathic toward others, unaware of how his actions impact others, and unconcerned about his actual impact on others. These behaviors in an important interaction are, in my view, typical of, and indicative of, a narcissistic personality--which is a psychologically immature personality known for manipulative, insensitive, and ultimately disturbing interactions with others.
I would predict that, if one looks more closely, one will find almost all of Jones's interactions fit, and will continue to fit, this same pattern.
I would further predict that this serious limitation on his part will lead to many further misunderstandings and mis-assessments of others, and mistreatments of others in the future.
Bad pick, by the Obama team, in my opinion.
Disrespect for GO by new Democratic administration
This has shades of McCaffrey incident early in the Clinton administration. A highly respected General Officer treated poorly by memers of new administration. The comments about Zinni being to used to living in bubble or having a large ego may all be true. But it is also true that the Obama administration is getting off on the wrong foot with senior military leadership. Stories about Petraeus being upset after his first oval office meeting with Obama, and now this with Zinni, portend a poor relationship between senior military officers and the President.
First, Laura got a great scoop.
Second, let's remember that Zinni is no fave of the AIPAC crowd. It would be a leap to say Team Obama purposely gave Zinni the Rob Malley treatment so as to throw AIPAC a bone... but the possibility can't be ruled out either.
Good. He deserves it.
From the Accuracy in Media website:
"Despite his impressive military career, Zinni shall go down in history as the general who ran “The Monica Lewinsky War.” On the night before President Bush’s speech to the nation on Iraq, Kroft featured Zinni’s sensational charge that the Pentagon officials who planned and executed the war in Iraq were guilty of dereliction of duty, incompetence, negligence, lying and corruption. But Zinni’s record is notable for leaving both Saddam Hussein in power and Osama bin Laden alive."
See http://www.aim.org/aim-column/general-zinnis-failed-policies/
It is possible Zinni remembers these meetings and what was promised to him differently than what happened. We've only heard one side of this story. With all the Daschle mess I can't imagine how he thought his association with Dyncorp wouldn't be a problem. That would be dynamite in Baghdad too.
SteveL: I agree with you that these things could make for a bad start but I think it makes for as bad a start and relationship in the future as the military and civilian leadership will let it. On the flip side one can look at the fact that Obama has named (or its rumored that he has) senior retired officers to at least 3 key positions.
General Zinni:
You may see from many of the comments above that saying ANYTHING negative about The Fraud and his Ship of Fools is apostasy that will not be tolerated in this new era of repression of criticism of The Magic One.
General Zinni did not ask for this position, he was OFFERED the position, then had the offer pulled off the table, and was left to find this out from public sources.
General, they only wanted you in the first place because you criticized the way the Iraq War was going (and, of course, the Leftist media pretty much stretched all you said out of context to turn honest critique into a rabid anti-Bush attack). They really have not the slightest clue about foreign policy (as evinced by placing a woman who got to the heights of power not based on ability, but purchased with round heels and flat on her back as Secretary of State).
I think, General Zinni, that you are far better off not dealing with this phalanx of amateurs and anti-American Exceptionalism buffoons. You would have been tarnished by serving The Magic Muslim in an official capacity.
Perhaps you should have neglected to pay taxes, General...seems to be the major qualifier for service under Osama bin Urkel.
This reflects poorly on Jones. Not only for the personal slight, but if the NSA isn't seen as speaking for the president, he has no power.
Once he put his marker down (offering Zinni the job), he was offering on behalf of the president. This episode tells everyone that when the national security advisor calls and orders something, he may or may not be speaking for the president. It' a new administration and the President's courtiers are still struggling to carve out the limits of their power. Someone just walked in and ate Jones's lunch. When Zinni's offer was withdrawn, General Jones should have gone to the president and said, either back my play or accept my resignation.
Jones was counting on Zinni's friendship to keep this quiet. I'm sure Jones is pissed that he talked but it doesn't matter, the inside players already know that Jones can be rolled.
All these attacks on Zinni are simply blaming the victim. If the leaders of our diplomatic service are incompetent at diplomacy, the President needs to know this at once, and do some early reorganization. Sometimes the only way to get the attention of a bureaucracy is a 2x4, metaphorically speaking.
The only thing more laughable than blaming Zinni is blaming the diplomatic service "bureaucracy". Do you think the bureaucracy is responsible for offering the job to Zinni? The bureaucracy somehow told the President to nominate him and then changed its mind? Give me a break. When it comes to naming an Ambassador to Iraq, it comes from the top.
Zinni is is apologatic for Musharraf’s excesses and deceptions—(http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/09/07/AR2007090702053.html) and then he served as the number two at DynCorp! He would do better at Blackwater than as an ambassador representing the U.S.
A retired general waxing fat on defense spending should not be a
How astounding that a retired general, enjoying the largesse of a defense contractor operating in Iraq, would even be considered as ambassador to that country! The military-industrial complex and the Israel lobby brought the US the totally unnecessary war, and caused the squandering of a trillion or more US taxpayer dollars.
The Obama Youngsters Screw up Again....
Another fiasco by an administration that seems to be run by inexperienced, youngish 20-something frat-boys whose mothers are owed back rent since college. Zinni is an honourable man and he was one of the first to give a realistic assessment of the illogical war against the Iraqis--Bush-Chenney co-sponsored nightmare that has left 500,000 women homeless and former nurses and teachers working in semi-brothel "entertainment clubs" in Syria and Jordan for the fat Kuwait princes.
Secretary of STate Hillary Clinton had offered him the job and V-P Biden had called to "congratulate" Zinni. But the Obamyopics decided against it the last minute. This is outrageous, if not downright qualifying for the Marx Bros' Duck Soup Revisited saga. The punkish Obama Boys just can't get a handle on protocol. Guess nobody checked their resume for "experience", eh?
General Zinni gets undiplomatic treatment ....
Zinni, no need for you to be embarrassed. You didn't botch this. Thanks for your service.
He has a ton of experience in the Middle East, and predicted that nothing but mischief would come from the AIPAC/Neo-con project that resulted in the 1998 Iraq Liberation Act, and the exile groups it supported. He noted that "after a grilling from Senator McCain and all those wonderful senators supported the Iraqi Liberation Act, and I told them that these guys are not credible and they are going to lead us into something they we will regret," and that "These exiles did not have credibility inside the country or in the region. Not only did they not have credibility, it was clear that the information they were providing us many times was not correct and accurate...." (See, cdi.org/friendlyversion/printversion.cfm?documentID=2208)
He was prescient as well on the potentially dire consequences of invading Iraq, as noted in an article at Salon.com: "In an October, 2002 speech at the Middle East Institute's annual conference, Zinni stressed the need to get the Israeli-Palestinian peace process back on track, build a broad coalition against Iraq...and put Saddam Hussein's threat in perspective.
He also took issue with hawks in and around the administration.... "I'm not sure which planet they live on," Zinni said, "because it isn't the one that I travel." And he challenged their suggestion that installing a new Iraqi government will not be especially difficult. "God help us," he said, "if we think this transition will occur easily."
My guess he was deep-sixed by the neo-cons and neo-con-lite groups that still call the shots with Clinton and Obama--how else do you explain Ross and Holbrooke being at the top in State, for example? He isn't sufficiently "friendly" towards Israel in the eyes of this group, nor is he sufficiently friendly towards the neo-con project of continued military dominance in the Middle East.
As someone assigned to HQUSCENTCOM while General Zinni was CinC and spoke with him on many occasions, I can state that he is a 100% class act. Extremely intelligent while remaining very approachable, particularly to the junior troops. General Zinni is exactly what the Obama administration needed, a straight shooter. Unlike most of the jelly-spined, ethically challenged yes men/women he has appointed to date. As far as the response from General Jones? It doesn't surprise me. Within the Marine Corps, he was seen as a politician, not a warrior. The level of respect for General Zinni as opposed to General Jones is day and night. In the Middle East, General Zinni was well respected by Arab leadership. He would have been a tremendous asset to our foreign policy there. Your loss Mr. President. Thanks for standing up for what is right General Zinni.
The nastiness of the comments on here...
...illustrates just how rancorous, hostile, and uncivil Washington culture is.
How many of you hatemongers are in the foreign service, by the way? How many of you are well placed in other key cabinet-level departments? How many of you have hire/fire authority with new “stimulus” package jobs?
God help us if this is “Change.” When I voted for Obama I voted for reform and centrism and consensus-building, not partisan vindictiveness and hostility.
Scary that a General would have ever been so naive to trust Democrats.
Especially someone as mendacious as Hillary.
Zinni has earned our Nation's respect and gratitude
The comments critical of General Anthony Zinni sound like they’re coming from an uninformed child who has no knowledge of the man or his many compelling contributions to our national security spanning a remarkable forty-year career as a Marine, diplomat, author, defense industry leader, private citizen and government critic. General Jones is one of the few people in this story who has produced such a sterling career and record of selfless public service, which makes it very disappointing that he seems to be a part of the problem. General Zinni is one of the finest and most competent General Officers of his generation. He served his country and Corps faithfully since the Vietnam War, and he earned the right to expect this most basic of professional courtesies that he would be promptly informed when no longer being considered for a critical government appointment, which had already been offered by our nation’s most senior government officials. Who wouldn't be offended by such shabby and amateurish treatment? Remember, the US State Department is expected to understand protocol and effective communication as much as any government institution known to man. The lack of respect shown to General Zinni must be acknowledged and a public apology should be made by Secretary Clinton or President Obama. It’s arrogant for anyone to tell him to get over it and just move on. Our nation needs great leaders like Anthony Zinni. He's a proven leader who understands the political, diplomatic, military and economic complexities faced in the Middle East, and he's respected by friends and foe alike. The Middle East is a quagmire of corruption, greed, self-interest, religious extremism, poverty, overpopulation and cultural hatred. It’s a breeding ground for terrorism and anti-west extremism. Zinni is one of the few people willing and able to tackle such a daunting challenge, but the Obama/Clinton State Department appears to have “screwed the pooch” on this one. I'm a big supporter of President Obama and our National Security Advisor, General James Jones, but it appears that both share responsibility with Secretary Clinton for this troubling failure. The bottom line: General Anthony Zinni has served his nation with great distinction, and he deserves to be treated with respect and gratitude. Our politicians don't deserve General Zinni, but I'd sleep better at night knowing he was still on the job.
Country loses out on Gen. Zinni Nomination
Gen. Zinni's one of the greatest flag officers ever to serve this country! The administration's petty, short-sighted politics is immature and irrational. Failing to bring Gen. Zinni onboard was a big-big strategic mistake. Guess now we should dig those defensive fighting positions in our backyards a bit deeper... "BOHICA"
Josh Rogin reports on national security and foreign policy from the Pentagon to Foggy Bottom, the White House to Embassy Row, for The Cable.
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