Via Spencer Ackerman, Eli Lake reports that Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton are planning to create a special post within the State Department to run the point in doing outreach to Iran. Spencer remarks:
Lake says that they’re considering a career diplomat for the post. I can think of at least two Leveretts who fit the bill. Also? Just saying? Maybe not a bad job for Zalmay Khalilzad, the rather talented diplomat whom Bush sent to Afghanistan, Iraq and the United Nations.
I believe Flynt Leverett’s wife uses her own name, Hillary Mann, but the point holds. I might also consider James Dobbins who was a career FSO but who held a number of political appointments in the Clinton administration before becoming Bush’s Afghanistan envoy right after 9/11. In that capacity, Dobbins worked constructively with the Iranians and the stage was set for a diplomatic opening that Bush, Cheney, et. al. ruined back in DC. Then Dobbins left the administration and he’s been at RAND ever since.
Previous in TP Yglesias
By clicking and submitting a comment I acknowledge the ThinkProgress Privacy Policy and agree to the ThinkProgress Terms of Use. I understand that my comments are also being governed by Facebook's Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.