Bush picks new ambassador to Iraq

According to the New York Times, President Bush has selected Ryan Clark Crocker to replace Zalmay Khalilzad as ambassador to Iraq. The Times describes Crocker as having a "record of Middle East and South Asia experience possibly unrivaled in the United States Foreign Service."
Frederic C. Hof, who is described in the same report as a "retired Army officer and author on the Middle East" said that when Crocker, 57, was trying to perfect his Arabic in the late 1970s, he went to Jordan where he "wound up being a shepherd for a week or two, chasing down stray sheep and living with the Bedouin."

Apparently he was able to use the same adeptness in dealing with America's friends and foes. "He's a very good persuader and negotiator," one former diplomatic colleague, Robin Rafael, told the NY Times, adding that he is "very good at sussing out who's who."

One former State Department colleague described him as "more respected than loved" but went on to say that this was only because, he was tasked with some of the "dirtiest, hardest assignments you can imagine."

According to Hussein Haqqani, a former Pakistani official now teaching at Boston University, Crocker is unlikely to end up being "somebody who will come up with a new grand strategy to change the world," adding that in his view this is a good thing as "attempts to craft grand strategy have caused a lot of upheaval in American diplomacy."