[MizSterious]

Alas, not just Kerry. There are some Clinton holdovers in the State Department that are of the same mind-set (and I use "mind" loosely here). See:

Putin likened demands by Washington that Moscow negotiate with the separatists in Chechnya -- where rebels are believed to have planned the school siege -- to the U.S. talking to the terrorists behind the September 11, 2001 attacks.

Source

Another article referenced in that thread also mentions that the people who told Putin that were "mid-level officials in the U.S. government." Note to President Bush: give these rascals the heave-ho. They sound like Madeline Half-bright proteges!

[Tannerone]

Unfortunate, but as I have read and understand the State Department situation: IT WILL TAKE AN ACT OF GOD TO FIRE "a State Dept. Employee" OR SHAKE UP THE State Department.

Incompetence breeds incompetence and the State Department proves that 100%