Who will rule Iraq? Intelligence community alarmed by State Department choice

One of three regional rulers in the post-Saddam Iraq is an unlikely candidate raising some alarms in the intelligence community.

Her name is Barbara Bodine, a career foreign-service diplomat and former ambassador to Yemen. She will reportedly run civilian affairs in Baghdad and central Iraq along with two other regional administrators.

In 2000, while serving as Yemen's ambassador, she was widely criticized for hampering the FBI's investigation of the al-Qaida bombing of the USS Cole in Aden.

She blocked FBI counterterrorism official John O'Neill from returning to Yemen and conducting an aggressive investigation. O'Neill retired from the FBI and was later killed in the Sept. 11 World Trade Center attack.

A Strong Kick To The Finish!
(Leave The Left Behind)

Finish Strong. Donate Here By Secure Server

Or mail checks to
FreeRepublic , LLC
PO BOX 9771
FRESNO, CA 93794

or you can use

PayPal at Jimrob@psnw.com

STOP BY AND BUMP THE FUNDRAISER THREAD-
It is in the breaking news sidebar!

Barbara K. Bodine, a career member of the Senior Foreign Service, is currently Diplomat in Residence at the University of Southern California, Santa Barbara. She last served as U.S. Ambassador to the Republic of Yemen. During her posting in Sanaa, the U.S.S. Cole was bombed in a terrorist attack. In 1999, she negotiated for hours to release three Americans kidnapped in Yemen. In 2001, a flight carrying Ambassador Bodine and 90 other passengers from Yemen was hijacked mid-flight. The plane was diverted to Africa, where it landed without further incident.

After initial tours in Hong Kong and Bangkok, Ambassador Bodine has spent her career working primarily on Southwest Asia and the Arabian Peninsula. She has twice served in the Bureau of Near East Affairs' Office of Arabian Peninsula Affairs, first as Country Officer for the Yemenis, then as Political-Military officer for the peninsula. She later served as Deputy Office Director. Ambassador Bodine has also had assignments as Deputy Principal Officer in Baghdad, Iraq, and as Deputy Chief of Mission in Kuwait during the Iraqi invasion and occupation in 1990. She was awarded the Secretary of State's Award for Valor for her work in occupied Kuwait.

Following Kuwait, Ambassador Bodine was the Associate Coordinator for Operations and later served as the Acting Coordinator for Counterterrorism. She went on to serve as the Dean of Professional Studies at the Department's Foreign Service Institute. She has worked on the secretariat staff of Secretaries Kissinger and Vance, and as a Congressional Fellow in the office of Senator Robert Dole. Most recently, Ms. Bodine spent a year as the Director of East African Affairs.

Ambassador Bodine was born in 1948 in St. Louis, Missouri. She earned her B.A. in Political Science and Asian Studies, and graduated magna cum laude from the University of California at Santa Barbara. She received her Master's degree from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy in Massachusetts. She also studied at the Chinese University of Hong Kong and the Department of State's Language Training Field Schools in Taiwan and Tunisia. She is a member of Phi Beta Kappa and serves on the Board of Directors of the UCSB Alumni Association and on the Advisory Council to the Program on Southwest Asian and Islamic Civilization Studies at the Fletcher School. She was the recipient of the UC Santa Barbara Distinguished Alumni Award in 1991.

Bodine's sex may be a problem for some Arab states with whom she would have to negotiate. Saudi Arabia, for example, is notorious for its draconian attitude toward women. Let alone non-Arab, non-Muslim women in positions of power. The Arab League, when informed of the post-Saddam plans, reportedly expressed outrage.

In general, the Arab world does not welcome nor want women in power, especially power over men. Bodine's presence may be a stumbling block to the stability of any post-Iraq solution. And Bush may be trading off a foreign advantage for a domestic one.

Walt, I think you're correct.

IMHO, I'd rather have Donald Trump take the job.

Well, I mean good grief. What could Saddam have thought when we sent a woman ambassador back in 1990? He must have thought, "they're just trying to piss me off. Plus, they can't be serious or they would have sent a man."

We're romping and stomping all over Arab sensibilities as it is. Telling the clerics or whomever comes to the fore in Iraq that they have to meet with and maybe take direction from a woman is just --clueless-- in my view, given the way Arab culture is set up.

Walt

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.