It's a Scandal -- and This T-Shirt Proves It

You know, people study for years to speak fluent Texan.

Bremer's Iraq by the Book

Today's the day that L. Paul "Jerry" Bremer 's book, "My Year in Iraq: The Struggle to Build a Future of Hope," goes on sale. Early buzz was that the former Iraq reconstruction chief and Medal of Freedom winner is going to say that Washington ordered him to disband the Iraqi military -- widely seen as perhaps the most colossal strategic blunder of the Iraq war.

There's also said to be some score-settling with a senior Pentagon official whose last name rhymes with "held."

Well, why not let it all out? What could they do? Take back the medal?

Smackdown at the NSC

There's substantial tussling over who'll succeed recently departed Michael Green for the hugely important job of National Security Council senior director for Asia -- covering China, Korea and Japan. Green's deputy, Dennis Wilder , is acting senior director, but talk of his taking the top job has sparked intense opposition from folks who perceive him as lacking in hard-line anti-Chicom credentials.

Other names mentioned for the job include Richard P. Lawless , a top Asia hand at the Pentagon -- though he's said to be disinclined to move -- and James J. Shinn , the CIA's national intelligence officer for East Asia.

Moving On

Also on the Asia front, Joseph DeTrani , special envoy to the stalled six-party talks trying to get the North Koreans to drop their nuclear weapons program, has moved over to work for his old pal and director of national intelligence, John Negroponte .

DeTrani, formerly a top CIA officer in East Asia and Europe, and special envoy for the past two years, is senior adviser to Negroponte.

At the World Bank, 25-year veteran Gerry Rice is moving on to "pursue other opportunities outside the bank," an e-mail late Wednesday told employees. He was "relinquish[ing] his duties as Corporate Communications Director effective today," the e-mail said. An acting director will be in charge while the Paul D. Wolfowitz team selects its new communicator.