Diplomats Reclaim Foreign Policy Roles

Ryan Crocker testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington in this Feb. 15, 2007 file photo, before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Ryan Crocker is the new U.S. ambassador to Iraq. Senior career diplomats are retaking control of key elements of U.S. foreign policy and have begun to assert significant influence as the Bush administration enters its waning months eager to salvage a legacy marred by the Iraq war (AP Photo/Dennis Cook, File) (Dennis Cook - AP)

WASHINGTON -- Senior career diplomats are retaking control of key elements of U.S. foreign policy and have begun to assert significant influence as the Bush administration enters its waning months eager to salvage a legacy marred by the Iraq war.

Since assuming the helm at the State Department in 2005, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has installed veteran foreign service officers with more than 200 years of collective diplomatic experience in seven critical posts from the Middle East to South Asia and the Far East.

By contrast, their immediate predecessors had just 72 years of combined experience and five of them were Republican political operatives with limited or no background in diplomacy, according to an Associated Press survey of senior agency appointees.

While the departure of prominent conservative hawks, including Donald H. Rumsfeld and Paul Wolfowitz from the Pentagon and John Bolton from the State Department, is well-documented, the quiet climb to influence of Rice's choices for top jobs has been less public even as they have started to steer new courses.

As the administration winds down, Rice, who has been President Bush's top foreign policy adviser since the 2000 campaign, has entrusted them with the hands-on, day-to-day running of U.S. diplomacy in the most volatile regions and nations of the world:

_Afghanistan: Where Taliban insurgents and al-Qaida militants continue to pose a threat while the country is on track for yet another record opium poppy harvest.

_Iraq: Where judgments on the president's so-called "surge" strategy are due next month.

_Iran: Which has increasingly vexed Washington with its alleged support for insurgents in Iraq and Afghanistan, its nuclear program and backing for militant anti-Israeli groups.

_North Korea: Which is now moving toward shelving its nuclear weapons programs.

_Pakistan: Where al-Qaida has regrouped in lawless border areas and embattled President Pervez Musharraf is facing domestic political upheaval ahead of elections.

Among those wielding increasing power are Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte, who entered the foreign service in 1960, and Nicholas Burns, the third highest-ranking diplomat as undersecretary of state for political affairs and a foreign service officer for 24 years.

Others include the U.S. ambassador to Iraq, Ryan Crocker, a 36-year foreign service veteran; the Washington-based Iraq coordinator David Satterfield, with 27 years under his belt; and 30-year diplomat David Welch, who is the assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern affairs.