Just what we need: A FEMA for Afghanistan

Now that the U.S. military presence in Iraq looks to be winding down, the office of the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction (SIGIR), set up to oversee the $50 billion reconstruction effort, is also due to be phasing out. But that doesn't necessarily mean the SIGIR himself, Stuart W. Bowen, is disappearing from the scene.

Bowen, a former aide to George W. Bush when he was governor of Texas and later in the White House, has produced a paper calling for, among other things, the creation of an entity to coordinate aid to Afghanistan so as not to repeat the chaotic and massively wasteful Iraq aid program.

Bowen, who has held the post since 2004 and is highly regarded on Capitol Hill, and his deputy, Ginger Cruz, were themselves the subject of numerous inquiries into SIGIR's operations. There were allegations about paying excessive overtime, a $3.5 million book project about Iraq's reconstruction and that Bowen and Cruz improperly snooped into their staff's e-mail messages. Former employees said Cruz, a self-described Wiccan, threatened to put hexes on employees. But the investigations ended with no action taken against Bowen and Cruz, and SIGIR paid $32,700 of Cruz's legal fees.

"As the U.S. reconstruction effort in Iraq demonstrated, when everyone is in charge, no one is in charge," says Bowen's proposal, which is now making the rounds in the administration. "A permanent, fully accountable, empowered interagency management office . . . would be more effective in advancing U.S. national interests."

This new "Office for Overseas Contingency Operations" would oversee civilian and military efforts and have, "during 'normal' times . . . a small permanent staff, but would be able to add personnel in time of need," the proposal notes.

Apparently trying to help readers get a feel for this new office, the proposal suggests that, "Conceptually, it could be thought of as an international FEMA" and that it would be "roughly analogous to an international FEMA."

Ah, yes, and that worked out quite well.

Calling all postal workers

Speaking of Afghanistan, President Obama is inching toward a decision on how many additional troops he's going to send there -- and he might even decide what they are going to do once they get there. But any increase in personnel and effort to clarify the mission is probably going to spark demands by opponents that he clarify how long he thinks all this is going to take.

The Army Contracting Command out in Rock Island, Ill., is thinking maybe long-range. It's looking for potential contractors to "provide postal operations and mail handling throughout Afghanistan." The Nov. 5 solicitation says "the contract would be for five years" with a "base year and four one-year options."

Move quickly if you're interested. The response deadline is Friday and 14 interested vendors have already responded. Five of them are based in Kabul, but others are based in Stafford, Va.; Pleasant Hill, Calif.; Bedford, Pa.; Miami Beach; and Glendale, Ariz. So write something up. Use overnight mail if you need to.

How to win friends . . .

The Obama administration seems determined to negotiate with the mullahs in Iran. John Limbert, who was an embassy official taken hostage in Tehran 30 years ago, has been given a job as deputy assistant secretary for Iran. Limbert, a retired Foreign Service officer and former ambassador to Mauritania, is a fluent Farsi speaker (he was in the Peace Corps in Iran in the 1960s).

The appointment, according to Politico, had been in the works for some time. He would be the most senior official at Foggy Bottom working solely on Iran matters. He's been teaching at the U.S. Naval Academy since 2006. The U.S. Institute of Peace in September published his book, "Negotiating With Tehran: Wrestling With the Ghosts of History," which the institute says is "a pragmatic yet positive assessment of how to engage Iran."