[...]A sign of the Pentagon's determination to control the process has been the delay in approving several current or former ambassadors to the reconstruction team. The list of diplomats who were held up by the Pentagon this week was said to include a former ambassador to Qatar who would oversee the Iraqi ministry of foreign affairs, a former ambassador to Tunisia designated to oversee the trade ministry, a former ambassador to Oman assigned to the ministry of planning, and the current ambassador to Mauritania, who would assist the ministry of religious affairs.


These State Department veterans are all Arabic-language speakers with experience in the region -- which may make them suspect in the eyes of Pentagon civilians who could view them as overly sympathetic to the region's concerns.


The Pentagon's own roster for the reconstruction team could provide the guest list for a neoconservative gabfest: The overall civilian coordinator is Michael Mobbs, a former law associate of Undersecretary of Defense for Policy Douglas Feith. The proposed adviser for the Iraqi Ministry of Defense is hawkish former Pentagon aide Walter Slocombe. Another possible nominee, initially proposed to advise the information ministry, is former CIA director James Woolsey, who is close to the Pentagon's preferred opposition leader, Ahmed Chalabi. One of Chalabi's relatives, Salem "Sam" Chalabi, is said to be already part of the reconstruction team in Kuwait.[...]