Just in case you were thinking that the State Department might be able to pick up after the destruction of the CIA’s nonproliferation efforts by the maladminstration’s outing of Valerie Plame, think again.
A State Department reorganization of analysts involved in preventing the spread of deadly weapons has spawned internal turmoil, with more than half a dozen career employees alleging in interviews that political appointees sought to punish long-term employees whose views they considered suspect. …About a dozen top experts on nonproliferation have left the department in recent months, with many citing the reorganization as a reason.
The dispute has thrown a spotlight on the tensions that often exist between longtime career employees and the political appointees who come and go with successive administrations. It is also being closely watched within the State Department as another sign that, under Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice’s leadership, the department will no longer be at war with the rest of the administration.
Rice and her top aides have sought to heal the damaging rifts that existed with the Pentagon and other agencies. Some State Department officials privately acknowledge that they used to be thrilled by the department’s reputation as a renegade in President Bush’s first term, but they say the message has become clear in the past year that such attitudes are no longer acceptable.
Those “damaging rifts” included such things as the State Department questioning the possibility of an Iraq/Niger uranium deal, and a pre-war warning that “a failure to address short-term public security and humanitarian assistance concerns could result in serious human rights abuses which would undermine an otherwise successful military campaign, and our reputation internationally.”
So you can see why Condi would want to bring them into line.