State Dept. retains manager of troubled embassy project

[laststeamtrain]

Source: McClatchy Newspapers

State Dept. retains manager of troubled embassy project
Warren P. Strobel | McClatchy Newspapers

last updated: December 06, 2007 08:22:34 PM

WASHINGTON — A State Department project manager banished from Iraq by the U.S. ambassador and under scrutiny by the Justice Department continues to oversee the construction of the much-delayed new American embassy in Baghdad from nearby Kuwait, State Department officials disclosed Thursday.

James L. Golden, a contract employee, is still managing the $740 million project, said Undersecretary of State Patrick Kennedy, the department's top management official.

"Mr. Golden is still . . . our project manager, and still is working with the contractor, at their base in Kuwait," Kennedy said.

One State Department official with detailed knowledge of the unopened embassy expressed outrage that his superiors haven't replaced Golden.

"I find it absolutely amazing that State senior management doesn't seem to think it a trifle odd that two people under investigation . . . are still making all the management decisions under this same contract," the official said in an e-mail. The official asked for anonymity because he feared retaliation by his superiors.

Read more: http://www.mcclatchydc.com/iraq/story/22700.html

[justgamma]

1. Par for the course.

I don't think this outfit knows anyone who is not a crook or incompetent. In fact that is one of the requirements for getting hired.

[DLnyc]

2. Bush-style hypercronyism: If your donations are big, you cannot fail

Bush's legacy will be setting the all-time (low) standard for incompetent (or should we say 'anticompetent') government appointees.

[Supersedeas]

5. a little cronyism plus a little Condi incompetence -- gotta have connections

[Barrett808]

3. k & r

[annabanana]

4. He must have a helluva pair of binoculars..

to be able to oversee Baghdad from Kuwait...

just sayin'