The chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee is concerned that hard-won security gains in Iraq are vulnerable because of cutbacks in key personnel.
In a letter to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Sen. John Kerry, (D-Mass.), said the office in charge of helping with Iraq's transition to self-sufficiency is operating with half its staff positions vacant.
Kerry wrote in a June 12 letter that the Iraq Transition Assistance Office (ITAO) has "about two dozen" vacancies out of 46 positions, because of a "hiring freeze" imposed in anticipation of handing over operations to the Iraqis next April. The Obama administration plans to end the U.S. combat mission in Iraq by August 31, 2010.
The State Department has not yet responded to requests for comment from the Huffington Post.
One of the unfilled positions formerly belonged to ITAO's deputy director, Terrence Barnich, who was murdered with a roadside bomb in May. Barnich's convoy was returning to Baghdad after inspecting a waste water treatment plant under construction in Fallujah. Dr. Maged Hussein of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers was also killed. Kerry called the loss of Hussein and Barnich a personal tragedy and "a potential setback for our reconstruction efforts."
A former adviser to the U.S. embassy in Baghdad in 2007 and 2008 confirmed in an interview with the Huffington Post that there are roughly two-dozen vacancies at the ITAO.
"I do believe in the last month or so there was a conscious slowdown of hires," the source said regarding Kerry's allegation of a hiring freeze. The adviser added that the loss of Barnich and Hussein, experts in electric and water infrastructure, is particularly damaging to reconstruction efforts. Lackluster staffing, he said, would send a bad message to insurgents both in Iraq and Afghanistan.
"It would be exactly the wrong thing to do and it would be a very bad precedent to set relative to Afghanistan," the source said.
Kerry wrote that a "failure to provide the best possible services in areas like water, electricity and health care risks detracting from the enormous progress we have made on so many fronts in Iraq and damaging the credibility of the democratically elected government of Iraq."
Here's the text of Kerry's letter:
June 12, 2009
The Honorable Hillary ClintonSecretary of State
United States Department of State
2201 C Street, NW
Washington, DC 20520
Dear Madam Secretary:
As we move ahead with the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq, the work of the State Department and the Baghdad embassy to smooth the transition is more vital than ever. A major part of our effort involves a final push to help provide the Iraqi people with reliable, essential services like electricity, water and health care.
We have made considerable progress despite the enormity of the challenge. The recent deaths of Terrence Barnich, the deputy director of the Iraq Transition Assistance Office, and his Iraqi colleague Dr. Maged Hussein represent not only a great personal tragedy, but their loss is a potential setback for our reconstruction efforts.
As you know, Mr. Barnich was both a top supervisor in the transition office and its senior expert for expanding the generation of electricity across Iraq, an area in which we have demonstrated considerable success. Dr. Hussein was the office's senior consultant on water quality, and in fact its only water expert. They were returning from inspecting a water treatment plant in Fallujah on May when they were killed by an IED.
Along with the tragic loss of these two key officials, I have learned that the transition office has about two dozen other vacancies among its 46 authorized and funded positions. I understand that a hiring freeze was imposed in preparation for turning over the operations to the Iraqis in April 2010.
I recognize the reluctance to add outside experts, particularly given the length of time required to hire outside contractors. But these are essential tasks for our success in Iraq and it is important that they are fulfilled. In addition, four of these empty spots are assigned to the U.S. military and could easily be filled.
I applaud the hard work accomplished so far and the plans to entrust the Iraqis with these tasks. But it is essential that we have the expertise required to ensure a smooth transition in the critical months ahead.
A failure to provide the best possible services in areas like water, electricity and health care risks detracting from the enormous progress we have made on so many fronts in Iraq and damaging the credibility of the democratically elected government of Iraq.
I appreciate your attention to this matter and I will look forward to your reply.
Sincerely,
John F. Kerry
Chairman
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