Resolution

I got my stinkin' badge! It took -- get this -- the personal authorization of the Deputy Chief of Mission (meaning the deputy ambassador, the number two State official in Iraq). We immediately filed my paperwork for DoD and State internet access, both of which should (fingers crossed) be in place by the end of the week. Or, you know, we'll just ask the President to sign off on it or whatever...

Seriously, though, I fully appreciate what an anomaly my situation is. But a signature from my boss, the head JAG in Iraq I remind you -- let alone one from General Petraeus -- ought to be enough for all this stuff. That it isn't just points to a serious breakdown in inter-agency cooperation. Not so much a breakdown, but a permanent dysfunction. I'll have more on this important theme later, because it plays into pretty much every aspect of our Iraq policy and administration.

Anyway, once I get my internet access, I'll move from where I've been working -- in the classified zone with the JAGs -- to a desk in the DoJ section. (It would more naturally be with some State folks, including a young partner from my firm who's been here on leave for nearly a year, but they simply don't have the physical space.)

My job, on which also more later as it becomes more defined, is liaising among DoJ, State, and DoD rule of law operations. Coinciding with getting fully badged up, I finally got an official title: Special Assistant/Advisor to the Law & Order Task Force.