The U.S. State Department is having trouble filling positions in reconstruction teams in Iraq. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice says there is a shortage of city planners and engineers on the ground in Iraq, and getting more may be difficult.
"One of the cornerstones of President Bush's new Iraq strategy is to have more civilian experts working alongside the military on what are called 'provincial reconstruction teams.'"
"'Out of 129 positions that were being requested, I think 120 or 121 were being requested from the Department of Defense for the provincial reconstruction teams', according to Defense Secretary Robert Gates."
"'They are not State Department positions, they are positions that the State Department took the responsibility for, organizing a civilian response,' said Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. 'But they include ... positions like agronomists and engineers and city planners. I don't have those people in the Foreign Service. The State Department positions have been filled.'"
"Rice says the State Department needs some time to find the specialists elsewhere in the U.S. government or to hire contractors willing to go to Iraq."
Read the full story: Reconstruction Teams at Premium in Iraq
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