The Foreign Service Journal, November 2004

10 F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L / N O V E M B E R 2 0 0 4 “Results Report” Issued for the Powell-Green Era at State On Aug. 9 the Department of State issued a report to its employees on the major accomplishments in the area of management over the past three-and- a-half years ( http://www.state.gov/ m/p/results/index.htm ). In a preface to the report, Secretary Powell states: “Our report is orga- nized around the management priori- ties which Deputy Secretary Armitage, Under Secretary for Management Green, and I consistent- ly put forth: people; security; technol- ogy; facilities; and management reform and improvement. When I became Secretary, I made clear that not only was I the president’s chief for- eign policy adviser, but also the chief executive officer of the department, and that I would take very seriously the role of leading and managing the men and women of the department.” By all accounts he did. First and foremost, over 2,000 positions beyond attrition have been added since 2001, the largest work force expansion in three decades and a needed correction to longstanding staffing gaps. Total hiring in FY 2002 was up 70 percent over FY 2001, and through the Diplomatic Readiness Initiative the department seeks to maintain these gains. But that is just the beginning. As the report details, the department has also met ambitious targets for increased training, information tech- nology upgrades, embassy construc- tion, and security improvement. Crisis Builds Over Iran’s Nuclear Program Even as Iraq continues to dominate headlines, foreign policy experts are increasingly turning their attention toward its neighbor and long-time foe: Iran. Reports of that country’s alleged development of weapons of mass destruction have created a scene rem- iniscent of the buildup to the Iraq war. Once again, the international commu- nity has to decide what to do about a potential crisis. Israeli National Security Adviser Glori Eiland declared Sept. 27 that Iran’s nuclear weapons programwould reach the “point of no return” by November. The announcement came after Iranian Vice President Reza Aghazadeh stated that Iran had begun converting raw uranium into the gas needed for enrichment, a step that is necessary for both nuclear energy pro- duction and bomb-making, and one that would violate a resolution passed by the International Atomic Energy Agency. Days earlier, following the U.S. sale of 500 “bunker-busting” bombs capa- ble of destroying underground nuclear facilities to Israel, Secretary of State Powell issued a statement that Washington has no plans to attack Iran’s nuclear facilities. But neither Powell nor Israeli Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom would rule it out. November is also the date for the next IAEA meeting, where Director General Mohamed El-Baradei is expected to present the latest findings from its investigation of several anom- alies in the nuclear program Iranian authorities insist is strictly for nuclear power production. If Tehran is found to be running a secret weapons pro- gram under the cover of its power pro- gram, it would be a direct violation of the 1970 Non-Proliferation Treaty to which Iran is a signatory. The Nuclear Threat Initiative ( http://nti.org ) d iscusses an equally frightening possibility: that Iran has functioning biological and chemical weapons programs, despite the fact that it ratified the 1973 Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention and the 1997 Chemical Weapons Convention. The NTI, founded by media mogul Ted Turner and former Georgia Senator Sam Nunn, seeks to reduce the risk of chemical, biological and nuclear weapons. In the coming weeks and months, it will be essential to stay informed about Iran and keep fact separate from fic- tion. A good place to start is the Iran resources page of the Carnegie Endowment’s Non-Proliferation Pro- gram Web page ( http://www.carne gieendowment.org/npp/country/ index.cfm?fa=view&id=1000089 ). C YBERNOTES M y own view is that these negative attitudes are driven more by policy disagreements than an inherent dislike or hatred of America or Americans. I think we're still respected throughout the world, and there's still a strong residual base that we can get back to once we get past these policy problems. — Colin Powell, interview with Fred Francis, NBC Nightly News , Sept. 17. 2004.