The Cable

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Envoy avenue

The WP’s Al Kamen reports some inter-envoy Kremlinology: So [Dennis] Ross, we were told, was asked to come up with a list of countries on his turf. But his list quite logically included Afghanistan and Pakistan, in addition to various Persian Gulf countries. The list was run by Richard C. Holbrooke, special envoy for those ...

The WP's Al Kamen reports some inter-envoy Kremlinology:

The WP’s Al Kamen reports some inter-envoy Kremlinology:

So [Dennis] Ross, we were told, was asked to come up with a list of countries on his turf. But his list quite logically included Afghanistan and Pakistan, in addition to various Persian Gulf countries. The list was run by Richard C. Holbrooke, special envoy for those two trouble spots, who promptly scratched them off Ross’s list. Then the Near East Affairs Bureau looked at Ross’s list and noticed it included a number of countries in that bureau’s bailiwick. Those folks tried, too late, to get them taken off the list. So the list, which Wood read from the podium, includes a chunk of Near East turf. "From our standpoint," Wood said, "the countries that make up areas of the Gulf and Southwest Asia include Bahrain, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Yemen, and those are the countries." Iran’s in there.

Meanwhile, Ross may not be a "special envoy," but he’s certainly being treated like one. He’s been given an office, right next door to Holbrooke’s, on Envoy Avenue. (This was formerly known as the George W. Bush Hall of Diplomatic Glory.) That office had been given last month to special envoy George J. Mitchell, who’s in charge of arranging peace between the Palestinians and the Israelis. Signs identifying the office as Mitchell’s have been removed, but it’s unclear where he went.

So if you’re wondering where Southwest Asia really is, it’s in the hallway just between Ross’s and Holbrooke’s offices.

Laura Rozen writes The Cable daily at ForeignPolicy.com.

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