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Munter confirmed for Islamabad post

Just before its pre-election break, the Senate confirmed a host of Obama administration appointees, including Cameron Munter as the new U.S. Ambassador to Pakistan. Munter heads to Islamabad during one of its most tumultuous periods in recent history. The CIA is hunting down operatives involved in a plot to attack European cities, the government is ...

By , a former staff writer at Foreign Policy.
563876_100930_Cameron_Munter2.jpg
563876_100930_Cameron_Munter2.jpg

Just before its pre-election break, the Senate confirmed a host of Obama administration appointees, including Cameron Munter as the new U.S. Ambassador to Pakistan.

Just before its pre-election break, the Senate confirmed a host of Obama administration appointees, including Cameron Munter as the new U.S. Ambassador to Pakistan.

Munter heads to Islamabad during one of its most tumultuous periods in recent history. The CIA is hunting down operatives involved in a plot to attack European cities, the government is under assault from elements of the opposition, and now Pakistan has cut off NATO supply routes to Afghanistan in retaliation for the killing of three Pakistani soldiers by a NATO air strike. Oh, and the country is still reeling from devastating floods.

In his testimony to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Munter identified himself as a clear supporter of Pakistan’s civilian government led by President Asif Ali Zardari.

“Success will come in Pakistan by building confidence in, and working with, a strong civilian government,” he said. “It will be the result of patient efforts on our part to define and address areas of interest that America and Pakistan share — our counterinsurgency against violent extremists, Pakistan’s ability to achieve its full economic potential, our commitment to social development. We can only achieve this common success with a strong partner in Pakistan’s democratically elected civilian government.”

He also said that Pakistan would have to raise taxes on its own people to get out from under the flood crisis, a call that Hillary Clinton echoed Tuesday.

“Pakistan must raise its revenues internally to pay for the needs of its people,” Munter said.

Munter heads to Pakistan with his wife, Marilyn, whom he was separated from during his last posting in Baghdad.

The Senate also confirmed Donald Steinberg to be deputy administrator of USAID, Nancy Lindborg to be USAID’s assistant administrator for democracy, conflict, and humanitarian assistance, and Kristie Kenney to be Ambassador to Thailand.

A full list of all of Wednesday’s confirmations after the jump

  • Nancy Lindborg, of the District of Columbia, to be an Assistant Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development for Democracy, Conflict and Humanitarian Assistance Bureau
  • Donald Kenneth Steinberg, of California, to be Deputy Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development
  • Cameron Munter to be Ambassador to the Islamic Republic of Pakistan
  • Mark M. Boulware to be Ambassador to the Republic of Chad
  • Kristie Anne Kenney, of Virginia, a Career Member of the Senior Foreign Service, Class of Career Minister, to be Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to the Kingdom of Thailand
  • Christopher J. McMullen to be Ambassador to the Republic of Angola
  • Robert P. Mikulak, for the rank of Ambassador during his tenure as United States Representative to the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons
  • Wanda L. Nesbitt to be Ambassador to the Republic of Namibia
  • Jo Ellen Powell, of Maryland, a Career Member of the Senior Foreign Service, Class of Minister-Counselor, to be Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to the Islamic Republic of Mauritania
  • Karen Brevard Stewart to be Ambassador to the Lao People’s Democratic Republic
  • Pamela Ann White to be Ambassador to the Republic of The Gambia
  • Kevin Concannon to be Member of the Board of Directors of the Commodity Credit Corporation
  • Kathleen Merrigan to be Member of the Board of Directors of the Commodity Credit Corporation
  • James Miller to be Member of the Board of Directors of the Commodity Credit Corporation
  • Dallas Tonsager to be Member of the Board of Directors of the Commodity Credit Corporation
  • Joseph H. Hogsett, of Indiana, to be United States Attorney for the Southern District of Indiana for the term of four years
  • Michael J. Moore, of Georgia, to be United States Attorney for the Middle District of Georgia for the term of four years
  • Beverly Joyce Harvard, of Georgia, to be United States Marshal for the Northern District of Georgia for the term of four years
  • James Edward Clark, of Kentucky, to be United States Marshal for the Western District of Kentucky for the term of four years
  • Kenneth James Runde, of Iowa, to be United States Marshal for the Northern District of Iowa for the term of four years
  • Michael Robert Bladel, of Iowa, to be United States Marshal for the Southern District of Iowa for the term of four years
  • Maria Elizabeth (Maribeth) Raffinan to serve as an Associate Justice of the Superior Court of the District of Columbia
  • David B. Buckley, of Virginia, to be Inspector General, Central Intelligence Agency
  • Michael C. Ormsby to be United States Attorney, Eastern District of Washington
  • Mark F. Green to be United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Oklahoma
  • Paul Charles Thielen to be United States Marshal for the District of South Dakota
  • Julie A. Reiskin, of Colorado, to be Member of the Board of Directors of the Legal Services Corporation for a term expiring July 13, 2010
  • Gloria Valencia-Weber, of New Mexico, to be a Member of the Board of Directors of the Legal Services Corporation for a term expiring July 13, 2011
  • Steve A. Linick, of Virginia, to be Inspector General of the Federal Housing Finance Agency (New Position)
  • Anne M. Harrington, of Virginia, to be Deputy Administrator for Defense Nuclear Nonproliferation, National Nuclear Security Administration
  • Raul Yzaguirre, of Maryland, to be Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to the Dominican Republic
  • Osvaldo Luis Gratacos Munet, of Puerto Rico, to be Inspector General, Export-Import Bank
  • Edward W. Brehm, of Minnesota, to be a Member of the Board of Directors of the African Development Foundation for a term expiring September 22, 2011
  • Johnnie Carson, an Assistant Secretary of State (African Affairs), to be a Member of the Board of Directors of the African Development Foundation for a term expiring September 27, 2015
  • Mimi E. Alemayehou, Executive Vice President of the Overseas Private Investment Corporation, to be a Member of the Board of Directors of the African Development Foundation for a term expiring September 22, 2015
  • Duane E. Woerth, of Nebraska, for the rank of Ambassador during his tenure of service as Representative of the United States of America on the Council of the International Civil Aviation Organization
  • Alexander A. Arvizu, of Virginia, a Career Member of the Senior Foreign Service, Class of Minister-Counselor, to be Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to the Republic of Albania
  • Joseph A. Mussomeli, of Virginia, a Career Member of the Senior Foreign Service, Class of Minister-Counselor, to be Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to the Republic of Slovenia
  • William C. Killian, of Tennessee, to be United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Tennessee for the term of four years
  • Robert E. O’Neill, of Florida, to be United States Attorney for the Middle District of Florida for the term of four years
  • Albert Najera, of California, to be United States Marshal for the Eastern District of California for the term of four years
  • < li>William Claud Sibert, of Missouri, to be United States Marshal for the Eastern District of Missouri for the term of four years

  • Myron Martin Sutton, of Indiana, to be United States Marshal for the Northern District of Indiana for the term of four years
  • David Mark Singer, of California, to be United States Marshal for the Central District of California for the term of four years
  • Jeffrey Thomas Holt, of Tennessee, to be United States Marshal for the Western District of Tennessee for the term of four years
  • Steven Clayton Stafford, of California, to be United States Marshal for the Southern District of California for the term of four years
  • Mary Minow, of California, to be a Member of the National Museum and Library Services Board for a term expiring December 6, 2014
  • Subra Suresh, of Massachusetts, to be Director of the National Science Foundation for a term of six years
  • Pamela Young-Holmes, of Wisconsin, to be a Member of the National Council on Disability for a term expiring September 17, 2013 (Reappointment)
  • Harry James Franklyn Korrell III, of Washington, to be a Member of the Board of Directors of the Legal Services Corporation for a term expiring July 13, 2011
  • Joseph Pius Pietrzyk, of Ohio, to be a Member of the Board of Directors of the Legal Services Corporation for a term expiring July 13, 2011
  • Julie A. Reiskin, of Colorado, to be a Member of the Board of Directors of the Legal Services Corporation for a term expiring July 13, 2013 (Reappointment)

    Josh Rogin is a former staff writer at Foreign Policy. Twitter: @joshrogin

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