Debra Cagan's magical mystery tour of little-known European and Eurasian capitals

Coalition of the Reluctant


By ROGER COHEN
Published: October 15, 2007
A senior Pentagon official has spent this month on a magical mystery tour of little-known European and Eurasian capitals trying to deliver a dribble of troops for Iraq and Afghanistan.


The low-profile trip reads more like a geography test than a geostrategic foray. It has whisked Debra Cagan, the deputy assistant secretary of defense for coalition affairs, from Tirana to Skopje, and on to Chisinau and Astana, among other luminous world metropolises.

In Chisinau — you guessed it; that’s the capital of Moldova — Cagan asked for more sappers in Iraq. Moldova currently has 11 bomb-disposal experts there. Yes, 11.

In downtown Tirana, hub of a 20th-century exercise in Communist folly and now a place in need of American money, Cagan pressed the Albanians to go beyond their 120-strong contingent in Iraq. Albania is considering an additional 125 to 150 troops.

As for Cagan’s stops in the Macedonian capital of Skopje and Kazakhstan’s Astana, it’s unclear what transpired. Macedonia has 40 troops in Iraq; the Kazakhs have 27 military engineers. Other states visited included Ukraine, which may offer a little help in Iraq, and the Czech Republic, which has 100 troops in Iraq and got promises of military equipment.

Cagan declined to comment and a Pentagon spokeswoman, Lt. Col. Almarah Belk, said in an e-mail message: “It is premature to discuss the nature of her trip or any potential outcomes of her discussions with the various countries.”

It is not premature, however, to say the trip smacks of desperation. Keeping many flags flying in Iraq is critical to making talk of a “coalition” credible. The 168,000 U.S. troops already account for about 94 percent of the forces there. The largest other contributor, Britain, is to halve its presence to 2,500 next year.

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The United States is as isolated in Iraq as a great power can be. A first term spent riding roughshod over friends and vaunting “coalitions of the willing” over alliances has not been righted by a second term of diplomacy rehabilitation. Wounds linger.

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The note portrayed her as “John Bolton on steroids” with a tendency to be brusque with allies.

The Pentagon describes Cagan as a highly effective player in the securing of basing rights in Central Asia for the war on terror and a well-connected builder of international coalitions.

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But at a Sept. 11 meeting in Washington with six visiting British parliamentarians, Cagan caused alarm similar to that expressed in Brussels a week later. The M.P.’s were briefed on the difficulty of dialogue with Tehran and U.S. concern that a British troop withdrawal from southern Iraq could benefit Iran.

At one point, according to a British press report, Cagan expressed hatred toward Iranians, prompting a formal call for her resignation from the National Iranian American Council, which represents about one million Iranian-Americans.

The Pentagon denied the remark. Alasdair McDonnell, a Social Democratic and Labor M.P. who was present, told me: “I won’t confirm or deny she said that. She might nuke me in the middle of the night. She’s not somebody I’d want to tangle with.”

send in Ann Coulter! Why should she just be an American Right Wing Hate Personality when she can spread her message around the world.

Behold the Coalition of the Stingy :rofl:

Must've missed the Goethe part of her schule, ja?