Inside the Ring

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"The State Department bureaucracy is not equipped to handle the urgency of America's Iraq investment in blood and taxpayer funds," Mr. Miranda said. "You lack the 'fierce urgency of now.' "

Mr. Miranda's most stinging accusation is that the State Department is an "albatross around the neck of the coalition command."

The department "failed to assist coalition initiatives by delaying or failing to supply the civilian expertise needed in a thoughtful and timely manner and also delaying decisions on funding and staffing vital to GOI (and our) success," he said, using the acronym for the government of Iraq.

Also, the embassy has blocked the flow of information to the White House and other policy-makers, the State Department in Washington, and the commanding general in Baghdad, fearing leaks to the press.

Foreign service officers sent to Iraq have "ludicrously little experience" in managing programs and hundreds of millions of dollars in funds and other resources used to help the Iraqi government, he stated.

"It is apparent that, other than diplomacy, your only expertise is your own bureaucracy, which inherently makes State Department personnel unable to think outside the box or beyond the paths they have previously taken," he said.