In the Loop: State Department


Posted at 08:00 AM ET, 05/14/2013

New State Department briefer on the podium
By Al Kamen
Former White House aide Jen Psaki tries levity with State Department reporters

By Al Kamen  |  08:00 AM ET, 05/14/2013 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Tags:  Psaki, State Department, spokeswoman, briefing, joke, Al Kamen, Emily Heil, In the Loop

Posted at 07:00 AM ET, 01/18/2013

Kerry, if confirmed as secretary of state, will have scores of top jobs to fill
By Al Kamen
Nearly 200 State Department jobs could be up for grabs.

By Al Kamen  |  07:00 AM ET, 01/18/2013 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Tags:  John Kerry, Obama, Senate, Hillary Clinton, State Department, David Wade, Bill Danvers, Frank Lowenstein, Tom Nides, Bill Burns, Al Kamen, Emily Heil, In the Loop, washingtonintransition

Posted at 01:53 PM ET, 01/16/2013

Budget season approaches, agency ‘fact sheets’ abound
By Al Kamen
Government agencies want you to know what they do.

By Al Kamen  |  01:53 PM ET, 01/16/2013 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Tags:  Foreign aid, budget, fact sheet, State Department, AID, Robert Gates, military bands, Al Kamen, Emily Heil, In the Loop

Posted at 05:01 PM ET, 12/13/2012

Still no truth in Pravda?
By Al Kamen
IN THE LOOP | Pravda editorial cracks up the State Department daily briefing.

By Al Kamen  |  05:01 PM ET, 12/13/2012 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Tags:  Pravda, State Department, Nuland, Lee, Al Kamen, Emily Heil, In the Loop

Posted at 07:00 AM ET, 12/07/2012

No more points for diplos in Yemen
By Ernesto Londoño
IN THE LOOP | Sheraton turns hotel over to State Department in unstable country.

By Ernesto Londoño  |  07:00 AM ET, 12/07/2012 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Tags:  Yemen, State Department, Sheraton, Starwood, Ali Abdullah Saleh, Westin, Sanaa, points, Ernesto Lodono, Al Kamen, Emily Heil, In the Loop

Posted at 05:55 PM ET, 11/27/2012

Andrew W.K.: ‘I would have done a great job’
By Al Kamen
IN THE LOOP| Rocker responds to the State Department’s cancellation of his Bahrain trip.

By Al Kamen  |  05:55 PM ET, 11/27/2012 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Tags:  Andrew W.K., Party til you puke, Bahrain, State Department, Al Kamen, Emily Heil, in the loop

Posted at 06:22 PM ET, 11/26/2012

Andrew W. K. as ambassador to Bahrain? Not likely
By Al Kamen
IN THE LOOP | State Department says it concluded “Party Til You Puke” just wouldn’t do.

By Al Kamen  |  06:22 PM ET, 11/26/2012 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Tags:  Bahrain, Andrew W.K, State Department, Victoria Nuland, Party Til You Puke, cultural ambassador, Al Kamen, Emily Heil, In the Loop

Posted at 12:14 PM ET, 11/13/2012

Kerry surprised by possible Pentagon offer
By Al Kamen
Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) had been eyeing secretaryship at state, not defense.

By Al Kamen  |  12:14 PM ET, 11/13/2012 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Tags:  John Kerry, Susan Rice, President Obama, State Department, secretary of state, Pentagon, secretary of defense, united nations, Elizabeth Warren, Scott Brown, Al Kamen, Emily Heil, In the loop

Posted at 12:13 PM ET, 10/16/2012

Henry Kissinger once called Brzezinski ‘a total whore’
By Al Kamen
The State Department Historian’s office publishes a series which, subject to security concerns, aims to give readers ”a comprehensive record of the major foreign policy decisions of the United States.”

By Al Kamen  |  12:13 PM ET, 10/16/2012 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Tags:  Henry Kissinger, Zbigniew Brzezinski, whore, State Department, Brent Scrowcroft, Shah of Iran, Gerald Ford, Ronald Reagan, Jimmy Carter, David rockefeller, Trilateral Commission, Bilderburg Group, Al Kamen, Emily Heil, In the Loop

Posted at 03:10 PM ET, 10/15/2012

State Department spokeswoman: paid to be dumb?
By Al Kamen
A jocular defense to media attacks on the administration’s shifting takes on the killings in Benghazi.

By Al Kamen  |  03:10 PM ET, 10/15/2012 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Tags:  State Department, Libya, Christopher Stevens, ambassador, killing, Obama, Victoria Nuland, Al Kamen, Emily Heil, In the Loop

Posted at 05:58 PM ET, 09/20/2012

State Department: Rosemary Woods redux?
By Al Kamen
Seems the transcript loses words sometimes.

By Al Kamen  |  05:58 PM ET, 09/20/2012 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Tags:  State Department, Victoria Nuland, schools, embassies, transcript, Rosemary Woods, Al Kamen, Emily Heil, In the Loop

Posted at 07:00 AM ET, 09/05/2012

State Department offers prizes for arms-control ideas
By Al Kamen
You can win $10,000 in prizes for coming up with ways for new technologies to catch cheaters and proliferators.

By Al Kamen  |  07:00 AM ET, 09/05/2012 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Tags:  State Department, arms control, challenge, Facebook, Twitter, Al Kamen, Emily Heil, In the Loop

Posted at 11:58 AM ET, 07/23/2012

Afghanistan: The troubled U.S. effort
By Al Kamen
“Little America,” a new book by Rajiv Chandrasekaran, reveals in detail the bureaucratic infighting and ineptitude that have plagued the U.S. campaign in Afghanistan

By Al Kamen  |  11:58 AM ET, 07/23/2012 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Tags:  Afghanistan, "Little America, Rajiv Chandrasekaran, Taliban, Imperial Life in Emerald City, State Department, Pentagon, Kabul, Iraq, Al Kamen, Emily Heil, In the Loop

Posted at 03:12 PM ET, 07/18/2012

Hillary Clinton’s miles: In the Loop gets one Pinocchio
By Al Kamen
Washington Post Fact Checker columnist finds fault in an item on Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton’s travels.

By Al Kamen  |  03:12 PM ET, 07/18/2012 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Tags:  Hillary Clinton, Condoleezza Rice, miles traveled, days, State Department, Al Kamen, Emily Heil, In the Loop

Posted at 02:22 PM ET, 06/18/2012

Colin Powell: ‘Not. . . hiding in a bunker.’
By Al Kamen

By Al Kamen  |  02:22 PM ET, 06/18/2012 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Tags:  Colin Powell, Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice, Hillary Clinton, "It worked for me", George Kennan, State Department, William Rogers, New York Times, Washington post, Al Kamen, Emily Heil, In the Loop

Posted at 08:00 AM ET, 04/25/2012

Foreign Service pets score big
By Al Kamen
United Airlines has told the State Department and the foreign service association that it will extend the military waiver for transporting pets overseas to Foreign Service pets as well.

By Al Kamen  |  08:00 AM ET, 04/25/2012 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Tags:  State Department, American Foreign Service Association, United Airlines, AFSA, pets, military pet travel, Gary Locke, China, Patrick Kennedy, Susan Johnson, Chris Van Hollen, Jim Moran, Gerry Connolly, Donna Edwards, Nita Lowey, Eleanor Holmes Norton, Al Kamen, In the Loop, Emily Heil

Posted at 12:52 PM ET, 04/13/2012

GSA scandals shows watchdogs needed
By Al Kamen
The recent scandals over wasteful GSA conferences in Vegas and other places highlights the need for independent inspectors general at all government agencies.

By Al Kamen  |  12:52 PM ET, 04/13/2012 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Tags:  GSA, GSA conferences, Inspector General, Christy Romero, TARP, SIGTARP, special inspector general, Project on Governt Oversight, State Department, Interior Department, Corporation for National and Community Service, Department of Labor, Charles Grassley, Al Kamen, Emily Heil, In the Loop

Posted at 01:27 PM ET, 04/04/2012

Muslim Brotherhood meets State Department officials? Maybe.
By Al Kamen
In Washington, sometimes simple questions seem to prompt elliptical answers

By Al Kamen  |  01:27 PM ET, 04/04/2012 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Tags:  Muslim Brotherhood, State Department, Pentagon, Marwan Muasher, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, William Burns, Robert Hormats, Jeffrey Feltman, Victoria Nuland, Al Kamen, Emily Heil, In the Loop

Posted at 05:00 PM ET, 03/29/2012

State Department fire caused by hackers?
By Al Kamen
The source of that fire last week at a State Department annex office housing the China team has not been determined, but word is a printer caught on fire.

By Al Kamen  |  05:00 PM ET, 03/29/2012 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Tags:  State Department, State Department fire, China, printers, hackers, Hewlett Packard, HP, IBTimes, printer fires, Al Kamen, Emily Heil, In the Loop, Columbia University, MSNBC, IBTimes, annex fire

Posted at 12:54 PM ET, 03/26/2012

Fire pushes State’s China team out of digs before Obama trip
By Al Kamen
A fire at a State Department building housing a number of bureaus and the China desk crimped operations just as Obama was planning to go to Asia.

By Al Kamen  |  12:54 PM ET, 03/26/2012 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Tags:  China, President Obama, Hu Jintao, State Department, Al Kamen, Emily Heil, In the Loop