IRAQ: Mr John Negroponte, the current US ambassador to the United Nations, was nominated yesterday by President Bush as the first US ambassador to Iraq since 1991.
Mr Negroponte (64) will head up the American presence in Iraq, which will still include 130,000 US troops, after US administrator Mr Paul Bremer hands over sovereignty to a caretaker Iraqi government on June 30th.
He will operate with a staff of 3,000 at the head of what will be the world's biggest US embassy, housed in a palace that belonged to Saddam Hussein.
Announcing the nomination in the Oval Office, Mr Bush said that Mr Negroponte "has done a really good job of speaking for the United States to the world about our intentions to spread freedom and peace."
Mr Bush refused to take questions from reporters after the brief ceremony, which was also attended by US Secretary of State Mr Colin Powell.
A new book by Bob Woodward claims that Mr Powell was frozen out of White House decision-making on Iraq and is not on speaking terms with Vice-President Dick Cheney who Mr Powell believed had a "fever" to topple Saddam Hussein.
The book, Plan of Attack, also alleges that Saudi Arabia's ambassador to the US promised Mr Bush the Saudis would reduce oil prices before November's election to help the US economy.
Based on interviews with Mr Bush and senior officials, Mr Woodward also claimed that on January 11th 2003 the ambassador, Prince Bandar bin Sultan, was told of plans to invade Iraq and make Saddam Hussein "toast" by Mr Cheney, two days before Mr Powell knew.
Mr Negroponte has been ambassador to the UN since 2001, giving him a close knowledge of UN personnel and operations at a time when the US is having to turn again to the UN to play a leading role in Iraq's future.
Mr Negroponte, who is fluent in French, Greek, Vietnamese and Spanish, is "one of the best American diplomats I have ever encountered and is highly regarded in the administration at all levels," said Ireland's Permanent Representative to the UN, Mr Richard Ryan.
Questions about his record on human rights as US ambassador to Honduras from 1981 to 1985 are not expected to delay his Senate confirmation as happened in 2001, said Ms Nancy Soderberg, former Clinton-era ambassador to the UN.
"9/11 killed those issues totally," she said, and his exceptional qualifications sent an important signal about the emphasis on diplomacy.
As ambassador to Honduras Mr Negroponte strengthened the military dictatorship of Gen Gustavo Alvarez at a time when scores of political opponents were disappearing.
He has since said he did not believe death squads operated in Honduras during his time as US ambassador.
Later yesterday Mr Bush said "I have no doubt in my mind that with the Almighty's blessing and hard work we'll succeed in our mission" in Iraq, and they would defeat "these people who have no soul, who have no conscience".
Speaking at an event in Pennsylvania, he asserted that the insurgency in Iraq "will fail because the will of our coalition is strong."
He acknowledged it was "tough work" as they faced the supporters of an outlawed cleric, embittered remnants of the Saddam Hussein regime and foreign terrorists who were "trying to prevent the rise of a free government in the heart of the Middle East."
Terrorists, he said, "will never shake the will of the United States of America".