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Senators Question Nominees to Iraqi, Afghan Posts

A Senate panel holds a confirmation hearing for two key positions: the U.S. ambassadors to Iraq and to Afghanistan. President Bush picked career foreign service officers for the jobs: Ryan Crocker and William Wood. Senators heaped praise on the two Thursday, calling them eminently qualified diplomats.

Ryan Crocker has served twice in Baghdad before — 28 years ago when he met his wife, and then again in the summer of 2003, when he was trying to help put together an Iraqi government. Crocker is currently the U.S. ambassador to Pakistan; he and his wife plan to go back to Islamabad until he's confirmed by the Senate.

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Michele Kelemen has been with NPR for two decades, starting as NPR's Moscow bureau chief and now covering the State Department and Washington's diplomatic corps. Her reports can be heard on all NPR News programs, including Morning Edition and All Things Considered.