Eric Edelman

Eric S. Edelman is the current Under Secretary of Defense for Policy, former U.S. Ambassador to Turkey (2003-2005), former U.S. Ambassador to Finland (1998-2001), and former Principal Deputy Assistant to the Vice President for National Security Affairs (2001-2003). A career Foreign Service Officer, Edelman entered the Senior Foreign Service in 1992.

Education

Edelman received a B.A. in History and Government from Cornell University in 1972, and a Ph.D. in U.S. Diplomatic History from Yale University in 1981.

U.S. Government service

Edelman was appointed to the position of Undersecretary of Defense for Policy on August 9, 2005, by recess appointment by George W. Bush, after his nomination was stalled in the Senate. "Democrats on the Senate Armed Services Committee led by Carl Levin of Michigan, their ranking member, stalled Edelman's nomination to force the release of documents related to a Office of Special Plans that Feith set up before the conflict." Edelman replaced Douglas Feith, who had resigned. The appointment, set to expire in January 2007 when a new Congress convened, was confirmed by the Senate on February 9, 2006. Edelman served as Turkish Ambassador after the second Iraq invasion, during which anti-American tensions within Turkey were high. According to Ibrahim Karagul, a columninst with the Turkish Weekly, "Edelman act(ed) more like a colonial governor than an ambassador... (He) is probably the least-liked and trusted American ambassador in Turkish history, and his reputation is not likely to recuperate."

• Principal Deputy Assistant to the Vice President for National Security Affairs (February 2001-July 2003) — a member of Dick Cheney's staff

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Profile

"Edelman is a career foreign service officer who served most recently as U.S. ambassador to Turkey. He was Vice President Dick Cheney's deputy national security officer from Feb. 2001 to June 2003 and ambassador to Finland for three years prior to that, according to the State Department. Edelman was an aide to Cheney when Cheney was secretary of defense under President George H.W. Bush.

"Edelman received his bachelor's degree from Cornell University in 1972 and a doctorate in diplomatic history from Yale University in 1981. He was born in Baltimore and raised in New York and now lives in Virginia with his and four children, according to congressional testimony."

Resources and articles

Related SourceWatch articles

• Bush administration
• Hillary Clinton: U.S. presidential election, 2008: See section On an Exit Strategy from Iraq.
• Recess appointments made by President George W. Bush

Profiles

• Eric Edelman, Right Web profile, accessed July 23, 2007.

External articles

• "Edelman: DoD IG Report on PreWar Intel 'Egregious'. Memo Demonstrates Pentagon Damage Control Efforts," IraqSlogger.com, February 15, 2007.
• Marcy Wheeler, "Oh, It Was Eric Edelman Lecturing Hillary??" The Next Hurrah Blog, July 19, 2007.
• Fred Kaplan, "The Pentagon Insults Hillary Clinton. Big mistake," Slate, July 20, 2007.
• Marcy Wheeler, "Edelman Says: 'Congressional Oversight Emboldens Our Enemies'," The Next Hurrah Blog, July 20, 2007.
• Juan Cole, "The Last Neocon Attacks Hillary," Informed Comment, July 21, 2007.
• Amanda Terkel, "Pres. Clinton: Edelman Is An ‘Ideological Holdover’ From Cheney’s Inner Circle," Think Progress, July 22, 2007.

• Biography - Eric S. Edelman, Under Secretary of Defense for Policy.  United States Department of Defense.  Retrieved 2007-01-06.

• Ambassador Eric Edelman.  Embassy of the United States, Ankara, Turkey.  Retrieved 2007-01-06.

• Policy in the Twenty First Century.  Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Public Policy.  Retrieved 2007-01-06.

• Profile:Eric S. Edelman.  Right Web. International Relations Center.  Retrieved 2007-01-06.