A GRACEFUL WAY TO GET OUR SUNNI OUT OF BAGHDAD:

Votes in Doubt, Bolton Resigns as Ambassador (HELENE COOPER, 12/05/06, NY Times)

Despite the president’s strong words, administration officials had largely given up on Mr. Bolton’s confirmation last month, after Sen. Lincoln Chafee, a Rhode Island Republican and a member of the Foreign Relations Committee, said he would not support it.

It was not immediately clear who would replace Mr. Bolton. The leading candidate appeared to be the American ambassador to Iraq, Zalmay Khalilzad, who has told colleagues he is ready to leave Baghdad. Others said to be in the running are Richard S. Williamson, former ambassador to the United Nations Commission on Human Rights, Sen. Mike DeWine, the Ohio Republican who lost his re-election bid, and R. Nicholas Burns, the undersecretary of state for political affairs.