Dennis Ross’s expanded portfolio has Iraq 'concerned'...

LR at the Cable, here

"... The confusion has been matched inside the administration, where the decision is also being treated with a high degree of secrecy. Members of Ross's team at the State Department are being assured they will be taken care of, but it isn't clear if they will all be moved from State to the NSC as well. And of course, people at the NSC already working the Middle East and Iran portfolios have been perplexed at what the decision means for their turf too.

Now Iraq hands are concerned, as word from reports and multiple sources has it that Ross will take over the Iraq portfolio as well. What's going on?

The Cable has learned that deputy national security advisor Thomas Donilon, among others, is positioning Ross to assume an uber-senior NSC position overseeing Iran, Iraq, and the Middle East. The Iraq portfolio formerly assigned to holdover war czar Lt. Gen. Douglas Lute will be shifted to Ross, leaving Lute to focus on Afghanistan and Pakistan. Puneet Talwar, the NSC's senior director for the Persian Gulf, Iraq, and Iran, will report to Ross, as will Daniel Shapiro, the NSC's senior director for the Middle East and North Africa.

Under the new NSC structure, there will be no dedicated senior director for Iraq and there will be only two or three directors for Iraq, reporting to Talwar....

National security advisor Jim Jones is said to be sensitive to the concerns, while Donilon is said to be pushing for the move, along with NSC chief of staff and longtime close Obama foreign policy aide Mark Lippert. Lippert and Donilon didn't respond to queries. Other officials declined to speak on the matter. (Wait for the announcement before interpreting the Ross move, suggested one.)

Ross's team at State includes Iran expert Ray Takeyh, Special Assistant Ben Fishman, State Department Senior Policy Advisor Elisa Catalano, and State Department Senior Science Advisor Alex Deghan.

The other group said to be concerned by Ross's perceived takeover of Middle East turf is the team of Middle East Peace special envoy George Mitchell, who now has to contend not only with resistance from all quarters of the region, but also a rival power center in the NSC that hasn't tended to see Middle East peace issues the same way."