Iraq ambassador nominee withdraws

WASHINGTON -- President Obama's embattled nominee to be the next ambassador to Iraq withdrew his nomination Monday.

Brett McGurk, a former senior adviser on Iraq in both the George W. Bush and Obama administrations, informed the White House that he was withdrawing from consideration as the Senate Foreign Relations Committee was scheduled to vote on his nomination Tuesday.

McGurk faced stiff opposition from six GOP senators who questioned his qualifications and his judgment after e-mails from 2008 between him and a newspaper reporter surfaced on the Internet.

McGurk later married the reporter.

His wife, former Wall Street Journal Baghdad correspondent Gina Chon, was forced to resign after acknowledging to the newspaper that she had shared unpublished stories with McGurk and did not disclose her relationship after they became romantically involved.

"Iraq urgently needs an ambassador," McGurk wrote in his withdrawal letter to Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton. "The country is in the midst of a political crisis, and our mission is undergoing rapid transformation."

McGurk wrote that it was in the best interest of the country and for his family to withdraw from consideration.

"The most difficult part of this process, however, was watching my wife become a part of it," McGurk wrote. "She is the most precious thing in the world to me, and the depiction of our relationship has been both surreal and devastating."

National Security Council spokesman Tommy Vietor expressed regret at McGurk's withdrawal.

"We greatly appreciate Brett's years of service on behalf of the United States, to include tireless and effective leadership in Iraq from the height of the war to the moment our last troops left Iraq in December and through the challenging transition earlier this year," Vietor said. "He has proven himself to be a skilled diplomat willing to take on some of the toughest challenges at the toughest times in a difficult region. While we regret to see Brett withdraw his candidacy, there is no doubt that he will be called on again to serve the country."