Given the number of investigations that will be necessary to uncover the incompetence, malfeasance and outright illegal activities of this administration, it's hard to say where hiring practices in Iraq will rank, but apparently Mr. Senor is doing some pro-active CYA.  He begins:

Chandrasekaran's thesis is that young and inexperienced neoconservative political hacks and Bush loyalists ran and ruined the occupation of Iraq.

Wrong.  Chandrasekaran's thesis was that:

...the opportunity to participate in the U.S.-led effort to reconstruct Iraq attracted all manner of Americans -- restless professionals, Arabic-speaking academics, development specialists and war-zone adventurers. But before they could go to Baghdad, they had to get past Jim O'Beirne's office in the Pentagon.

To pass muster with O'Beirne, a political appointee who screens prospective political appointees for Defense Department posts, applicants didn't need to be experts in the Middle East or in post-conflict reconstruction. What seemed most important was loyalty to the Bush administration.

Candidates were asked whether they had voted for Bush, whether they supported Bush's Iraq policy and even their view on Roe v. Wade. Chandrasekaran said:

The decision to send the loyal and the willing instead of the best and the brightest is now regarded by many people involved in the 3 1/2 -year effort to stabilize and rebuild Iraq as one of the Bush administration's gravest errors.

But Senor claims that:

In pinning the shortcomings of the reconstruction effort on the mishaps of a handful of low-level political appointees, he virtually ignores the fact that the senior tiers of the CPA were populated with a bipartisan and generally nonpolitical corps of experts.

Low-level appointees?  Consider:

A 24-year-old who had never worked in finance...was sent to reopen Baghdad's stock exchange.

...The daughter of a prominent neoconservative commentator and a recent graduate from an evangelical university for home-schooled children were tapped to manage Iraq's $13 billion budget, even though they didn't have a background in accounting.

...a 60-year-old social worker, was largely unknown among international health experts...was selected to oversee the rehabilitation of Iraq's health care system.

...to help rehabilitate Iraq's police forces...Bernie Kerik...He lacked postwar policing experience

But instead of addressing these issues, Senor chooses to talk about the "bipartisan and generally nonpolitical corps of experts" that he mentioned:

His book makes no mention, for example, of Richard Jones...A career diplomat, Jones had served as President Bill Clinton's ambassador to Lebanon and Kazakhstan...

True, he did.  But Senor fails to mention that Jones began his career with the State Department during the Reagan administration and that he is the current Ambassador to Israel, appointed by George W. Bush.  But for Senor, that he was Clinton's ambassador is the important point to make.

Nor does Chandrasekaran discuss Ryan Crocker...had served as ambassador to Syria and Kuwait under Clinton.

Of course, Senor doesn't mention that Crocker also began his career during the Reagan administration and that he was an Ambassador for George H.W. Bush.  No, he only mentions that he served under Clinton.

Chandrasekaran ignores countless other CPA leaders...He was succeeded by Vice Adm. Scott Redd, who served as director of strategic plans and policy for the Joint Chiefs of Staff under Clinton.

Funny that Senor chose to ignore that Vice Adm. Redd is also George W. Bush's Director of the National Counterterrorism Center and that before that he was George W. Bush's Executive Director for the Commission on the Intelligence Capabilities of the United States Regarding Weapons of Mass Destruction.  Obviously a Clinton-era hack.

But Chandrasekaran curiously omits any description of Oliver's background...had served as a principal deputy undersecretary of defense for Clinton

Actually, Oliver was the Principal Deputy Undersecretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics, but I suppose principal deputy undersecretary of defense sounds more important.  And besides having a Master of Arts in Political Science and International Affairs (Middle East), and military honors that include:

...the Defense and Navy Distinguished Service Medals, and the Legion of Merit with Silver Star...the Department of Defense's Distinguished Public Service Award with Bronze Palm, and the Secretary of the Navy's Distinguished Public Service Award, in addition to the U.S. Government's Exceptional Civilian Service Award.

But his service under Clinton is the important point here. And of course the CPA:

...included former Clinton senior defense official Walt Slocombe

Apparently it wasn't important to mention that Slocombe was also the Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Policy Planning and Director of the Department of Defense's SALT Task Force during the Reagan administration.

Senor mentions Clinton's name five times in the four paragraphs that followed his misrepresentation of Chandrasekaran's thesis.  And Senor never does bother to address the actual claims made by Mr. Chandrasekaran. But of course, that was never the point.  

And given Senor's habit of giving only selective biographical details, let me fill in the one that appears at the bottom of this op-ed:

The writer, who was based in Baghdad from April 2003 to June 2004, served as a senior adviser to the Coalition Provisional Authority

It doesn't mention that Dan Senor was employed by the White House:

...to coach and ghostwrite the speeches of Iraq's interim prime minister Iyad Allawi during his visit to the US, in an effort to enhance the Bush reelection campaign. At the same time, Senor appeared on cable news programs asserting that Allawi's positive remarks (vetted by him) supported the Bush Administration's rosy view of the Iraqi occupation.

Oh, and he's a regular on Fox News. And he worked for a Republican Senator.  And he was employed by the Carlyle Group. But he never served in the Clinton administration.

I love the smell of desperation in the morning...