Ryan Crocker was a distinguished American diplomat who, in 2007, was named by President George W. Bush as American ambassador to Iraq. But earlier, shortly after the U.S. invasion in 2003, Crocker had been one of the first senior civilians posted to Iraq, where he was assigned by Coalition Provisional Authority director L. Paul Bremer III to work with the Iraqis in determining what their new form of government would look like. He describes here his early dealings with Iraqi politicians.