One of the more curious aspects of Cookie Krongard's exploits as State Department inspector general is him going off to Iraq all by himself to investigate the alleged use of forced labor in the building of the new U.S. embassy in Baghdad: no investigative team and as it turned out not much of an investigation.

In response to a House subpoena, Krongard turned over an investigative file of a whopping 20 pages, six of which were Krongard's own work product -- sketchy handwritten notes from his interviews with the contractor's handpicked witnesses.

All of which gives Cookie's travelogue pictures from his trips abroad a bit of a comical gloss.