Former Iraq ambassador Ryan Crocker building home in Spokane Valley

Former Iraq ambassador settles in Spokane Valley

SPOKANE VALLEY, Wash. — Former U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Ryan Crocker says he’s enjoying a much quieter life in the Spokane Valley.

The career diplomat retired in January after spending two years overseeing the troop surge in Iraq. These days, he and his wife, Christine, are renting the modest Spokane Valley house his parents built in 1949. They have planted a garden and are planning to build their dream home.

In an interview with The Spokesman-Review, Crocker downplayed his role in helping to stabilize Iraq, saying he was lucky to be there working with good people. He adds that while Iraq is in a better situation now than when he arrived in 2007, “I’d be the last one to say we have won.”

Information from: The Spokesman-Review, www.spokesman.com