Obama to Nominate Career Diplomat as Next Afghanistan Ambassador -- P. Michael McKinley, Currently Deputy Ambassador to Afghanistan, to Replace James Cunningham --- WASHINGTON—President Barack Obama announced Thursday that he will nominate P. Michael McKinley to be the next U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan. -- Mr. McKinley, a career U.S. diplomat, is currently the deputy ambassador to Afghanistan. He will replace the current ambassador, James Cunningham, according to the White House. Mr. McKinley was formerly the ambassador to Colombia and Peru. -- Afghanistan has been plagued by political crisis this summer, as rival presidential candidates Abdullah Abdullah and Ashraf Ghani remain locked in a standoff over the results of a June 14 runoff election to choose a successor to Afghan President Hamid Karzai. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry traveled to Kabul earlier this month to meet with Afghan leaders, including the presidential candidates and Mr. Karzai. -- Afghanistan's new president was originally supposed to take office on Aug. 2. The inauguration was postponed after Mr. Kerry brokered a deal in July between Messrs. Abdullah and Ghani to form a broad-based government that would include representatives of the losing side. Mr. Karzai has set an inauguration date for his unpicked successor for Sept. 2 --- Mr. Obama also announced his intent to nominate Nancy Bikoff Petit as U.S. ambassador to Latvia and Sheila Gwaltney as ambassador to Kyrgyzstan. Ms. Petit is currently the director of the State Department's office of Western European affairs. Ms. Gwaltney was most recently posted at the U.S. Embassy in Moscow. - More, WSJ, http://online.wsj.com/articles/obama-to-nominate-career-diplomat-as-next-afghanistan-ambassador-1409265777