to assure her that her concerns were being addressed, the State Department official said." A spokesman for the National Security Council said the incident was not the reason Blackwill abruptly quit his job. "Ambassador Blackwill has served the country with great distinction, including intense and dangerous situations in Iraq", the NSC spokesman said. "The president and Dr. Rice hold Ambassador Blackwill in the highest regard, and the decision to leave was Ambassador Blackwill's own." Lobbyist In November 2004, Blackwill joined the lobbying firm Barbour Griffith & Rogers (BGR). On October 29, 2007, the New York Times disclosed that lobbying disclosure reports at the Justice Department show that Mr. Blackwill helped bring in more than $11 million in fees from foreign clients since late 2005. Lobbying for India On January 5, 2005, the Telegraph of India reported that Blackwill was traveling to India on a trip linked to India's $600,000-a-year contract with the Washington lobbying firm, Akin, Gump, Strauss, Hauer & Feld that had expired in April 2004. On March 23, 2005, the Deccan Herald reported that Blackwill had spoken to the Confederation of Indian Industry in Bangalore saying that the US should enter into a long-term program of space co-operation with India, and lift restrictions on the assistance given to civilian nuclear industry and hi-tech trade. "We should sell India civil nuclear reactors, both to reduce its demand for Persian Gulf energy and to ease the environmental impact of India's vibrant economic growth." On August 31, 2005, the Daily Times of Pakistan reported that Barbour, Griffith, and Rogers had won a contract to help get an Indo-US nuclear deal through Congress. On December 27, 2007, the Daily Times of Pakistan published a story saying that Blackwill was on the payroll of Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman providing lobbying services for them for large defense contracts from the Indian government. Lockheed Martin was going after a $10 billion contract from the Indian Air Force, for the provision of 126 fighters while Northrop Grumman was trying to acquire contracts for selling high-end radars to India. "The government has no business appointing an agent of American arms companies as their own agent, especially when those companies are vying for Indian contracts," said Indian attorney Prashant Bhushan. On April 20, 2008, The Times of India reported that Blackwill said that the next US President may not push the nuclear deal with India because he