Romney and Amb. Stevens

The father of Amb. Chris Stevens has asked that his son's death in Libya not be politicized in the presidential campaign, according to Bloomberg.  Romney and Ryan have latched on to Stevens' death like flies on honey, in an effort to make Obama responsible for it.  Romney is dancing on Stevens' grave because he thinks it will help him become President.  Stevens' death has been one of the best things that has happened for Romney in recent weeks. 

But it's unseemly.  Romney and the Republicans have no manners, no grace, no sympathy.  Romney's joy at Stevens' death is like his contempt for the 47% of the population he said were just worthless takers of government largess. 

The Republicans in general dislike the Foreign Service.  I think it's because in general Republicans don't like smart people, such as professors at good universities.  I had a professional run-in with Republican Senator Jesse Helms, when he tried to have HIV/AIDS declared a highly contagious disease for visa purposes, which would have meant that everyone with HIV/AIDS would have been denied a visa to the US.  My office in the State Department was responsible for international health policy.  The M.D. with whom I worked and I went to the doctors and scientists at HHS and other organizations to see if there was any scientific basis for that policy.  The scientific consensus was that there was not.  We got both assistant secretaries of State responsible for this policy, the Assistant Secretary for Consular Affairs and the Assistant Secretary for Oceans, Environment and Science to sign off on a reply to the proposed regulation saying that it was wrong, but it had to go through Secretary of State James Baker, via his Under Secretary Bob Zoellick.  Zoellick sat on the memo forever.  He was probably justified.  Baker would probably have recognized that the Helms' position was incorrect and should not have been made HIV/AIDS an automatic bar to entry into the US.  However, if he had confronted Helms, Helms would probably have cut the State Department budget by millions of dollars, and would have made life miserable in many ways.  So, Zoellick protected him from having to make that decision. 

In a similar story, the New York Times reported that the new senior envoy to Libya, Laurence Pope, retired from the Foreign Service in 2000 when Jesse Helms' office blocked his nomination to be Ambassador to Kuwait, because Pope would not espouse the Republican party line regarding our need to attack Saddam Hussein in Iraq. 

So, Romney and Ryan carry on the Republican tradition, epitomized by Jesse Helms, of hatred of the Foreign Service.  They may even relish making political hay out of the death of a patriotic Foreign Service officer who gave his life for his country.  Romney has no conception of what it is like to give one's life for his country.  He spent the Vietnam War on the French Riviera, and none of his five sons has served in the military, according to the Huffington Post. 

Follow-up Congressional Letter 2

Thank you for your letter.  I appreciate your support for continued American engagement in the Middle East. As the investigation into the attacks on American embassies continues, please keep in mind the importance of the State Department budget. I don’t know what factors influenced State’s decisions regarding security for its embassies and consulates, especially in Libya, but I would guess that budgetary considerations were near the top of the list. The fact the whole United States Government budget is unsettled, including State’s as part of that, has a terrible impact on the functioning of the government.

A major factor in my decision to retire from the Foreign Service years ago was the government shutdown under President Clinton and Speaker Gingrich. I ended up being stranded in transit between the US Embassy in Warsaw and the Embassy in Rome because of the shutdown. As a soldier in Vietnam, I had already had a bad experience with the US government failing to support its troops. I didn’t welcome it happening again as a Foreign Service officer. 

Once again, the US is failing to fully support its troops and its Foreign Service officers abroad. I saw on the news that Sen. Bennet is a member of an eight-member, bipartisan committee trying to resolve the current budget impasse in Congress. I hope that he and his colleagues will be able to work out some compromise to avoid the “fiscal cliff.” There are actually American lives at stake, both at home and overseas. There will be a lot of finger pointing over Ambassador Stevens’ death, and some of those fingers should point at Congress.

Follow-up Congressional Letter 1

Thank you for your letter regarding US foreign assistance.  I welcome your support for continued US engagement in the Middle East.  However, as a retired Foreign Service officer, I am more concerned with the State Department’s operations budget than the foreign assistance budget

I think that lack of funds or uncertainty about funds was a major consideration in State’s decision not to provide more security to the consulate in Benghazi, resulting in the death of Ambassador Stevens.  The whole mess with the US budget and the “fiscal cliff” was a major factor leading to his death.  In all the investigations into his death and all the finger pointing, some of those fingers should point at Congress

Cheers for Angela Merkel

While the US is deciding whether Obama or Romney would be the best American leader for the next four years, I'd like to give a shout-out to someone who has served their country well for years -- Angela Merkel of Germany.  Today Germany is the strongman of Europe.  Merkel is taking a lot of criticism for how she is handling the Euro crisis, including today as she visits Greece, according to the NYT.  On the other hand, she gets criticized at home for being too lenient in handing out German cash to the poor countries of Europe.  She has become one of the most important politicians on the world stage, eclipsing to some extent Obama, Cameron, Hollande, even Putin and the Chinese.  She has helped make Germany prosperous at home in difficult circumstances.  Germany probably been the most exemplary country showing that it is possible to have good wages and full employment in a globally competitive world.  Good for her.