U.S. Diplomats --- the pride and the problem
A top-of-the fold Page One story in today's WashTimes says that the DOS is having difficulty in recruiting diplomats for hardship assignments for dangerous places, i.e. the Middle East, Africa, South Asia.
My experience with American diplomats is mixed.
In the field, they have been shrewd, sharp, savvy --- and courageous.
In Moscow one day a Soviet general was in the background of a picture taken of my then-wife and I in a nightclub. We returned to our booth.
The general stormed over and demanded the camera. He said it was against the law to take take pictures of Soviet officers (maybe he was rockin' and rollin' with a women other than his wife.)
He vaulted across the booth table and grabbed the camera.
An American diplomat, Alan Coombs, jumped back at him and re-conquered the camera. Guts and glory.
My problem with DOS has been in DC.
They are super-cautious. The policy of detente probably delayed the end of the Cold War by a decade. They opposed Star Wars (SDI) --- it was wrong-headed but it scared the Soviets witless, and the Reds folded their hand not long after. They tried to stop PresReagan from calling the USSR an "Evil Empire" although they were both. It kept hope alive for multitudes who were locked up behind the Iron Curtain.
No curtain calls for them.
Ben
My experience with American diplomats is mixed.
In the field, they have been shrewd, sharp, savvy --- and courageous.
In Moscow one day a Soviet general was in the background of a picture taken of my then-wife and I in a nightclub. We returned to our booth.
The general stormed over and demanded the camera. He said it was against the law to take take pictures of Soviet officers (maybe he was rockin' and rollin' with a women other than his wife.)
He vaulted across the booth table and grabbed the camera.
An American diplomat, Alan Coombs, jumped back at him and re-conquered the camera. Guts and glory.
My problem with DOS has been in DC.
They are super-cautious. The policy of detente probably delayed the end of the Cold War by a decade. They opposed Star Wars (SDI) --- it was wrong-headed but it scared the Soviets witless, and the Reds folded their hand not long after. They tried to stop PresReagan from calling the USSR an "Evil Empire" although they were both. It kept hope alive for multitudes who were locked up behind the Iron Curtain.
No curtain calls for them.
Ben
posted by Ben Wattenberg at 8:41 AM
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