Here’s an op-ed in the NYT by a real FSO in Colorado, Amb. Christopher Hill, arguing the case for diplomacy to solve the Syrian civil war. I think it is worth a try. We should be having meetings with the… Read More »Try Diplomacy with Syria
I have had enough of the Republicans’ screaming about Benghazi. They are overjoyed that Amb. Stevens was killed, and they are dancing on his grave, making political capital with his death. They, of course, argue that it is the administration… Read More »Too Much Benghazi
Income inequality is putting more and more houses into the hands of the wealthy 1 or 2 percent, raising prices and making it more difficult for regular people to buy a house. Stories in the Washington Post and the New… Read More »Income Inequality Changes Housing Market
The op-ed in the Washington Post about the State Department’s Foreign Service losing ground even within the Department struck a nerve with me. One of the authors was Susan Johnson, whose parents I knew in Washington; her father was a… Read More »Foreign Service Losing Ground at State Department
Yesterday Colorado Congressman Doug Lamborn disclosed a previously classified Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) evaluation that North Korea could put a nuclear warhead on a missile, according to the New York Times. When I worked at the State Department, including in its… Read More »Fear of North Korea Overblown
Yesterday Colorado Congressman Doug Lamborn disclosed a previously classified Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) evaluation that North Korea could put a nuclear warhead on a missile, according to the New York Times. When I worked at the State Department, including in… Read More »Fear of North Korea Overblown
I had to report for jury duty on Monday for the first time in my life. When I lived in Virginia, lawyers were automatically exempted, at least for part of the time that I lived there, plus I was overseas… Read More »Jury Duty
I watched the Showtime movie “The World According to Dick Cheney,” but was disappointed at its failure to challenge Cheney’s views. My first objection was that it did not say anything about Cheney’s failure to serve in Vietnam. It talks… Read More »Cheney’s Military Service
The sequester episode brings to mind very bad memories of my government service. I basically quit the Foreign Service because of the government’s refusal to fund things I thought it should have funded in the turmoil around the government shutdown… Read More »Government Funding Deja Vu
Chuck Hegel was confirmed today as Defense Secretary according to the Wall Street Journal. The article cites Hegel’s positions on Israel and Iran as obstacles to his nomination. Iran is really a subset of the Israel issue, since Iran is… Read More »Hegel Confirmed