2/18/14 Foreign Policy Illiterates
The world is complicated. So we should have a buttoned-up foreign policy. Unfortunately, we have unserious people in serious positions.
Ambassador James Dobbins, Assistant Defense Secretary Michael Dumont, and senior USAID official David Sampler — three Administration experts on Afghanistan policy — testified before Congress.
They couldn’€™t answer the two most basic questions: How much does the US spend in Afghanistan? And how many American casualties were there?
[Watch this exchange here (start at 1:35:30)]
America’€™s top diplomat in Europe, Assistant Secretary of State Victoria Nuland blurted out €”F*** the EU”€ angering European leaders. Did I say “€œdiplomat”€Â?
Ambassador-nominee George Tsunis –€“ a hotel operator who raised $989,000 for Obama –€“ testified at his confirmation hearing regarding Norway’s president. Norway doesn’€™t have a president. And he referred to the ruling government as “fringe elements” that “spew their hatred.”
Check out this Norwegian headline: Future US envoy displays total ignorance of Norway.”
[Watch some of Tsunis’€™ embarrassing performance here. More embarrassing confirmation behavior by Tsunis is also here.]
Colleen Bell babbled indecipherable nonsense in response to a question about U.S. strategic interests. Bell produced The Bold and the Beautiful soap opera. And raised $800,000 for Obama before he named her ambassador to Hungary.
Some may doubt if Noah Mamet, who consults on green technology companies and raised half a million dollars for Obama’€™s election, could even find Argentina on map. But he’€™s now our ambassador there.
[Consider an earlier Obama ambassadorial pick. Nicole Avant, who represented the U.S. in the Bahamas, was absent from her post 40% of the time she was ambassador, according to a State Department Inspector General report.]
[Campaign bundler Howard Gutman, who raised $500,000 for Obama, told the European Jewish Union that Israel was responsible for anti-semitism, while he was serving as U.S. Ambassador to Belgium.]
[Cynthia Stroum, who Obama appointed to serve as Ambassador to Luxembourg, left the post after a scathing IG report about her performance. Staffers at the sought-after European post lobbied for transfers to Iraq and Afghanistan rather than continue working for mercurial, political fundraiser who bundled $500,000 for Obama.]
[Senator Max Baucus (D-MT) resigned his Congressional office in order to become Obama’€™s ambassador to China –€“ a country often thought of as critical to U.., foreign policy. During his confirmation hearing Baucus announced, “I’€™m no real expert on China.”€Â]
Dysfunctional illiterates have embarrassed themselves. Now, they’™ll go abroad and embarrass our nation.
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