I was at an awards banquet this weekend where a former Ambassador was honored. He had worked under both Carter and Reagan - in other words, he was a State Dept careerist. The last line of introduction for him was this: "... and he still believes that ANY antagonistic situation can ALWAYS be worked out by talking." Can you believe that someone could say that after September 11th?
Also, about two years ago, I met with a mid-level State Dept guy in the Near East division. As we walked the halls of State to his office, I said to him, "So, I guess it is hard to change policy direction when a new administration takes over" and he said, "Oh, no, we do our best NOT to change policy just because an administration changes." I just kinda looked at him with a mixture of scorn and utter shock.
It's amazing how infested State is with Leftists who are just plain damned clueless.
This tells me once again that I have been clueless too much of my life. Thanks to Cronkite, Rather, etc, too many Americans like myself have been spoonfed. Just a year ago I began to think the State Dept was out of control. Now I have info such as this thread offers to consider.
I would suggest watching the BBC show Yes Minister and Yes Prime Minister. As well as being Maggie Thatchers favorite shows, they illustrate very well how the bureaucracy interacts with the elected Government. One of the key themes, is that the bureaucracy NEVER changes.
The bureaucracy forces conservative Presidents to appear liberal and liberal ones to appear conservative.
Oh, it isn't cluelessness. It's out and out treason. That kind of person has infested the State Department for much longer than you might think. They have an agenda, and it isn't the best interests of the American people which they (supposedly) serve.
The person you spoke to at the State Department was being more candid with you than they usually are with an "outsider", and that surprises me somewhat. These folks are the ideological heirs of Alger Hiss, and Harry Dexter White, agents of powers inimicable to the United states, and her people...
the infowarrior