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WASHINGTON -- A former Marine who fought in Iraq, joined the State Department after leaving the military and was a diplomat in a Taliban stronghold in Afghanistan has become the first U.S. official to resign in protest of the Afghan war, the Washington Post reported early Tuesday. Matthew Hoh, who describes himself as "not some peacenik, pot-smoking hippie who wants everyone to be in love," said he believes the war is simply fueling the insurgency. "I have lost understanding of and confidence in the strategic purposes of the United States' presence in Afghanistan," Hoh wrote in his resignation letter, dated...

QUESTION: Thank you. On Honduras, again? MR. KELLY: Uh-huh. QUESTION: Dialogue is again broken. I know the U.S. supports an electoral solution for that, but positions seems to be divided because the rest of the countries – I mean, the rest of the international community is not really very clear if they are going to recognize the results of this election. So where do we stand? MR. KELLY: Yeah. Well, I’m glad you asked. It is – I don’t know if I would characterize the situation as the talks have broken off, because the latest we heard this morning is...

The State Department speaks out on the Nobel Peace Prize and slams President Bush in the process. "From our standpoint, you know, we think that this gives us a sense of momentum … when the United States has accolades tossed its way, rather than shoes," State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley told reporters on Friday. It's good to know we have people in the State Department that condone that type of conduct toward a President. Someone should tell him that the State Department represents the United States and as an employee his job is to promote and protect our interests. An...

QUESTION: Can we go to Honduras or -- MR. KELLY: Honduras, sure. QUESTION: It seems by the reports that the Organizational States presence there is not getting any results by the moment. I don’t know if you have more updates. And also -- MR. KELLY: Well -- QUESTION: -- it seems, I don’t know, to me – and also I was reading some reports in so many countries of Latin America that the – it’s surprising that you have there in that meeting the secretary of the hemisphere – acting secretary of the hemisphere Thomas Shannon? MR. KELLY: Assistant Secretary....

I've got to say, even for the Obama administration, this is a real shocker. The Clinton State Department has decided to cut off all funding for the Iran Human Rights Documentation Center (IHRDC), which was compiling lists of protestors imprisoned in this summer's unrest, as well as those who were killed in the crackdown. IHRDC is what human-rights advocates should be: methodical, precise, and apolitical in their work. And yet, the Obama administration has, without explanation, cut off all federal funding to the group which has consistently fulfilled its mandate. Anyone, across the political spectrum who has any interest in...

An important Boston Globe story by Farah Stockman on the State Department's defunding of the Iran Human Rights Documentation Center (IHRDC) has been noted at Hot Air, the Corner, and Instapundit.

TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras — Four U.S. Republican lawmakers met with Honduras' interim president on Friday in a challenge to Washington's condemnation of the coup that brought him to power. The brief, amicable visit with the leaders of the coup that ousted President Manuel Zelaya highlights a divide in Washington, where the Obama administration is working to reinstate Zelaya but many conservatives side with the government installed after soldiers arrested the president in his pajamas and flew him into exile. South Carolina Sen. Jim DeMint, the leader of the delegation, said before the trip that even calling Zelaya's overthrow a coup is...

The Law Library of the Congress of the United States has issued an opinion on the removal of Manuel Zelaya as president of Honduras. The conclusion: Zelaya’s removal was legal but his deportation from the country was not. Here is the summary: The Supreme Court of Honduras has constitutional and statutory authority to hear cases against the President of the Republic and many other high officers of the State, to adjudicate and enforce judgments, and to request the assistance of the public forces to enforce its rulings. The Constitution no longer authorizes impeachment, but gives Congress the power to disapprove...

WASHINGTON — The United States pledged Tuesday to do whatever it can to help Brazil's embassy in Honduras, which was surrounded by soldiers and had its lights, water and phone lines cut off after deposed President Manuel Zelaya took refuge there. "Our embassy in Tegucigalpa is in contact with their counterparts in the Brazilian embassy in Tegucigalpa and we're discussing what kind of assistance that we can provide to help them during this crisis," said State Department spokesman Ian Kelly. "It's a very sensitive situation there on the ground, and I don't want to get into the details of what...

TEGUCIGALPA - Ousted Honduran President Manuel Zelaya has taken refuge inside the Brazilian embassy in the Honduran capital of Tegucigalpa, Telesur television network reported Monday. Zelaya had announced Monday he returned to Honduras almost three months after he was toppled in a coup, despite warnings he would be arrested. The U.S. State Department confirmed that Zelaya, an ally of Venezuela's socialist President Hugo Chavez, was back in Honduras but the Central American country's de facto ruler denied Zelaya had returned. "I am here in Tegucigalpa. I am here for the restoration of democracy, to call for dialogue." Zelaya told Honduras'...

In 1981, Pakistan was on the U.S. State Department's "no travel" list and Obama could not have used a US passport to travel to Pakistan. If he used a British passport, it would mean that he was born in Kenya. Because Obama’s stepfather that adopted him was Indonesian and both his mother and him became Indonesian citizens themselves, a country that did not allow dual citizenships, if he used an Indonesian passport, it would raise even more questions that the American people need answers to. Then there is the question of forgery. Watch these videos and form you own opinion....

Americas: The U.S. hit Honduras with harsh new sanctions last Thursday, slashing $30 million in aid. Nothing new, but the timing's strange, given that the rest of the world is starting to normalize ties with the tiny state.The June 28 ouster of Honduran President Mel Zelaya is rapidly shaping up as a never-ending crisis for the Obama administration. The more it tries to punish Honduras for getting rid of its would-be dictator, the more the freedom-loving Hondurans dig in to keep their democracy. That isn't going to be good for us in the long run. Back in June, Zelaya launched...

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton moved to terminate aid to Honduras today in response to a June 28 coup that deposed its elected President Jose Manuel Zelaya. The U.S. also decided to revoke visas for officials in the de facto government and supporters of Zelaya's overthrow. "Today's, you know, action sends a clear message to the de facto regime that the status quo is unacceptable and that their strategy, to try to run out the clock on President Zelaya's term of office, you know, is unacceptable. And the time has come for all the parties to sign the San Jose...

A senior U.S. State Department official says ousted Honduran President Manuel Zelaya will meet in Washington Tuesday with members of the Organization of American States. snip The State Department says the Obama administration still intends to make a formal determination that Mr. Zelaya's overthrow was a coup. Such action means that a suspension of most U.S. aid to the Central American country would become permanent. The determination was to have been made last week. The official said talks with the two sides in the dispute is a factor in the delay. The official said this is an inter-agency decision "that...

QUESTION: Is Manuel Zelaya meeting anyone here today or tomorrow? He’s in town for his talk on Wednesday. MR. KELLY: Not today – not today or tomorrow. I understand that he is here. He’s going to have meetings at the OAS tomorrow, and I’d obviously refer you to them about who he plans to meet with. And no decisions have been made about who from the U.S. side will meet with him. QUESTION: Any decisions on whether Secretary Clinton is going to sign the declaration of the -- MR. KELLY: We do not have a decision on that yet. QUESTION:...

Law: President Obama's nominee for State Department legal adviser could be a future Supreme Court pick. He believes U.S. law should be based on foreign precedent, and even Shariah law could find a home here.We have commented many times on the opinion of a number of U.S. Supreme Court justices that American jurists should include foreign law and precedent in their decisions. In several prominent cases, this has already happened. In a speech in South Africa, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg called the March 2005 Roper v. Simmons decision, in which a 5-4 majority ruled against executing murderers who were 17...

WASHINGTON, Aug 27 (Reuters) - U.S. State Department staff have recommended that the ouster of Honduran President Manuel Zelaya be declared a "military coup," a U.S. official said on Thursday, a step that could cut off as much as $150 million in U.S. funding to the impoverished Central American nation. The official, who spoke on condition he not be named, said State Department staff had made such a recommendation to U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who has yet to make a decision on the matter although one was likely soon. Washington has already suspended about $18 million aid to...

First, I want to make a quick statement that we will also issue. The Department of State is currently reviewing the diplomatic visas or A visas of individuals who are members of the de facto regime in Honduras, as well as the derivative visas for family members of these individuals. We have already revoked diplomatic visas issued to four such individuals. These individuals received their diplomatic visas in connection with positions held prior to June 28th under the Zelaya Administration, but who now serve the de facto regime. And with that – well, I’ll just also there is a press...

Associated Press - July 21, 2009 4:15 PM ET OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) - U.S. Sen. Jim Inhofe has been appointed to the Senate's Foreign Relations Committee.

Michelletti says he will not renounce the presidency; Zelaya return not possible. Surrounded by countries ruled by communist strongmen supported by the Obama administration, Honduras is bravely struggling to maintain its constitutional sovereignty. On Sunday (July 19), Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called Honduran President, Roberto Micheletti from New Delhi, to strongly encourage the president to permit ousted Honduran president Manuel Zelaya to return to power. She warned him that the “consequences” would be that the relationship between Honduras and the United States could suffer, if he did not relent and allow Zelaya to return.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is looking to raise her profile this week with a major foreign-policy speech -- too bad she can't raise her right arm.

QUESTION: In Costa Rica, Zelaya, I think that he’s already there for the process. I don’t know if Micheletti is going to participate or not. I don’t know if he confirmed yet. And I want to know if the U.S. is in some way monitoring this process with Oscar Arias. MR. KELLY: Yeah. QUESTION: If you were getting any updates. MR. KELLY: Yeah. QUESTION: Or this process will continue. MR. KELLY: Yes, I do have an update. We understand that the mediation talks were supposed to have started about 20 minutes ago. I understand that President Zelaya is already there....

Leaders of the government that ousted Honduran President Manuel Zelaya in a coup arrived in Costa Rica Thursday for talks aimed at resolving the crisis, but with both sides questioning the other's claim to the presidency, there seemed to be very little common ground. Costa Rican President Oscar Arias, a Nobel Peace Prize winner, is mediating negotiations between Zelaya and interim leader Roberto Micheletti at the request of U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton — a move some consider to be the Obama administration's first big test in Latin America....

Venezuela had a military force to protect Manuel Zelaya Operation "swarm of bees, led by Hugo Chávez coup, ruled by the military and political decisions taken in the country. Sought a "bloodbath" 08.07.09 - Updated: 08.07.09 09:36 pm - Writing: redaccion@laprensa.hn Honduras On Sunday, July 5 ran an unprecedented military operation planned and organized from Caracas by Chavez, Ortega and Castro. This was said yesterday the lawyer and expert on political and security issues, Mario Berrios, who argues that the "swarm of bees" failed because of the decisions taken by the government and military forces to take control of the...

Diplomacy: Outsourcing U.S. foreign policy to the OAS may sound good, but the reality remains that all nations, including ours, have interests. That may be why the U.S. is now shifting to a more workable stance on Honduras.Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Tuesday announced a realistic plan to resolve the Honduras crisis by forging a deal with Costa Rican President Oscar Arias to mediate a solution to the issue of who rules the Central American country. Acting after meeting with ousted President Mel Zelaya, who was thrown out June 28 in a constitutional process, her initiative shows just how...

Interesting afternoon. I'll report and you decide and none of this came from Fox news As promised, EXpresident Zelaya tried to return to Honduras. 3k to 400k supporters of Z tried to take the airport. 3k reported by people on the ground, 400k by leftist newspapers and radio. Many calls by Z for the military to rise up and open the airport, calls for the leftist thugs to overrun the airport. Z's plane was redirected to El Salvador and may have diverted to Managua for fuel issues (yeah riiight). 1-3 dead on the ground, several injured. Reports of troops gathering...

Hunting spies is difficult, but Cuban spies are notoriously hard to detect, former senior intelligence officials said a day after an American husband and wife were indicted on charges of spying for Cuba. Walter Kendall Myers and his wife Gwendolyn of Washington were arrested Thursday after a three-year investigation that began before Myers' retirement from the State Department in 2007. They had been spying for Havana for 30 years, according to the U.S. government. Investigations like this typically take years to come together because they usually turn on small pieces of information, and Cuban spies often leave few traces. Cuban...

WASHINGTON — The Justice Department charged Friday that a former State Department analyst and his wife worked as spies for Cuba for nearly 30 years, using a short-wave radio to pass secret diplomatic information to their Cuban handlers. Officials said the couple, Walter Kendall Myers, 72, and Gwendolyn S. Myers, 71, received little in the way of compensation from the Cubans except for the short-wave radio and some travel expenses. Rather, the officials said, the couple appears to have been driven by their strong affinity for Cuba and their bitterness toward “American imperialism.” “We think they did it because they...

Note: The following text is a quote: Former State Department Official and Wife Arrested for Serving as Illegal Agents of Cuba for Nearly 30 Years Couple Allegedly Conspired to Provide Classified Information to Cuban Government A former State Department official and his wife have been arrested on charges of serving as illegal agents of the Cuban government for nearly 30 years and conspiring to provide classified U.S. information to the Cuban government. The arrests were announced today by David Kris, Assistant Attorney General for National Security; Channing D. Phillips, Acting U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia; Joseph Persichini, Jr.,...

A 72-year-old former State Department employee and his 71-year-old wife have been arrested and charged with illegally aiding the government of Cuba for nearly 30 years, the Department of Justice announced Friday. Walter Kendall Myers retired from the State Department in October 2007. Walter Kendall Myers and his wife, Gwendolyn Myers, were charged with conspiracy to act as illegal agents of the Cuban government, providing classified information to that government, and wire fraud, according to court documents unsealed in Washington. The couple appeared briefly Friday before a federal magistrate in Washington, who ordered them held without bail pending a detention...

The United States is "gravely concerned" by North Korea's claim that it had conducted a new underground nuclear test...

The first country to recognize the State of Israel was the United States. That recognition almost didn't happen. It was by the will of the President, Harry Truman, that the UN Partition Plan was implemented. Throughout the months leading up to May 1948, the president made his wishes clear, he wanted a Homeland for the Jewish People, not because of political reasons, but because it was the right and moral thing to do. The Secretary of State who Truman called the greatest living American, was just as opposed to the creation of the nascent Jewish state as the president supported...

WASHINGTON -- It is said that there are two kinds of lawyers: those who know the law and those who know the judge. And then there is Harold Koh, the man who is likely to be the next legal adviser to the State Department. Koh most recently served as dean of the Yale Law School and before that as assistant secretary of state for democracy, human rights and labor in the Clinton administration. He is a prolific author and a legal activist of the left. Earlier this week, his nomination to be Foggy Bottom's barrister was approved by the Senate...

When Iranian government official Ahmad Samavati arrived in Washington, D.C., in February at the head of a five-man negotiating team, he thought he had an offer the Obama administration couldn’t refuse. The Iranian regime was going to turn over scores of top al-Qaida operatives, including some on the FBI’s “Most Wanted Terrorists” list. To Samavati’s surprise, the State Department officials he met declined the offer. “They told him they did not want any al-Qaida people. They told him they didn’t want them in the United States,” an Iranian source familiar with the negotiations told Newsmax.

JUDGES should interpret the Constitution according to other nations' legal "norms." Sharia law could apply to disputes in US courts. The United States constitutes an "axis of disobedience" along with North Korea and Saddam-era Iraq. Those are the views of the man on track to become one of the US government's top lawyers: Harold Koh.

As promised, here is a photo summary of Secretary Clinton's visit so far to Mexico:

Christopher Hill, the president's nominee for ambassador to Iraq, is a disconcerting choice to head America's largest embassy, located in the most dangerous region in the world. Hill is a neophyte in dealing with the complexities of Middle East politics and Islamic terrorism. The Baghdad assignment is no post for on-the-job training. Furthermore, as the current assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs, he presided over negotiations with North Korea that deliberately minimized focus on the bleak human rights record of that country, ignored its nuclear proliferation, and had the practical effect of affirming its nuclear weapons...

Yesterday, with teleprompter at the ready, our illustrious leader spoke (I should say read) a special message to the people of Iran, espousing his understanding of their culture and promising a renewed compassion by the American people. While the basis of the message was similar to the stance by the Bush administration, perhaps it was the delivery of the same that appeared to make him (not us) look so very weak. In light of his visible participation in many leisure activities, one can only imagine how seriously Iran -- or any other foreign nation takes us. I can picture snickers...

A congressional investigation has exposed gaping holes in security eight years after the September 11 terrorist attacks, a government report says. An investigator used a false identification to obtain a U.S. passport and then used the passport to get an airline boarding pass and go through an airport security checkpoint, according to the Government Accountability Office. The GAO, the investigative arm of Congress, said its undercover investigator conducted four tests of the passport issuance system and "easily" obtained passports every time. Individuals with "even minimal counterfeiting capabilities" can obtain genuine U.S. passports, which can be used to travel overseas, open...

Note: The following text is a quote: https://www.osac.gov/Reports/report.cfm?contentID=96569 YOU ARE HERE: Home > Reports > Consular Affairs Bulletins > Report Travel Warning: Philippines CONSULAR AFFAIRS BULLETINS East Asia / Pacific - Philippines 28 Jan 2009 Printer Friendly Email Article RELATED REPORTS 10 Aug 2008 WARDEN MESSAGE: MINDANAO (PHILIPPINES) URGES EXTREME CAUTION 4 Aug 2008 CONTINUED EXTORTION-RELATED VIOLENCE IN SOUTHERN PHILIPPINES The U.S. Department of State issued the following Travel Warning on January 27: The State Department warns U.S. citizens of the risks of travel to the southern Philippine islands of Mindanao and the Sulu Archipelago and urges extreme caution if...

Crowd tries to attack US Consulate in Karachi Sunday, 11 Jan, 2009 | 08:13 PM PST | KARACHI: Police say a crowd tried to attack the US Consulate building in Karachi during an anti-Israel protest, but security forces managed to repel them. Police say they fired tear gas shells and baton charged the crowd, forcing it to disperse. Pakistan has witnessed several protests against Israel due to its strikes on the Gaza Strip. Police official Ameer Sheikh says that during Sunday's protest, hundreds began marching toward the consulate. He says some were carrying bricks and sticks. Roads to the consulate...

<p>WASHINGTON – Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice accused the militant Hamas organization of holding the people of Gaza hostage Friday and said the United States continues to seek a "durable and sustainable" cease-fire.</p> <p>Speaking to reporters in the White House driveway after a meeting with President George W. Bush, Rice also said that the United States remains "very concerned about the situation there and is working very hard with our partners around the world."</p>

- Former administration underlings depict President Bush as a "Sarah Palin-like" leader with a short attention span who deferred on big decisions. Larry Wilkerson, a top aide to former Secretary of State Colin Powell, said Vice President Cheney and then-Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld promoted the notion they were a national security "dream team" to guide the foreign-policy amateur Bush. "It allowed everybody to believe that this Sarah Palin-like President - because, let's face it, that's what he was - was going to be protected by this national security elite, tested in the cauldrons of fire," said Wilkerson. Wilkerson, who is...

Note: The following text is a quote: http://www.travel.state.gov/travel/cis_pa_tw/pa/pa_4398.html Travel Alert U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE Bureau of Consular Affairs This information is current as of today, Thu Dec 25 2008 00:39:54 GMT-0800 (PST). India December 24, 2008 The Department of State warns U.S. citizens that there is a high threat of terrorism throughout India, and advises U.S. citizens traveling to or already in India to maintain a high level of vigilance and to take appropriate steps to increase their security awareness, especially during the end-of-year holidays until India’s Republic Day, January 26. This Travel Alert expires on January 31, 2009 and...

The first sign of cracks in President-elect Barack Obama's foreign policy team of rivals emerged on Monday as his choices for secretary of state and U.S. ambassador to the United Nations visited the State Department. As Secretary of State-pick Hillary Rodham Clinton and U.N. envoy-choice Susan Rice separately visited the diplomatic agency's headquarters in Washington's Foggy Bottom neighborhood, persons familiar with the transition said that Rice wants to install her own transition team inside the department. Such a move by an incoming U.N. ambassador is rare, if not unprecedented, because the job is based at the United Nations in New...

Once again, I find myself watching Fox News Sunday on Sunday morning. And once again, I am sad to see the departure of the Bush administration. I’m a fan of a couple of sports, tennis being one of them. My friends and I would watch a tournament on TV and then we would get that itch to play. So we would set a date for the weekend and keep watching the tourney on TV. There I sat, on the couch, watching Leyton Hewitt or Andre Agassi wail on these balls, sending the shots from corner to corner at over 100...

WASHINGTON, (AP) -- Five Blackwater Worldwide security guards have been indicted and a sixth was negotiating a plea with prosecutors for a 2007 shooting that left 17 Iraqis dead and became an anti-American rallying cry for insurgents, people close to the case said Friday. ...Six guards have been under investigation since a convoy of heavily armed Blackwater contractors opened fire in a crowded Baghdad intersection on Sept. 16, 2007. Witnesses say the shooting was unprovoked but Blackwater, hired by the State Department to guard U.S. diplomats, says its guards were ambushed by insurgents while responding to a car bombing.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is leaving Sunday night for India following the deadly terrorist siege in Mumbai, the White House announced. Here is the announcement: "President Bush has asked Secretary Rice to travel to India this week in the wake of the terror attacks that killed nearly 200 people, including 6 American citizens. Secretary Rice will depart tonight on already scheduled travel to London. She will attend the NATO meeting on Tuesday, and then proceed to India, arriving in New Dehli on Wednesday. "Secretary Rice's visit to India is a further demonstration of the United States' commitment to stand...

MUMBAI, India-President George W. Bush is sending Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to India in the wake of the terrorist attacks that killed nearly 200 people, including six Americans. White House press secretary Dana Perino says that Rice is scheduled to leave Sunday night for London for a NATO meeting and then will travel to New Delhi on Wednesday. Perino says that Rice's visit to India is, in her words, "a further demonstration of the United States' commitment to stand in solidarity with the people of India." Earlier Sunday, Bush assured India's leader that the U.S. government will put its...

WASHINGTON: The State Department said on Friday that five US citizens had been killed in the attacks on Mumbai and that more Americans remained missing. "The Department is now able to confirm the deaths of five American citizens. Consular staff have been in contact with all of the victims' families," Gordon Duguid, acting deputy spokesman, said in a statement. "The Consulate in Mumbai will continue to work with the Indian Police until all missing American citizens have been accounted for," he added. The State Department did not identify the victims killed in the wave of attacks by Pakistan-based Islamic militants...