Well, I'm afraid the short version is that the State Department is despicable, and has always been despicable.
Back some 400 years ago an Englishman wrote that "an ambassador is someone who lies abroad for his country."
The State Department can't even manage to do that. They don't lie for our country, they lie for some involuted bureaucratic goal that only they could possibly understand.
Well, I would hesitate to paint with such a broad brush, as I have known some very patriotic diplomats who love their country. I would say, however, that those directing our foreign policy towards Arafat made a terroible mistake in ordering everyone to act as if these murders didn't happen.
" They don't lie for our country, they lie for some involuted bureaucratic goal that only they could possibly understand."
The State dept is supposed to represent us to other nations. Somewhere along the line, they decided their job was to represent other nations to us. Sort on an in house UN, and every bit as untrustworthy.
The State Department was infiltrated by Soviet agents early on and has been for decades.