Despite Photo, State Dept. Says U.S. Envoy Didn't Bow to Statue of Dictator

CNS News ^ | 9/5/12 | Patrick Goodenough

[Nachum]

(CNSNews.com) – The Obama administration’s new ambassador to Azerbaijan raised eyebrows this week with a gesture interpreted by some as paying homage to the country’s late dictator – a one-time KGB general installed by military coup who oversaw an autocratic regime before handing power to his son.

“The new U.S. envoy to Azerbaijan, Richard Morningstar, has honored memory of national leader of Azerbaijan Heydar Aliyev,” the Azeri news site News.Az reported.

“The newly appointed ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary of the United States in Azerbaijan visited the monument to great leader in the park in front of the Heydar Aliyev’s Palace. Morningstar honored the memory of the national leader and laid flowers to the monument.”

A photograph released by the national news agency shows Morningstar standing in front of a statue of Aliyev with head bowed. Aliyev died in 2003

[Cindy]

Thread bump and thank you for the ping, Piasa.

[Road Warrior ‘04]

Continuing the trend of the Bowbama Administration.

[Bon mots]

That's not a kowtowing bow of a lowly slave before a fat tyrant, this is:

Now THAT's a proper emasculating bow.

[Vinnie]

“I feel a breeze. Is my fly open?”

[MinuteGal]

Approximately 50,000 men and women work for the U.S. State Department, a bureaucratic nightmare which for countless decades has been an almost-under-the-radar aristocracy of political and cultural anti-American sentiment.

11,500 State Department hires are foreign service employees (ambassadors, officers, staff, etc.), 7,400 are civil service employees and 31,000 are foreign service nationals (hires of local residents in countries where we have diplomatic posts and consulates).

"We hold these truths to be self-evident; that all men are created EQUAL".

This is our credo. We do not BOW to kings, dictators, murderous corrupt rulers.....or their representatives. This is what makes us Americans.

Obama himself set the example to members of his far-flung diplomatic "corpse" by the now-infamous bowing to the autocratic despot of an Arab emirate.

Leni

[Nachum]

They all love being in socialist/communist countries. Especially, since they’re there on the government dime, are certainly not forced to live as one of the population trying to survive and are above the law in most cases.

They live like Kings and Queens! Who wouldn't love it. I really would like to see a president come in and throw them all out. Fire them all in one day. It would be a fine moment indeed.

[Fedora]

I couldn’t say if it’s a bow or not out of context in a still photo. I do wonder what forces are at play in Morningstar’s long-term involvement with oil pipeline development in Azerbaijan, a pet project of his since the Clinton administration, with renewed involvement since Obama came into office and appointed him Special Envoy of the United States Secretary of State for Eurasian Energy. The latter led him into additional involvement in the Nabucco pipeline project in Turkey, a 12-15 billion Euro project being financed by the the European Investment Bank (EIB), the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), and the International Finance Corporation (IFC). The project is deeply enmeshed in disputes with Russia and Iran and the Kurdistan Workers Party. Morningstar was active in this before his recent diplomatic appointment to Azerbaijan.

[piasa]

Thanks for the additional info.

[piasa]

[snip]...But then came the Clinton email dump which may have spelt doom for Amiri. Two emails in particular, which were made public and which were undoubtedly read by the Iranians shed light on the voluntary nature of Amiri’s defection and attempts by the U.S. to address his concerns and facilitate his return to Iran.
The first email, sent to Clinton on July 5, 2010, and processed through her home-brewed bathroom server, was authored by Richard Morningstar, acting special envoy of the U.S. secretary for Eurasian energy. This email implied that Amiri needed a cover story to return to Iran and that the U.S. should make an effort to address his concerns. He writes, “Per the subject we discussed, we have a diplomatic, ‘psychological’ issue, not a legal issue,” and notes further that “Our friend has to be given a way out. We should recognize his concerns and frame it in terms of a misunderstanding with no malevolent intent and that we will make sure there is no recurrence. Our person won’t be able to do anything anyway. If he has to leave, so be it.”... ——Did Clinton’s Email Negligence Lead to the Execution of an Iranian Defector?
Frontpage Mag ^ | August 8, 2016 | Ari Lieberman
http://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/263776/did-clintons-email-negligence-lead-execution-ari-lieberman