PRESIDENT NAMES A NEW AMBASSADOR

PRESIDENT NAMES A NEW AMBASSADOR TO AFGHANASTAN

I watch PBS quite a lot and this past week I happened to watch the program “THE MOST DANGEROUS MAN IN AMERICA”. Many of my readers will not have been old enough to give the war in Viet Nam a thought, except that there was one. I must admit that I had no idea of what was happening there or why it was happening. I was working and raising my family and had little time to devote to political issues.

I only remember something about the boat people trying to enter Viet Nam, that a few boys that I knew (and a brother) joined the armed services. I also remember hearing that the citizens of Viet Nam were being treated poorly and that many young American men fled to Canada to avoid the draft. Many anti-war demonstrations filled the streets, especially in California. And the draft was abolished at the end of that war, although the reinstatement of the draft was considered later on.

Acknowledging my ignorance of the war in Viet Nam I was particularly interested in the PBS documentary of the “Whistle Blower” Daniel Ellsworth who leaked information on the Pentagon Papers. (See Synopsis below).

Realizing the length, escalation and severity of the numerous Mideast Crisis, the rising deficit, joblessness and state of our economy, I wondered why the President changed the Ambassador to Afghanistan.

My research says that Ambassadors are Presidential appointees and serve “at the pleasure of the President” and can be dismissed at any time for any reason. Many are career State Department employees and will serve until they are needed elsewhere or that want a stateside assignment. Others are political appointees and usually serve as long as they want or until there is a new president. Ambassadors are appointed by the President and confirmed by the senate.

Karl W Eikenberry, Ambassador to Afghanistan was confirmed April 2009 and is being replaced by Ryan Crocker, former Ambassador to Iraq 2007 to 2009. The Senate confirmed him yesterday June 7, 2009.

I was pleased to hear the Ambassadors’ comments regarding his position there: “In no way should our enduring commitment be misunderstood as a desire by America or our allies to occupy Afghanistan against the will of its people. We respect Afghans’ proud history of independence, and we do not seek any permanent American military bases in their country – or a presence that would be a threat to any of Afghanistan’s neighbors.”

Mr. Crocker nonetheless acknowledged a panoply of problems facing Afghanistan, including government corruption that he said would become “a second insurgency” if left unchecked. He said the United State’s goal in Afghanistan was merely to help the Afghans create a “good-enough government,” not necessarily a model democracy. While progress has been hard, he said, the situation was not hopeless.

John Kerry, who served in Viet Nam and was a recipient of the Silver Star, Bronze Star and Combat V for valor, three Purple Hearts, co-founded the Vietnam Veterans of America became a spokesperson for Vietnam Veterans Against war and was the was former Democratic nominee for president also spoke at the confirmation of Ambassador Crocker.

John Kerry’s questions at the confirmation were reportedly sharp and I quote: “He faced sharp questions from the committee, particularly from its Democratic chairman, John Kerry of Massachusetts, who expressed a growing sentiment on Capitol Hill that the American commitment in money and troops to Afghanistan “is neither proportional to our interests or sustainable.” The United States currently spends about $10 billion a month in Afghanistan and has 100,000 troops there.”

After the appointment of Leon Panetta, the CIA Director as Defense Secretary in April, his confirmation hearing is being held today. He is replacing Defense Secretary Robert Gates who is stepping down.

I am left wondering why in the last eighteen months or so of his Presidency is President Obama making this change? Is hope for the termination of our involvement in the Mideast on the horizon? I certainly hope so, that is the Change that I voted for! Or is this just another campaign move for 2012.

Synopsis
In 1971, Daniel Ellsberg, a leading Vietnam War strategist, concludes that America’s role in the war is based on decades of lies. He leaks 7,000 pages oftop-secret documents to The New York Times, a daring act of conscience that leads directly to Watergate, President Nixon’s resignation and the end of the Vietnam War. Ellsberg and a who’s-who of Vietnam-era movers and shakers give a riveting account of those world-changing events in POV’s The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers by award-winning filmmakers Judith Ehrlich (The Good War and Those Who Refused to Fight It) and Rick Goldsmith (Tell the Truth and Run: George Seldes and the American Press). A co-production of ITVS in association with American Documentary POV.

Online: June 13, 2011 through June 14, 2011 Check local listings Press). A co-production of ITVS in association with American Documentary POV.