Diplomats respond bluntly to Rick Perry

By Joe Davidson,
WashPost
Published: November 10

Career members of the Foreign Service are none too pleased with comments made this week by Texas Gov. Rick Perry regarding the purpose of the State Department and U.S. diplomats serving abroad.

“I’m not sure our State Department serves us well,” Perry, a Republican presidential candidate, said Tuesday on a radio program with Fox News host Bill O’Reilly. “I’m not talking about the secretary of state here. I’m talking about the career diplomats and the secretary of state, who all too often may not be making decisions or giving advice to the administration that’s in this country’s best interest.”

“We need to have a discussion with Congress to make sure that the decisions that are being made are in America’s best interest,” Perry said later.

In response, the American Foreign Service Association — which represents current and former Foreign Service officers — said Thursday that Perry’s comments on career diplomats “reflect a serious misunderstanding of their role in promoting American interests overseas.”

(More here.)