The Foreign Service Journal, January 2005

L E T T E R S u 10 F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L / J A N U A R Y 2 0 0 5 of peace through strength — which won the Cold War — advocated a nuclear freeze, voted repeatedly against defense, intelligence and national security appropriations bills, opposed the first Persian Gulf War and voted against an $87-billion appropriation to support our troops in Iraq after voting for that war. With that sorry record, how could we vote for him to become comman- der-in-chief in the war on terrorism? Finally, our disgruntled col- leagues need to understand why President Bush made inroads among minorities that have traditionally supported Democratic candidates. (He received twice as many black votes as he got four years ago and garnered over 40 percent of the Hispanic vote). Asked on CNN why he voted for the president, an Hispanic leader from New Mexico responded, “family values.” Unless elitist, “progressive” Demo- crats reach out to Middle America, they are doomed to repeat the humiliating experience of this year’s presidential election. Ray H. Burson FSO (USIA), retired Doniphan, Mo. Guy W. Farmer FSO (USIA), retired Carson City, Nev. Fond Memories of USIA I want to express my appreciation for Beatrice Camp’s October Speaking Out column, “A Failure of Imagination.” I agree with her assessments of the effects of selling USIA down the river in an attempt to appease Senator Jesse Helms. In my nearly 30 years with the Foreign Service, I dealt with the information program in Washington and served with USIA in Singapore, Manila, Bangkok, Cairo and Santiago. More could have been said by old codgers like me about Theodore C. Streibert, who de- signed USIA as an action agency and who also found the bureaucratic geniuses Lionel Mosley and Ben Posner, who instituted policies which were unique for their time. USIA was one of the first govern- ment agencies to institute computer- generated payrolls and direct deposits. It hired handicapped peo- ple and gave them jobs where their physical handicaps were assets. Its personnel policies produced a bumper crop of minority officers, which State raided to staff embassies in Africa. James J. Halsema USIA FSO, retired Glenmoore, Pa. A Place in the Sun I enjoyed Jim Olsen’s article on “How to Steal from an International Agency” in the November Foreign Service Journal . Having worked in rural areas of Russia and Ukraine, I could relate to the use of donkeys to get the job done. Though I didn’t use donkeys myself, we were pretty resourceful in other ways. After reading Olsen’s article I ran- domly decided to check out the Discovery Channel’s Web site, and guess what I found? More excellent uses for donkeys! Your readers might be interested in this link, which illus- trates a true mix of innovation and resourcefulness: www.discovery globaled.org/projects/zimbabwe.html #donkey. Check out the donkey bookmobile in Zimbabwe, which is fitted with solar-powered electronic resources. Donkeys are a serious resource and deserve their place in the sun. Susie Baker Civil Service Foreign Affairs Research Analyst Department of State Takoma Park, Md. Rethinking Immigration In his October commentary, “Challenging Samuel Huntington,” John Dickson appears, like many Americans, to continue to see immi- gration as a disembodied aspect of our national life that has no relation to our changing society. What was good for the country while we were still expanding coast to coast, or populating the factories of the industrial revolution, has no necessary congruence with what is good for the country of 294 million people with an information/technol- ogy economy. Similarly, what was good for the country when immi- grants largely took care of them- selves or went home, is not necessar- ily good for it when we have a vast array of services designed to help the poor out of poverty, to provide wel- fare and medical assistance to chil- dren and pregnant women, to help minorities succeed in business, etc. The “restrictionist” movement early in the 20th century was a reac- tion to a period of mass immigration when it was undermining work opportunities for Americans and was producing racial and labor strife. Huntington and others believe we have returned to a situation when we again need a correction to our immi- gration policy. That was also the conclusion of the U.S. Commission on Immigration Reform led by the late, incomparable Barbara Jordan. If today’s immigration were strengthening America’s hallowed middle class rather than fueling the ranks of the poor and the rich, while the middle class shrinks, it might represent less of a concern. But it is not, and it is contributing to what many Americans see as unhealthy change, such as the spreading phe- nomenon of gated communities, pools of day workers hustling jobs on street corners, and inner-city youth who cannot find jobs.