The Foreign Service Journal, March 2020

78 MARCH 2020 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL son and Chris Stevens. (Full disclosure: I worked with each of the four, and the author interviewed me for the book.) As of this writing, U.S. combat troops are still on the ground in Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan, three of the countries Rich- ter highlights. Ryan Crocker served as ambassador to Iraq and Afghanistan and four other countries in the region, appointed by both Republican and Democratic presidents. Having served in Iraq when SaddamHus- sein ruled the country, Crocker forecasted with prescience the dangerous forces the United States would unleash were it to invade that country. Notwithstanding the haughty dis- missal of his advice by political appoin- I hope that everyone who is unfamiliar with the ways of Washington reads The Ambassadors, because it conveys the professional ethos of the Foreign Service: courage, honesty and patriotism. tees senior to him, Crocker served in Baghdad two more times. Richter quotes him sharing his misgivings about the imminent invasion with his staff, then telling them: “We’re each going to have to make a decision whether we can sup- port this, whether we can continue. I’m a Foreign Service Officer; I’m going to serve my president” (p. 37). Robert Ford also had “grave doubts” about the invasion but volunteered anyway, Richter says, knowing that Arabic speakers were needed (p. 47). After five tours in Iraq, Ford served as the last U.S. ambassador to Syria, where he distinguished himself by support- ing anti-regime demonstrators at great personal risk. The Assad regime retaliated by orchestrating an attack on the U.S. embassy. As the situation deteriorated, Ford and his staff had to leave Syria to ensure their safety. In Washington, Ford continued his work as de facto U.S. ambassador to the