The Foreign Service Journal, April 2005

Having met a few enemies of human rights in the Third World, I see a risk that they can cite the Journal to bolster their twisted claims (“See? It says right here in the diplo- mats’ own rag, this lefty terrorist was one of them. They’re all the same.”) Why should the Foreign Service care? Fundamentally, because we have a human rights mission too. Pragmatically, for those who may not rate that mission very high, because an attack on a U.S. citizen human rights worker abroad leads to a multi- layered storm of problems for the nearest post and for State. George McFarland FSO, retired Austin, Texas The Accidental Reader I found you by accident, but you are a marvelous advertisement for your service and your country. I was listening to the Australian Broadcasting Commission’s “News- Radio” on Feb. 13. Along came an interview with Mr. Stephen T. Smith, the new U.S. consul general here in Sydney. It started pleasantly enough, with interviewer Marius Benson asking Mr. Smith to identify the fielding position known as “silly mid-on” in cricket. Mr. Smith laughed and said he had a book called Cricket for Americans but had not yet gotten around to reading it. (FYI, the “on” side is the right-hand side for a right- handed batsman, and the “off” side is the other side. “Mid” refers to a position aligned with the middle of the cricket pitch; i.e., midway between the wickets. “Silly” refers to being very close to the bat.) Thereafter, the questions became faster and harder, and it was soon clear that Mr. Smith was fielding in the silly mid-on position. I feel one should not ask a consul general to defend every aspect of the Iraq-spe- cific foreign policy of the current U.S. administration. After all, the consulate in Sydney is not at the sharp end of things. There’s the occasional lost passport, the speech at the American Club, stuff like that. I decided to write to Mr. Smith to apologize for his rude reception, going first to the Internet to find the correct spelling of his first name. One place I found it was in his arti- cle (written with David Jones) in the May 2004 FSJ , on “Preparing for Promotional Panel Season.” Intrigued, I looked at the preced- ing article by Louis Janowski: “Neo- Imperialism and U.S. Foreign Policy.” I also read various reviews of Colin Powell’s tenure. Then I read about the awards that “publicly recognize individuals who have demonstrated the intellectual courage to challenge the system from within, to question the status quo and take a stand, no matter the sensitivity of the issue or the consequences of their actions.” And I thought: Marvelous. So I wanted to tell you that you are appreciated. Gavin Stewart Project Director, Centre for Mental Health New South Wales Health Department North Sydney, Australia ■ L E T T E R S Send your letters to: journal@afsa.org. Note that all letters are subject to editing for style, format and length. A P R I L 2 0 0 5 / F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L 9