The Foreign Service Journal, April 2018

44 APRIL 2018 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL War Reporting and Expeditionary Diplomacy The 9/11 attacks occurred barely two months into my editorship. Despite our lead time as a monthly magazine, and the massive uncertainty we were all facing in the aftermath of the attacks, the Novem- ber 2001 issue featured a compilation of AFSA members’ reactions and policy recommendations. The December 2001 FSJ offered a second install- ment, along with a meaty focus section devoted to “Shedding Light on Sept. 11.” Apart from the regrettable caricature of a glowering terrorist on the cover, I believe we did exactly that. To cite just one example: “The Taliban-Bin Laden-ISI Connection” by retired FSO Arnie Schifferdecker (December 2001) set the stage for our ongoing coverage of the Afghanistan War by explaining authoritatively how al-Qaida was able to use that country so effectively as a base of operations. In the process, it also showcased the expertise and perspective that have always been among the Foreign Service’s fortes. In all our coverage of the so-called “War on Terror,” we strove to strike an appropriate balance between being supportive and skeptical. There was no template to follow, of course, and I’m sure we ran some articles, letters and Speaking Out columns that were either too gung-ho about, or too harshly criti- cal of, the George W. Bush administra- tion’s foreign policy. But I remain proud of our overall record. Soon after the Bush administration launched the invasion of Iraq in March 2003, we gave three FSOs who resigned in pro- test—John Brown, John Brady Kiesling and Ann Wright—space to explain their reasoning. That energized debate in our letters I n all our coverage of the so-called “War on Terror,” we strove to strike an appropriate balance between being supportive and skeptical. Service, Foreign Agricultural Service and International Broadcasting Bureau, faced severe budget cutbacks and unrelenting pressure to “do more with less.” That adverse climate was not the primary impetus for my own decision to leave the Service to pursue a career in music and writing, but it certainly made the decision easier. Soon after I left State in August 1997, a dear friend and A-100 colleague who was on the FSJ Edi- torial Board at the time, Mitchell Cohn, approached me to write a short-fuse article on consular fraud when the original author was unable to fulfill the contract. That came out well enough that Bob Guldin, my predecessor as editor-in-chief, commissioned me to write several more articles on various subjects, and then hired me as associate editor in April 1999. Though only a half-time position, the job nonetheless gave me a taste for greater respon- sibilities, such as putting together several focus sections; interviewing each year’s winner of AFSA’s recently instituted Award for Lifetime Contributions to American Diplomacy for a lengthy profile; and lining up and writing book reviews, one of the most enjoyable perks of my time at the magazine. When I succeeded Bob as editor-in-chief on July 1, 2001, my appointment was on an interimbasis. But on Nov. 1 of that year, I took over officially and occupied the position for more than 12 years—a span second only to that of the legendary Shirley Newhall, FSJ editor from 1968 to 1981.