The Foreign Service Journal, May 2022

10 MAY 2022 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL LETTERS Speaking the Language I heartily concur with Larry Butler’s excellent point about diplomats needing to practice cultural awareness, especially in language usage (“Language Lessons,” Letters, March 2022, response tomy December article, “Practical Lessons for Today’s For- eign Service” ). We reporting officers from Consulate General Leningrad were all forewarned and highly aware of the sensi- tivity of some Balts to speaking Russian. When we had initial conversations with Baltic contacts, our practice was to apologize first that we did not speak their native language and then try to work out what other language we might have in common in order to communicate. Since none of us spoke any of the Baltic languages (nor did the Foreign Service Institute teach those languages at the time), andmost of our contacts did not have fluency in English or any other language other than their native tongue and Russian, the default language in most of our communication, by mutual agreement and necessity, was Russian. Russian was also the lingua franca among the three Baltic peoples themselves when they got together. In addition, most of us picked up courtesy phrases in the Baltic languages that went over quite well, especially in our public engagements. I continued that practice when serving in other non- Russian states of the former Soviet Union to great effect. I do recall one or two Estonian contacts, who were hypersensitive about speaking Russian, on principle, and would complain to us about the fact that the State Department did not teach us Estonian and the fact that we were from Leningrad, USSR. Their preference was to go to nearby Helsinki to speak with the U.S. embassy’s Estonian speaker. But the vast majority of our Baltic contacts, including most Estonians, had no problem speaking Russian with American diplomats from Leningrad. They enthusiastically wel- comed our presence and our support in those dark days. Finally, we Leningraders highly appre- ciated Office Management Specialist Sally Snow’s heroic efforts to transcribe our “scribblings” into classified cables. She exemplified why OMSs are utterly crucial colleagues in the diplomatic profession, a fact every FSO should recognize. Fortunately for Ms. Snow’s eyesight, by late spring 1991, Leningrad resumed its classified comms, and we were able to report directly on the historic occurrences that took place in our consular district from then on. Many, many thanks, Sally. You earned your place in heaven. May you rest in eternal peace. George Krol Ambassador, retired Middletown, Rhode Island The Afghan Evacuation Mission Continues Thank you for the ambitious retelling of last year’s tragic evacuation from Kabul (“Operation Allies Refuge: The FS View from the Front Lines,” March 2022). The articles evoke the courage, resourceful- ness and compassion displayed by so many Afghans, Americans and others. Allowme to add these observations: Your map of “lily pad” and destination countries includes several U.S. allies that only permitted us to operate the evacua- tion airlift from bases on their territory for a week or two. The U.S. approached sev- eral countries seeking a haven where we could host, for up to a year, Afghans whose cases required special processing. Only one agreed—the Republic of Kosovo. As U.S. ambassador in Pristina, I had the privilege of making the request to Kosovo’s president and prime minister. I was pushing on an open door. As Presi- dent Vjosa Osmani said, “First and fore- most we believe it’s a moral obligation. We have been refugees ourselves during the nineties, and we are alive today because the world did not turn its back on us.” Other countries, such as Albania and the UAE, continue to host NGO-sponsored refugees over half a year after the evacu- ation. For as much as some in Washing- ton would like to put Afghanistan in the rearviewmirror, the evacuation mission continues. Thousands of at-risk Afghans, many with close ties to the United States, remain in Afghanistan under dangerous circumstances. As I write this, the Taliban are stepping up house-to-house searches for pro-West- ern Afghans, while the world’s attention is riveted on Ukraine. The administration and Congress need to match their rhetorical expres- sions of support with action—providing State and the Department of Homeland Security with new resources; streamlining visa and refugee procedures; and passing the Afghan Adjustment Act to give more evacuees a clear path to long-term resi- dence and eventual citizenship. Thousands of government employees, dozens of NGOs and countless private citizens are working tirelessly on evacua- tion and resettlement. Much remains to be done before we can claim “Mission Accomplished.” Philip Kosnett Ambassador, retired Black Mountain, North Carolina