The Foreign Service Journal, June 2012

Dynamic Hypocrisy? The April edition of Cybernotes spotlighted a comment by Secretary of State Hillary RodhamClinton vilifying and denigrating Russia and China for their veto of a United Nations Secu- rity Council resolution on Syria. Her statement should have generated nothing but entirely justifiable ridi- cule, and is shatteringly out of place in the “Magazine for Foreign Affairs Pro- fessionals,” whose editors (in theory, anyway) have some familiarity with foreign affairs. In that regard, are you really not aware that the United States has itself vetoed 28 resolutions in the Security Council? The United Nations was created, with massive U.S. support and en- couragement, to provide a forum where nations could discuss issues and express their opinions. It is recog- nized, and accepted, that they may have widely differing perceptions on how best to promote their national in- terests. To unload insults and invective on other countries because they have taken an action that we ourselves have taken multiple times, and to do so in public, is not merely insulting and of- fensive. It broadcasts employment of what can only be described as Dy- namic Hypocrisy. Reprinting such a statement in the Journal is regrettable and embarrass- ing. Edward Peck Ambassador, retired Chevy Chase, Md. Russell J. Surber FSO, retired Paso Robles, Calif. A PIT-iful Job Your April issue focusing on spouse employment compels me to write. I was a career federal employee who re- tired in 2007 from the Defense Intel- ligence Agency as a GG-13 military intelligence officer. I did not achieve that position casually, but after attend- ing night school at Northern Virginia Community College and American University for eight years. Back in the early 1980s, I worked as an intelligence technician and per- sonnel specialist for DIA. My hus- band, Richard Roark, an active-duty Marine, had previously served as a Marine Security Guard at Embassy Ankara and applied for another post- ing without discussing it with me. Next thing I knew, he was preparing to go to Lagos as the gunnery ser- geant, and told me that his position hinged on my accompanying him. I had no choice but to resign from DIA and discontinue my studies. In Lagos, I immediately sought a job at the embassy and was delighted that the Personnel Office had a va- cancy. The female incumbent was quite eager to leave, so she only taught me a few things. The personnel offi- cer was “old school,” so he gave me no further training. As a part-time intermittent tempo- rary employee, popularly known as a PIT, my principal duties involved drafting cables and the embassy newsletter. I worked for months with- out hearing any complaints. I was there every day, never called in sick and did the job to the best of my abil- ity. I was always polite to the State Department personnel and expressed interest in their careers. One day, a Foreign Service Na- tional employee pulled some papers out of my inbox and asked why I had not processed the travel vouchers. I 8 F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L / J U N E 2 0 1 2 L ETTERS