The Foreign Service Journal, September 2011

8 F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L / S E P T E M B E R 2 0 1 1 Washington and the case we are mak- ing on behalf of the Department of State and USAID. In the six months I have been on the job, I have been thor- oughly impressed with the stellar qual- ity and remarkable dedication of the men and women at State and USAID. Many of you have served in tough, dangerous environments where you confronted complex issues. Thank you for your service and your patriotism. It is an honor to work with you. Tom Nides Deputy Secretary of State for Management and Resources Washington, D.C. Dissenting Views Bravo for the July-August issue on dissent in the Foreign Service. I espe- cially enjoyed Tom Boyatt’s review of the Dissent Channel’s value and his suggestions for its effective utilization (“What If I Disagree?”). Professor Hannah Gurman’s analysis of Secretary of StateHenry Kissinger’s tortured deal- ings with dissent, illuminated by Amb. Boyatt’s “back story” (“Dissent in the Kissinger Era”), was likewise thought- ful, provocative and informative. For the record, it seems to me im- portant to affirm that not all, nor even most, foreign policy dissent flows through the Dissent Channel. It often comes from chiefs of mission in re- stricted correspondence and debrief- ings with the Department of State. It also surfaces in well-run embassies, from within country team delibera- tions. While such dissent often deals with questions of nuance, it can also ad- dress fundamental policy issues. As Amb. Rozanne Ridgway pointed out in her interview with FSJ Editor Steve Honley in the same issue, these arguments may not always succeed (as I know from personal experience), but sometimes they do. Thus, I would sug- gest that they have a far better record of influencing actual policy decisions than Dissent Channel messages. That said, there can be little doubt that the Dissent Channel mechanism is invaluable from the institutional, mor- ale and substantive standpoints. Honor the dissenters and let the practice spread. Jack R. Binns Ambassador, retired Tucson, Ariz. Remembering “Lawrence of Macedonia” “Hello, Birdledogger here!” That would be Second Secretary Lawrence Eagleburger calling to follow up (“bird-dog,” we called it) a clearance request on a cable to Washington from Embassy Belgrade in the 1960s. Already a rising star, Eagleburger was the embassy’s point man for U.S. assistance after the 1963 earthquake in Skopje, Macedonia. With responsibil- ity for civil aviation and residual USAID affairs, it fell to him to obtain airspace clearance for the flights that delivered U.S. military hospital equip- ment and personnel and to coordinate USAID’s provision of temporary hous- ing for displaced Skopje residents. While the French were (under- standably) evacuating their consulate staff from Skopje, Larry Eagleburger and Consul Stuart Kennedy slept in tents there so they could provide help to local citizens and funds to U.S. So- cial Security annuitants. Accompany- ing Larry on subsequent trips to the city, I witnessed the hero’s welcome he received, which earned him the sobri- quet, “Lawrence of Macedonia.” As his obituaries note, Eagleburger was overweight in later years. But it wasn’t always thus. Larry was a regular participant in the embassy’s occasional Saturday morning touch football games. (Ambassador-to-be David An- derson would quarterback one team, the Army corporal in charge of our Army/Air Force Post Office service the other.) Larry’s asthma inhaler was al- ways at hand, however, even then. Larry Eagleburger was a friend to all, a mentor to embassy newcomers, and a highly valued adviser to Ambas- sador Burke Elbrick. Fluent in Ser- bian (we called it Serbo-Croatian back then), he was also regarded with great affection by the embassy’s Yugoslav staff — so much so that they all gath- ered to greet him when he returned as under secretary for a meeting with Prime Minister Milka Planinc. After making the rounds, sharing embraces with them all, Eagleburger said, “I don’t know what I’d do if I had to kiss another moustache!” Rest in peace, Larry. Russ Prickett FSO, retired Austin, Texas Not the Best Part of Valor Daniel Hirsch’s May FSJ “VP Voice” column is shocking, as it reflects atti- tudes that are — or should be — in- compatible with a Foreign Service career. He writes that “Unwillingness to serve in an unaccompanied or war- zone post should be regarded as a sign of mature self-awareness,” and he calls on the State Department to “separate war-zone service from career advance- ment.” Since he is speaking as AFSA State vice president, he at least implies that these views represent AFSA policy, not just his personal opinion. As a member of the Foreign Serv- ice and AFSA (active-duty and retired), for half a century, my understanding of L E T T E R S