The Foreign Service Journal, December 2021

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | DECEMBER 2021 23 reprogram about $2 billion of those dollars to train and equip the Iraqi army and police forces. It turned out to be a slow and uneven process; but I have no doubt that Iraq is better able to stand on its feet today because of what we spent then and later to empower their armed forces. In Afghanistan, we made the same mistake as we did in Vietnam. We started the program of training and equipping their army several years too late, and it was a more challenging task than in Vietnam. FSJ: Most of your assignments were in Latin America or Asia. How did you come to specialize in those regions? Was that a choice or more based on the needs of the Service? JDN: It was a combination. But basically, I never planned my career beyond my next assignment. And some assignments were almost random. For example, I was beginning an assignment in the Africa Bureau in the summer of 1963, as a post management officer. I pretty quickly concluded that wasn’t for me and sought help frommy personnel officer. At first he said there was nothing else available since the assignment cycle was complete. A couple of weeks later, he called me up to ask if I would be interested in volunteering for 44 weeks of Vietnamese language training since things were heating up over there; I agreed to do it, and it transformed my career. FSJ: What was your favorite posting and why? JDN: We loved Mexico City, where I was ambassador from June 1989 to September 1993. The family loved it. We traveled extensively, managing to visit every state in the country, and we made lasting friendships. On the substantive side, there was a lot to do, and we achieved the North American Free Trade Agree- ment on my watch. FSJ: You took on some tough assignments during your career. Looking back on your time as U.S. ambassador to Honduras, in particular, do you have any regrets about the Reagan administration’s support for the Contras? JDN: Not really. First of all, I had very lively exchanges with Washington about how to pursue our objectives in Central From left: FSO David Engel, the interpreter; John Negroponte, liaison officer with the North Vietnamese delegation; and co-leaders of the U.S. Delegation to the Paris Peace Talks on Vietnam, Ambassadors Cyrus Vance and W. Averell Harriman, at a secret meeting with North Vietnamese negotiators Le Duc Tho and Xuan Thuy in 1968. U.S.DEPARTMENTOFSTATE John Negroponte, then National Security Council director for Vietnam, with Chinese Premier Zhou Enlai in June 1972 during NSC Adviser Henry Kissinger’s visit to Beijing. XINHUANEWSAGENCY