U.S. Senator Joseph Lieberman shakes hands with Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra— with Senator Kelly Ayotte, Sheldon Whitehouse, Joseph Lieberman, John McCain and Yingluck Shinawatra.
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| Photo from US Embassy/BKK/FB |
1 day ago
Showing posts with label CODEL. Show all posts
Showing posts with label CODEL. Show all posts
Tuesday, January 24, 2012
US Embassy Thailand: CODEL McCain - Jan 20, 2012
Monday, January 23, 2012
US Embassy Vietnam: CODEL McCain - Jan 18-20, 2012
U.S. Ambassador to Vietnam David B. Shear with U.S. Senators John McCain, Joe Lieberman, Sheldon Whitehouse and Kelly Ayotte, as well as
representatives of Hoa Lo Prison in Hanoi during the congressional delegation's visit to Vietnam.
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| Photo from US Embassy Vietnam |
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| Touring the Hanoi Hilton which has been converted into a museum, Senator McCain points at a photo taken after he was captured in 1967. Photo from Senator McCain/FB |
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| The Senators visiting
Truc Bach Lake in Hanoi - where Senator McCain landed after being shot down in 1967 . They are standing in front of the monument to his capture. Photo from Senator McCain/FB |
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Senator McCain with Ambassador Shear at Truc Bach Lake.— in Vietnam.
Photo from Senator McCain/FB |
Friday, September 2, 2011
US Mission Afghanistan: CODEL Casey 08.28-29.2011
Deputy Ambassador James Cunningham and U.S. Senators Bob Casey (D-PA), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Richard Blumenthal (D-CN) and Michael Bennet (D-CO) meet with Afghan Parliamentarians and Civil Society at the U.S. Embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan on Sunday, August 28, 2011. Photos below from US Embassy Kabul via Flickr:
Created with Admarket's flickrSLiDR.
Monday, August 29, 2011
US Embassy Kabul Returns to Regular Social Media Programming ....
Last week, I wrote about US Embassy Kabul's Facebook Diplomacy in Need of Search and Rescue. Apparently, the day before I posted that entry, the embassy's Flickr account was magically resuscitated. Magical because it was not there when I posted but it is there now. Teh-heh! In any case, the embassy's photostream is on again and we're now seeing more than the Afghans enjoying the night entries in its Facebook page.
Below is CODEL Levin in Afghanistan on August 21, 2011:
U.S. Ambassador Ryan Crocker hosts a dinner for U.S. Senators Carl Levin (D-MI), Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), and Jeff Merkley (D-OR), General John Allen, Commander, ISAF, Mohammad Massoom Stanekzai, Secretary of the High Peace Council and Minister of Finance Omar Zakhilwal at the U.S. Embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan on Sunday, August 21, 2011.
It also has Ambassador Crocker's visit to Herat here, and USAID Director Rajiv Shah's visit to Kajaki Dam here. Enjoy!
Wednesday, July 13, 2011
US Mission Afghanistan: CODEL McCain 07.03.2011
Visiting U.S. Senators John McCain, Lindsey Graham, and Joe Lieberman during the CODEL in Kabul. The delegation also celebrated the 235th Anniversary of American Independence Day with the U.S. Embassy in Kabul but those photos are no longer accessible at the US Embassy Kabul's website:
Monday, June 20, 2011
US Mission Afghanistan: CODEL Lamborn 06.08.2011
U.S. Ambassador Karl W. Eikenberry hosts a lunch for U.S. Representatives Doug Lamborn (R-CO), William Keating (D-MA), Richard Nugent (R-FL), Austin Scott (R-GA) and Rob Woodall and Afghan Parliamentarians at the U.S. Embassy on Wednesday, June 8, 2011.
Monday, May 16, 2011
US Mission Afghanistan: CODEL Hartzler 05.07.2011
U.S. Representatives Vicki Hartzler (R-MO), Susan Davis (D-CA), Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA), Donna Edwards (D-MD), Niki Tsongas (D-MA) and Martha Roby (R-AL) visit the U.S. Embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan on Saturday, May 7, 2011.
US Mission Afghanistan: CODEL Kerry in Mazar-i-Sharif and Kabul 05.14-15.2011
U.S. Ambassador Karl W. Eikenberry and Senator John Kerry (D-MA) visited Mazar-i-Sharif on Saturday, May 14, 2011. Senator Kerry also attended several events in Kabul on Sunday, May 15, 2011.
"Yes, there are insurgents coming across the border," Kerry (D-Mass.) said in Kabul. "Yes, they are operating out of North Waziristan and other areas of the sanctuaries. And yes, there is some evidence of Pakistan government knowledge of some of these activities in ways that is very disturbing. That will be without any question one of the subjects of conversation."
John Kerry - Washington Post
Wednesday, April 27, 2011
In Diplopundit's Mailbox: Proper Attire for CODELs?
"Will someone please tell CODELs to wear proper business attire in Kabul and Baghdad? Since when is it appropriate to wear casual Friday attire to an Ambassador's residence or to a meeting with a President? If in doubt, take a look around, the Embassy staff are wearing suits!"
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| Photo from US Embassy Kabul |
Sigh! Didn't you know that the congressional protocol person was fired in last budget crisis and has yet to be rehired when money is appropriated after Easter? As to that casual Friday attire -- what can I say? At least his socks match his khaki pants ... and he's not wearing his dark colored shades inside the palace ...
Monday, April 25, 2011
US Mission India: CODEL McConnell. April 20, 2011
Ambassador Roemer welcomed Senator Mitch McConnell, and an accompanying congressional delegation to India. The delegation includes representatives from Kentucky, Nebraska, Kansas, Ohio, and North Dakota. According to the embassy, they were there to meet with senior Indian officials and business leaders as part of a multi-city trip. The Ambassador hosted a reception for the delegation at Roosevelt House on April 20, 2011. The same delegation also visited the US embassy in Kabul.
The embassy did not release the names of the members of the delegation but are those congressional wives below? Can you spot them? Um ... so, they the spouses went to Delhi but not Kabul? But the handwoven wool carpets in Kabul are really cute ...
US Mission Afghanistan: CODEL McConnell, April 2011
Senator Mitch McConnell lead a delegation of Senators to Kabul which included Senators Tom Carper (D-DE), Mike Johanna (R-NE), Jerry Moran (R-KS), Robert Portman (R-OH) and Senator John Hoeven (R-ND). According to the embassy the Senators met with Afghan Parliament members and also with President Karzai while in Kabul.
Wednesday, April 20, 2011
State/OIG on US Embassy Denmark: "Ambassador has, in effect, become a first-line supervisor"
Its reported dated March 2011 was published online recently. The 57-page report contains 27 recommendations, 17 informal recommendations and shines a light on the management style of one more political ambassador. Key judgments below republished from the report:
- The Ambassador has led an effective dialog with the Danes and been the driving force behind major initiatives on women’s issues and counterterrorism
- The Ambassador also has fostered a high degree of collaboration among the various agencies at the embassy.
- The reporting, analysis, and outreach functions are operating below potential, due to the concentration of decision making in the hands of the Ambassador.
- The embassy staff perceives that the Ambassador is unwilling to delegate authority, and that this weakens the chain of command and disempowers section leaders, making it difficult for them to organize their work and to hold officers within their sections accountable.
- The Ambassador has, in effect, become a first-line supervisor, and can be harsh in dealing with any lapses she perceives.[REDACTED]
- The embassy has been consumed with a series of resource-intensive, one-off events: two presidential visits during the last quarter of 2009 and an ambitious international conference it is cosponsoring in fall 2010.
- A small management section has adopted some of the Department’s newest innovations, delivering high quality services in most areas. Some general services operations, however, suffer from inexperienced leadership and a lack of staff training.
- Increasing tourism, climate change, commercial opportunities, and the prospect of future independence will call for increased embassy attention to Greenland, currently an autonomous country within the Kingdom of Denmark.
- The public affairs section runs an active and efficient public diplomacy program that is well adapted to the Danish environment, but it should make several administrative improvements, particularly involving grants. The Ambassador should engage in more policy-oriented press activities as part of a long-term media strategy.
A quick note on Denmark from the IG report:
Denmark is the only Nordic country that is a member of both the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and the European Union, and its international engagement has reflected interests that are convergent with those of the United States. The Danes value the United States as a close ally, and twice welcomed President Obama during 2009. At its peak, Denmark had some 540 troops in Iraq; it has a current deployment ceiling of 750 troops in Afghanistan (Helmand province), in addition to peacekeepers in Kosovo and Lebanon. Denmark will chair the Arctic Council until April 2011, the UN climate change process until December 2010, and the European Union in 2012.
A rough landing when there are staffing gaps, heavy turn-overs -- excerpts from the report:
The Ambassador arrived at the embassy as soon as she could, pressed for time to present her credentials to prepare for several high-level visits planned for fall 2009. As a result, she did not conduct all of the consultations in Washington that ambassadors normally conduct in advance of assuming charge. This situation left her less than fully prepared for the work she had to undertake immediately upon her arrival.
During that same transfer season, the embassy experienced a heavy turnover of personnel. Besides the Ambassador, the turnover included four of five political/economic officers, all three consular officers, the regional affairs chief, and the Defense attaché. The deputy of the political/economic section left a vacancy in his position when he took a 1-year assignment in Afghanistan. Continuity at the embassy further suffered when the Ambassador, after conferring with and receiving guidance from the Department, asked the former DCM to leave the embassy in January 2010. This departure resulted in a staffing gap of the DCM position for 9 months, which the political/economic section chief filled on an acting basis. There followed extended gaps in both the management officer and regional security officer (RSO) positions as well.
The Ambassador has felt these gaps, as well as the relative lack of preparation for her rather precipitous arrival, as a lack of support. She responded by shouldering a major portion of priority setting, sometimes directing the day-to-day operation of many embassy sections personally, which staff perceive as in effect displacing the authority of section heads and bringing the most routine tasks under her close supervision. For fear of having items “fall through the cracks” or “be sent out incorrectly,” the Ambassador frequently checks officer performance at all levels of preparation and has sometimes been reluctant to delegate authority, even to the DCM. Where she perceives lapses, her response has been sharp and, to those affected, frequently unpredictable. [REDACTED]
Reporting is a core, essential function of an embassy. In fact, most political officers in the shutdown plan of the State Dept are considered essential for national security that they get to stay and work during a furlough. But in the OIG report on Denmark, the inspectors say that diverted resources from the embassy's reporting crew caused officers to rely on the press and the Internet as sources for their reporting cables ...
The section has been challenged to meet this agenda. The absence of the deputy section chief on a 1-year tour to Afghanistan has meant that the section has lacked the capacity to complete some of its planned reporting. In addition, two presidential visits, turnover in senior staff, and preparations for a large, U.S. cosponsored conference have diverted a large share of the remaining resources from core reporting. The consequent press of business has led officers to develop some of their reports with little and often no face-to-face interaction with Danish officials, relying instead on material from the press and the Internet. This is only nominally responsive to the embassy’s reporting responsibilities.
[...]
The Ambassador is deeply involved in all aspects of reporting and approves all substantive cables, regardless of whether the DCM has reviewed and cleared them. Her editorial intervention is frequent and substantial, and an excessively rigorous clearance process has resulted in some delays in filing cables. Even in the case of routine démarche cables, the section must prepare a package for the Ambassador’s approval that includes background to the issue, talking points, and recommendations for the action officer and the démarche recipient. Once the officer has delivered the démarche, the section produces a reporting cable package. In this way a routine function has become a time-consuming and staff-intensive activity, often significantly delaying the démarche process. In recent months, the Ambassador has agreed to receive only information copies of packages for the most routine démarches, rather than holding them for approval. While this is a positive step, it only partially addresses the time delay issue, and does not reduce the burden on staff. A similar document preparation protocol is in place for other reporting cables.
The OIG report also tells us something we already know, Denmark is a favorite stop for VIPs and nearly 50 CODELs:
The GSO has been battered by huge turnover in staff in the last 2 years, the addition of several new positions to support increased American staffing, and unusually heavy requirements for high-level visitor support in the past several months. President Obama visited twice, while the First Lady, Secretary of State, nearly 50 congressional delegations, and other high-level U.S. officials attended a major summit on the UN climate change process. The impact of those factors left the GSO staff feeling weary and underappreciated.
Related item:
-03/31/11 Inspection of Embassy Copenhagen, Denmark (ISP-I-11-19A) March 2011 [4434 Kb]
US Mission Afghanistan: CODEL John Boehner 2011.04.19
John A. Boehner, the current Speaker of the United States House of Representatives and a delegation of U.S. Representatives arrived in Kabul and met with President Karzai. Boehner also attended a memorial ceremony with General Petraeus and Ambassador Karl Eikenberry for 5 fallen soldiers at Bagram Airfield and then had dinner with Constituents.
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
US Mission Afghanistan: CODEL Wittman 03.26.2011
U.S. Ambassador Hans Klemm and U.S. Representatives Rob Wittman (R-VA), Dave Loebsack (D-IA), Larry Kissell (D-NC), Scott Rigell (R-VA) and Todd Young (R-IN) visit the Supreme Court of Afghanistan in Kabul, Afghanistan on Saturday, March 26, and have breakfast with Afghan Parliamentarians on Sunday, March 27, 2011.
Monday, April 11, 2011
US Mission Afghanistan: CODEL Marino 03.23-24.2011
Representatives Michael Grimm (R-NY), Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), Tom Marino (R-PA) and John Sarbanes (D-MD), visit the U.S. Embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan on March 23-24, 2011.
Thursday, March 24, 2011
US Mission Afghanistan: CODEL Pelosi 03.20.2011
Representatives Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), Rosa DeLauro (D-CT), John Mica (R-FL), Leonard Boswell (D-IA) and Bill Pascrell, Jr. (D-NJ) attend a breakfast with Abdul Rauf Ibrahimi, Speaker of the Lower House, and other members of the Afghan Parliament; visit Mohammad Iqbal Azizi, Governor of Laghman Province; and spend some time with Marines at COP Turbett in Helmand Province, Afghanistan on Sunday, March 20, 2011.
Saturday, March 5, 2011
US Embassy Kabul: CODEL Bartlett 03.05.2011
Representatives Roscoe Bartlett (R-MD), Kathy Castor (D-FL), Brett Guthrie (R-KY), Bruce Braley (D-IA) and Robert Schilling (R-IL) attend the Country Team meeting at the U.S. Embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan on Saturday, March 5, 2011.
Friday, December 12, 2008
Holiday Fun Suspended for Embassy Control Officers
The Chairman, Patrick Leahy (D-VT) fired back with a three-page letter to its ranking member saying basically that the hearings for the past several Attorney Generals were conducted speedily between 24-30 days from their dates of designation. And says “I have noticed the hearing for the next Attorney General 39 days after he was officially designated and 52 days after your November 18 statement that you were already at work reviewing his record.”
Of course, Leahy’s letter started with this blurb for public record: “As I hope you know, I honored your request and asked Secretary Rice to facilitate your 14-day trip to 10 countries from December 25 through January 7. Please do let me know who the other Senators are who will be accompanying you.” Heh!
Al Kamen of WaPo did a big “Hmmm” on this. He speculated that “Leahy, as Judiciary chairman, probably authorized Specter’s congressional delegation, though it’s possible he didn’t know that the “delegation” was just Specter and his wife and an aide, who are taking a military jet to Europe and the Middle East over the holidays. The itinerary includes stops in England, Israel (his 26th visit), Syria (18th) and Austria. The Austria stop is for a chat with International Atomic Energy Agency chief Mohamed ElBaradei.”
In short, at least ten unfortunate diplomats in mostly sparkling capital cities (London, Jerusalem, Damascus, Vienna plus six more) will be working as control officers for the congressional delegation over the holidays. Sorry guys and gals, you are public servants and should never be off duty. The local staff would have to be drafted especially the drivers. The Community Liaison Officers would also need to be drafted unless no shopping spree is in order (no shopping? where's the fun in that?). I wonder if our diplomats get brownie points if they’re “it” for Christmas Day, New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day? No, there's no overtime. What, comptime? Forgetaboutit.
As a taxpayer, I am appalled that these folks are not home and spending the holidays with their constituents in their home states/districts. Some people could not afford to heat their houses this winter (actually some no longer have their own houses to heat), so an open house with hot coco and sweets would really be in order. But in the event that this train has already left the station, I'd say here is an opportunity to engage in bread and butter diplomacy. So no long faces -- but if you’re “it” for December 28 - just remember that the Holy Innocent’s Day is equivalent to April Fool's Day in a bunch of countries. The fun need not be suspended in the holiday graveyard shift.
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