Yeah, I'm happy!
I hear that there were some other high-level comings and goings today at the State Department, but the one I've been waiting for finally became official this afternoon when the DS website was updated:
Gregory B. Starr was sworn in February 1, 2013 as Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Diplomatic Security and Director of the Diplomatic Security Service. Mr. Starr also will serve as acting Assistant Secretary until further notice.
So the leadership vacuum that existed after the departure last December of Assistant Secretary Boswell and the top two levels of DSS officials below him has now ended. And in what is probably the best possible way, by bringing back the exceptionally well-regarded officer who had previously been the P/DAS and acting Assistant Secretary of State for DS from October 2007 to July 2008 before becoming the United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Safety and Security, a position he vacated last month.
Greg Starr joined the U.S. Foreign Service in 1980, and served as Regional Security Officer (RSO) in Israel, Tunisia, Senegal and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, as well as in various senior headquarters assignments.
He is the obvious choice to bring DSS through a rough period of reconstruction and change. If he isn't appointed the permanent Assistant Secretary right away, I will be very surprised.
29 comments:
Should he be the A/S or Director? Why not go to an outside person who does not have ties to those already in leadership positions? Isn't this a step backwards?
Anon., I think it's a step forward. DS never had a better leader, or one who bridged so well between the working level and the SecState and Congress. Starr was especially good with Congress, and I think he was sorely missed during the aftermath of the Benghazi incident.
I assume he was brought back to be the A/S, which is on a par with the job he just left at the UN.
DS has had outside A/Ss before (two Secret Service agents, and an Air Force General) and they were, frankly, flops with both the working agents/RSOs and with Congress. Starr has an excellent track record and credibility with both ends of the scale. I think he is the best possible choice at this time.
It seems DS needs to move out from under MGT and make Starr an U/S. Kennedy seems to be the only person who has not changed over the years with all the issues of DS.
Just today I saw a quote from former SecState Baker about how U/S Kennedy was there during Baker's term. Now, that's some longevity. We seem overdue for a change of pace in the management job.
TSB: The recent "revelation" that HRC fought hard for a more active arming role in Syria but was told no by the WH is basically the "Clinton Doctrine" from the 90's right? "We have the right and obligation to bring "stability" thru force anywhere it is important to our interests but we like to do it quietly. Not like Iraq. This article in Informed Comment is really interesting because: (see next)
re: http://www.juancole.com/2013/02/declining-everybody-chomsky.html
He asserts that it was Nov 2007 when US finally got clear what it's objectives were in Iraq: 1. Pemanent bases and right to wage war. 2.Bring in the oil companies.
We were defeated by Iraqi nationalism.. ie we couldn't deal with 100,000 people demonstrating in the streets. It's interesting what a total failure STATE was in Iraq while being sold to the public as a big success. Is it time to start asking: "Who lost the middle east?" or Where's Kennan? gwb
TSB: I agree with this J Rubin Wapo piece that our middle east FP has been a disaster past 4 yrs but she seems to think there is some sensible solution that the right Sec-Def could lead. I don't think so and I don't see her quoting Gates in here. Obama isn't a policy guy (like Clinton) He wants out of this foreign crap and to concentrate on stuff he enjoys more. (hoops and golf?) Hagel gets the job! gwb http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/right-turn/wp/2013/02/03/will-republicans-defend-defense-and-live-up-to-their-oaths/?hpid=z7
awesome blog,,,,,,,,,,, Permanent TSB
TSB: My summary of CIA confirmation hearing: Muppets heaped praise, expressed great fear, asked carefully scripted questions.
Mr. Brennan congratulated the Muppets on realizing that their role is purely ceremonial and looked forward to working with them. gwb
TSB: Did today's hearing answer any of your questions about Benghazi? I thought Hillary did a great job of obscuring the fact that neither she nor Obama were available for that infamous 3am phone call.
http://www.weeklystandard.com/blogs/no-word-hillary-during-benghazi-attack_700410.html
TSB: After seeing Clinton-Panetta-Hagel-Kerry-Brennan testify on the hill it looks like you are living through the "Golden Age of Bureaucrats" running a classified country. It clearly doesn't matter who is head of the Sen.Foreign Relations Committee is. Just that they can read a 6000 pg classified paper on drone policy and believe that collateral damage averages in single digits per year and not say anything about it publicly. And Panetta saying the problem is that our "intelligence" is so awful that we can't do shit militarily when things go wrong. gwb
GWB: I was puzzled more than anything else by all those hearings this week. Nobody was on the phone at 3am, it seems. Brennan says he never read that 6,000 page (!!) paper, but he agrees with everything in it. And Congressmen and Senators earned new levels of public respect and admiration for their grasp of the facts and intellectual curiosity.
Next week, State's Undersecretary for Management will be up again, but he's a congressional favorite for some reason, so I have low expectations for fireworks.
TSB: The US can't afford to gas up their Lincoln.
http://news.usni.org/2013/02/08/navy-lincoln-refueling-delayed-will-hurt-carrier-readiness
I suggest let's find someone who needs one, like the Chinese! They could pay the $155 million to refuel and then lease it for 6 years. They could pay us to train the crews and it would promote peace in the Asia Pacific. Then if they get out of line we could have the Japanese sink it and lease em another one. gwb
Agree totally TSB! It's the same thing watching the NTSB with this cute new administrator Debbie Hersman who is an expert in "distracted driving" shocked to find that Boeing never tested their thermal runaway batteries under actual conditions. gwb
http://www.ntsb.gov/about/bio_hersman.html
"And Congressmen and Senators earned new levels of public respect and admiration for their grasp of the facts and intellectual curiosity. "
High praise indeed! Heh.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2276139/David-Petraeus-CIA-directors-bodyguards-exposed-affair-Paula-Broadwell-claims-Benghazi-The-Definitive-Report.html#axzz2KVQpNCmp
TSB: It was the bureaucrats that got Petreaus in a palace coup! I love this quote: "They were outraged he was running CIA like a 4 star General instead of like a political organization!" The bureaucrats are running the country...What could go wrong? gwb
I wonder if DiFi gets her news from the Daily Mail? Or if she realizes Benghazi was revenge for a Brennan covert operation? gwb
I'm always dubious of sensational exposes that seem to come out of thin air. It strains credibility to "reveal" that neither the CIA Director nor the Ambassador to Libya knew of a USG operation there.
This super-secret stuff was supposedly directed by the White House? The same White House that leaks everything it knows about, for instance, Israeli cyberwar against Iran? Hum.
A 28 year-old former Army Sergeant and a former Navy CPO learned all this from the "vast network of military and intelligence insiders" that contribute to their Internet site (according to the Daily Mail)? Hum again.
LOL TSB: There you go again doubting my dubious sources and publications. You are of course probably right but I just don't like the looks of that Brennan guy. gwb
"I'm always dubious of sensational exposes that seem to come out of thin air."
Mr. Brennan step this way please sir, the bus is waiting, sir.
I think Brennan should be tested for 'robotic like' components. if he has them General Dynamics should have to testify why they installed them. If they are Chi-Com parts I doubt he should be confirmed. gwb
Brennan does have an unusually stony - robotic? - appearance for a presidential nominee. Maybe that's just his game face?
http://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/local/LA-US-Marshal-Suspected-Dorner-Fled-to-Mexico-190790531.html
TSB: Someone with a grudge against LAPD and US Federal law enforcement hiding in Mexico? He might find some people down there who think he's a hero and want to protect him. (or make him a Zeta Commander) I'd like to know what kinds of drugs he's been on for the past years for the severe depression cause they all are known to cause homicidal/suicidal/grandiose scheme tendencies. Media never mentions that 2of the 3 on his review board were longtime close friends of the accused 'kicker'. gwb
TSB: Canadians rejected the same type of total warrentless internet surveillance that we seem to love here in the home of the brave. I think the difference is probably education. It's harder to fool people who can read and write. gwb
http://rt.com/news/canada-kills-surveillance-bill-992/
GWB: Dorner didn't get away from Bear Lake, we know now. Good question about his meds; that could explain some of his problems. But his biggest problem was holding a low hand in Politically Correct Poker - a black male rookie cop versus a lesbian training officer. His review board hearing was a foregone conclusion.
TSB: A 2 game warden road block vs Rambo = 1 dead warden, 1 critically wounded. Sounds like a botched operation to me. The media was describing them as Sherrif Deputies but that appears to be disinformation. LAPD was emphasizing they knew nothing but what they were hearing on the county scanner. Sorry for the fish and wildlife guys. That's not right. gwb
sorry.. I got that narrative all wrong. It was deputies he shot. gwb
TSB: I think you will find this story interesting.
http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2013/feb/13/records-detail-plot-boys-kill-classmates/
Might be the 1st 'targeted kill list' by a 10 yr old. I wonder if he knows Obama does the same thing
or watched the Sandy Hook news coverage. 'Doin in' bad guys seems to have overtaken diplomacy in the culture of 5th graders. gwb
Maybe the White House should hire that kid to replace Brennan. At least a ten year-old wouldn't be pretentious enough to call it a "disposition matrix" or reckless enough to use "signature strikes" and cause a lot of collateral fatalities.
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