[War] United States: The Ambassadors

[pentaj2 at Scranton.edu]

"The Ambassadors"
29 January 2013
President John Williams
United States
========================
January 29, 2013

MEMORANDUM FOR: Christopher Hill, Secretary of State
FROM: The President
COPY TO: Chairman and Ranking Minority Member, Senate Committee on 
Foreign Affairs; Chairman and Ranking Minority Member, House Committee 
on Foreign Affairs.
SUBJECT: Ambassadorial appointments

Mr. Secretary,

    Per our conversation at Camp David over the weekend, here are my 
directives as regards Ambassadorial nominations:

   1. There are to be no "political" ambassadors. Chief of Mission 
posts are not rewards for campaign donations, party service, being 
someone's friend, or similar. Any attempts to breach this rule will be 
met with a harsh response from this desk.

   2. All Ambassadors MUST be able to speak, FLUENTLY, the language of 
the post. For suitably obscure languages, the Ambassador must be able 
to speak the language of commerce. That will be tested by FSI's usual 
methods. In some cases, for languages I am fluent in, I may decide to 
pull them in and test them myself. In ILR terms, I mean for 
Ambassadors to have Reading-4, Speaking-4, Listening-4, Writting-4. 
The less they need intepreters, the better.

   3. Ambassadors *must* be able to work with the media. -In the 
target culture-. For those countries that don't -have- a useful media 
(See Myanmar, DPRK for two examples), they need to be able to reach 
public opinion.

   4. Ambassadorial tours are for AT LEAST -4 years-. No exceptions. 
Resignations will only be accepted for the most serious of reasons.

   5. This also applies for Consul-General posts, particularly 
Jerusalem.

Post-specific instructions regarding nominations:

UN: UN postings require command of French. Even in New York.
NATO: Chief of Mission must be conversant with military operations. 
Will be working extensively with North Atlantic Council, SGNATO, and 
Military Committee, as well as SACEUR.
France: Requirements for post are R5/S5/L5/W5 in French.
Holy See: Must have fluency in Italian AND German. Familiarity with 
Catholic theology and philosophy recommended. IF the nominee is a 
Catholic, they MUST be in good standing canonically. There is -no- non-
discrimination policy with this post; if something in your lifestyle 
would offend the Church, you will not be the American ambassador to 
the Holy See.
PRC: The security investigation gets done more deeply than usual. 
Nominees are to be informed that, as the American Ambassador to 
Beijing, they are an extremely-high-value target for Chinese espionage 
efforts. Reinvestigations for clearance will occur every 2 years, not 
5.
Moscow: Same as Beijing. It is preferred that nominees test at 
R5/S5/L5/W5 in Russian, but we will only -require- 4s.
Haiti: Fluency is required in French AND Haitian Creole. Must have 
experience in development programs.
Ottawa: Fluency is required in both English AND French.
Tel Aviv and Jerusalem: Applicants for these posts (Ambassador Tel 
Aviv and Consul-General Jerusalem) must be fluent in Hebrew AND 
Arabic. As with Beijing and Moscow, these are espionage-sensitive 
posts.

Hazard Pay posts:

For any post for which the Department of State pays hazardous duty 
pay, or where security assessment indicates a notable risk of violence:

1. Ambassadors and dependents must have available fitted combat gear 
(armor, load-bearing equipment, helmet, gas mask) in case of 
emergencies.
2. Ambassadors and dependents will be required to meet certain 
physical fitness requirements, as will be decided by consultation 
between DOS and DOD. Nothing too onerous, but they would be serving in 
hazardous areas.
3. For their own protection, while we will not ARM diplomats, they 
will be trained in self-defense before assuming their post, and will 
continue training while at post. They'll train with the Marines. 
(Dependents as well, even the kids, within reason.)
4. First-aid training is required. We're thinking Red Cross first aid 
certification, with CPR and AED certifications. If they want to train 
more, say to a Combat Lifesaver level, such training can be made 
available. (Dependents will not be required to learn, but will have 
such training available.)

Get back to me with your comments or thoughts NLT Thursday at 1800.

Williams
---
<note to Chairman and Ranking Minority Member, Senate Committee on 
Foreign Affairs, and Chairman and Ranking Minority Member, House 
Committee on Foreign Affairs>

Senators and Members of Congress,

Enclosed, please find my memo to Secretary Hill. I appreciate the 
rapidity with which the Senate considered and approved his nomination 
as Secretary of State.

The standards mentioned in the enclosed document will be used by the 
White House in the consideration of all Ambassadorial nominees. While 
I recognize that point 1 may cause discomfort to those used to the 
patronage value of such appointments, they have come to be an extreme 
detriment to the foreign relations of the United States.

While certain of the details in the enclosed document may require the 
appropriation of additional resources by the Congress, I note that the 
budget for FY13 had a surplus, we're proving to have a surplus 
thusfar, and FY14 is slated to have a surplus by GAO and CBO. I am 
certain that the members of the Congress believe, as I do, that the 
continual improvement in the capability of the diplomatic 
representatives of the United States is of the greatest importance. I 
am also certain that the Congress recognizes that in order for such 
improvement to occur, sufficient resources must therefore be 
appropriated by your august bodies.

I assure you each of my continued respect and good wishes.

Sincerely,
John Williams
President of the United States
---
Actions:

1. Setting out strict requirements for ambassadorial nominations, and 
therefore appointments. Notably: All ambassadors must be able to reach 
ILR levels of at least S4, L4, R4 and W4 in the target languages of 
their post.
2. Very respectfully inform the key members of the appropriate 
Congressional committees of these decisions, noting POTUS's assurance 
that they agree that having a high quality of diplomatic 
representation overseas matters, and also noting that, while certain 
of these decisions may require additional resources to be appropriated 
by the Congress, there appears to be a surplus budgeted and actually 
occurring for FY2013 (the current fiscal year, begun 1 October 2012), 
and there is a surplus projected by GAO and CBO for FY2014. POTUS is 
certain that Congress believes (as he does) that money should 
therefore be appropriated from said surplus in order to pay for these 
improvements.
3. When announcing these changes, trumpet them not only as improving 
the quality of the United States's diplomatic representation (which it 
would), but also as removing a part of government from the corrupt 
influence of patronage (which it would).