This was an excellent article.
One of the things that I learned from other reading is that the "Mr. Smith" in question was the one who consistently misread and minimized - possibly even wilfully - the threat posed by Chavez and the resurgence of the virulent left in Latin America. Hence, he was to a great extent responsible for our failure to aggressively support Venezuelans who were working against Chavez, be prepared for Castro's sudden surge in influence, etc.
I think that's worth getting a little angry about!
One of the things that I learned from other reading is that the "Mr. Smith" in question was the one who consistently misread and minimized - possibly even wilfully - the threat posed by Chavez and the resurgence of the virulent left in Latin America. Hence, he was to a great extent responsible for our failure to aggressively support Venezuelans who were working against Chavez, be prepared for Castro's sudden surge in influence, etc. I think that's worth getting a little angry about!What you say adds up. As a former ambassador to Venezuela Amb. Reich was in a position to really understand what was happening. He also said in this piece:
...I most certainly did complain to Smith's supervisor about the consistently unacceptable quality of his work. My actions are now being distorted and attributed to Mr. Bolton in order to harm his nomination.