FReeper wildbill posted on
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/chat/3039051/posts?page=8#6
needs to be shared
Why do the morons in the State department and the politicians continue to send ambassadors to Muslim countries who are almost guaranteed to be ignored and/or disrespected? I refer to women ambassadors of course.
The fact is that women in almost all Muslim countries have a different status in the culture. It is part of their religion and the region seems to be reverting back to a stricter form of Islam which doesn’t bode well for liberation of women.
In our arrogance, we seem to feel that by pushing our women in diplomatic jobs into positions of power that interact with government officials that we will change their culture or that they will ignore their own feelings of superiority in dealing with them.
I often wonder if Muslims don’t privately think we are insulting them and their culture by sending women ambassadors to their countries. We should take into consideration the mores of the culture that represents such a large segment of the world.
This isn’t a misogynist rant. I respect the many talented women in our diplomatic corps, but surely our purpose shouldn’t be to put their careers ahead of the national interest. Why not take the ambassadorships such as England and France that traditionally go to rich male campaign donors off the table as political plums doled out by Presidents to their supporters. Let our most talented women serve there—or in posts in countries which don’t have a religious bias against women. It isn’t our job to change the world to meet our own cultural preferences..
First, people may not understand the process on how ambassadors are assigned to a country. When the WH decides on who should be ambassador to a particular country, the name is sent privately to the country asking them for agreement', i.e., the country accepts that person. A country can refuse an ambassadorial nominee before the name ever becomes public or is put before the senate for confirmation. The other countries do the same thing when assigning ambassadors to the US. So every woman nominated as an ambassador to a muslim country has received agreement'.
You can't and shouldn't lump all muslim countries together re how they treat women. Countries like Pakistan and Indonesia (the biggest Muslim country in the world) have had women PMs. Many muslim countries have sent women as ambassadors to the US and elsewhere.
I often wonder if Muslims don’t privately think we are insulting them and their culture by sending women ambassadors to their countries. We should take into consideration the mores of the culture that represents such a large segment of the world.
Self-censorship is the worst censorship of all. Should we send Jewish-Americans to be ambassadors to Muslim countries? We have. How much should we accommodate Muslims whether here or abroad? Doesn't our culture also deserve to be respected? Should we give tacit approval to the Muslim treatment of women by not assigning women to represent us in their country?
Other western countries have assigned women as ambassadors to muslim countries. It is not only the "morons" in the State Department.
This isn’t a misogynist rant. I respect the many talented women in our diplomatic corps, but surely our purpose shouldn’t be to put their careers ahead of the national interest. Why not take the ambassadorships such as England and France that traditionally go to rich male campaign donors off the table as political plums doled out by Presidents to their supporters. Let our most talented women serve there—or in posts in countries which don’t have a religious bias against women. It isn’t our job to change the world to meet our own cultural preferences..
Nonsense. We should not be ashamed of our culture or our values. We deal with Muslim countries in many different fora whether it is in international organizations like the UN or in regional organizations. Many Western countries have women heads of state. Angela Merkel has visited many Muslim countries. Should she wear an abaya or a veil when visiting with the heads of these countries?
Maybe to be even more respected and loved, we should only send Muslim-American males as Ambassadors to muslim countries.
Most career officers can't afford to be ambassadors to the UK and France. The representational allowances don't cover any where near the costs.