Amb. Ryan Crocker: Secretary of State Clinton did the job right (re: Benghazi)

[riversedge]

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Jesse Lehrich ?@JesseLehrich 3h3 hours ago

Amb. Ryan Crocker, who served as ambassador to 6 countries under 4 presidents:

Secretary Clinton did the job right
http://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2015/11/13/hillary-clinton-state-libya-afghanistan-syria-iraq-column/75666568/ #p2


Amb. Ryan Crocker: Secretary of State Clinton did the job right
Thank you Amb Crocker.



Ryan Crocker 10:17 a.m. EST November 13, 2015
With 38 years in the Foreign Service, I know Hillary as a smart and decisive leader.



(Photo: Alex Brandon, AP)



The appearance of former secretary of State Hillary Clinton before the House Select Committee on Benghazi raised very important questions on diplomatic security, the relationship between the secretary of State and her ambassadors and leadership. My experience during 38 years in the Foreign Service, including six assignments as an ambassador, has given me a perspective on these issues that differs from some of the arguments developed by the Committee.

First, about security. Every secretary of State and every ambassador has security as a top priority. It is a dangerous world, and we are everywhere in it. An ambassador is responsible for the security of her personnel and her embassy. Internal defense plans, risk assessment, movement controls, adequate defensive systems — these are all on the shoulders of the chief of mission. The department is responsible for getting her what she says she needs. There is no perfect security. Risk has to be measured against mission requirements, and only the ambassador can do that.

The State Department is organized for crises. When the balloon goes up, you don’t email the Secretary. You call the Operations Center. Staffed around the clock, Ops will put you in instant contact with State Department principals, wherever they may be in the world. It’s our 911, and it works.

It probably won’t be the secretary you’re talking to in a security crisis. I was ambassador to Afghanistan under Secretary Clinton. We had some bad days there. In September 2011, the Embassy endured a 12 hour standoff attack by heavily armed terrorists. Clinton stayed abreast of the unfolding situation and made clear that we should get anything we needed. She followed up in the aftermath. ..............

[Thinkingabout]

1. A great endorsement of someone who worked with Secretary Clinton, thanks, she is great and will

run the office of presidency in the same manner.

[riversedge]

4. Yes, those who worked with here know the truth.

[randys1]

2. Here is what ALL OF YOU reading this here at DU should know, BETTER god damn know

Once all the shouting is over, there is NO question, GOD DAMMIT, that any Democrat is better than any republican when it comes to anything, let alone dealing with all the crazy shit that goes on outside this damn country.

[BootinUp]

3. Good read. nt

[Agschmid]

5. Thanks.

[oasis]

6. Kick and colossal RECOMMEND.

[Rose Siding]

7. "smart, decisive, calm, good humored and always considerate"

That's what we're seeing throughout this campaign.

Hillary Clinton was a terrific boss. She is smart, decisive, calm, good humored and always considerate of her subordinates. She was, in short, a great leader. It was an honor to serve her.

[riversedge]

9. Yes. We see those descriptors every day on the trail as I read what she is doing and the

proposals she is putting out.


.............More than two years later, she swore me in as ambassador to Afghanistan. After the ceremony, she asked me to remain, and the two of us sat down. No aides and no notes. She basically laid out my work plan: reset our strained relationship with President Karzai and negotiate a comprehensive bilateral agreement with the Afghan government (the president traveled to Kabul to sign it the following May). She was clear, direct and focused. I left knowing what I needed to get done and that she would be very much engaged.

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That didn’t mean that she would be on the phone regularly when I was in Kabul. I worked closely with Marc Grossman, a career Foreign Service officer who had succeeded Richard Holbrooke as Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan. He saw then-secretary Clinton regularly, conveying her guidance to me and relaying my views and assessments. That’s how the business of diplomacy works — the secretary should not be the action officer, even (or especially) for the toughest posts. Complex issues require careful staffing and coordination to insure that the secretary has everything she needs to make the right decision. That was just as true in Condi Rice’s State Department as Hillary Clinton’s.

When she visited Kabul or I joined her for major Afghanistan conferences elsewhere, then-secretary Clinton was always focused, wanting to hear from me what she needed to get done and then going out and doing it. Unique among senior U.S. officials, she had excellent rapport with Hamid Karzai, which she used effectively to advance our agenda.

Hillary Clinton was a terrific boss. She is smart, decisive, calm, good humored and always considerate of her subordinates. She was, in short, a great leader. It was an honor to serve her.

[William769]

8. Kick & highly recommended!

[DesertRat]

10. k&r

[Cha]

11. Thank you, rivers.

[mcar]

12. Excellent

K&R