Ross Gets An Appointment But Maybe Not Quite the One He Wanted
Dennis Ross’ appointment was finally announced today. This appeared as a “press release†on the State Department’s website late this afternoon:
Appointment of Dennis Ross as Special Advisor for The Gulf and Southwest Asia
Robert Wood
Acting Department Spokesman
Washington, DC
February 23, 2009The Secretary is pleased to announce the appointment of Dennis B. Ross to the position of Special Advisor to the Secretary of State for The Gulf and Southwest Asia. This is a region in which America is fighting two wars and facing challenges of ongoing conflict, terror, proliferation, access to energy, economic development and strengthening democracy and the rule of law. In this area, we must strive to build support for U.S. goals and policies. To be successful, we will need to be able to integrate our policy development and implementation across a broad range of offices and senior officials in the State Department, and, in his role as Special Advisor to the Secretary, Ambassador Ross will be asked to play that role.
Specifically, as Special Advisor, he will provide to the Secretary and senior State Department officials strategic advice and perspective on the region; offer assessments and also act to ensure effective policy integration throughout the region; coordinate with senior officials in the development and formulation of new policy approaches; and participate, at the request of the Secretary, in inter-agency activities related to the region.
Ambassador Ross brings a wealth of experience not just to issues within the region but also to larger political-military challenges that flow from the area and have an impact outside of the Gulf and Southwest Asia, and the Secretary looks forward to drawing on that experience and diplomatic perspective.
There will no doubt be a wealth of commentary about what precisely this announcement will mean for Ross’s future authority and influence. But, if you compare it with the way the Washington Institute for Near East Policy (WINEP) advertised it to its Board of Trustees early last month — Ross will be “ambassador-at-large†and “the secretary’s top advisor on a wide range of Middle East issues, from the Arab-Israeli peace process to Iran†— it seems to fall significantly short. Short, that is, not just with respect to with the “topness†of his status as Clinton’s adviser, but also short in terms of his geographical scope since it appears his brief will be confined to the Gulf and Southwest Asia — regions in which, contrary to the press release’s words, he has very little, if any, direct experience.
That doesn’t mean Ross will not be influential in developing Iran policy, in particular, but his role seems to be a) strictly advisory, with no direct policy-making responsibility; and b) confined to the State Department, unless Clinton asks him to work with other agencies as well. His exclusive responsibility to the secretary — there is no mention of any direct tie to the president or the White House — stands as a rather dramatic contrast to both Special [Middle East] Envoy George Mitchell and Special [AfPak] Representative Richard Holbrooke whose authorities and responsibilities are linked explicitly linked to the White House, in addition to the secretary of state. That impression is naturally bolstered by the fact that Mitchell’s and Holbrooke’s appointments were announced in person by Obama, as well as by Clinton, and they will be reporting to the White House, in addition to the Secretary.
Read the rest of Jim’s post and comment on his blog.
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john lowell
February 24th, 2009 at 1:22 pm
Has AIPAC weighed in on this? I mean you don’t want to go about downgrading an “envoy” like Ross to “regional advisor” without checking with the boss, do you? Wait a week or two and see if there isn’t some “re-thinking” done about Ross’s capabilities.
And in the meantime, who’s that calling? Howard Friedman? Yes, suh, Mr. Friedman, suh. Why no, suh, Steppin Fetchit get it turned around right away for massa. He sho nuf gon fix it right now, you’ll see. Oh yeah, that Mr. Ross, he’s no “advisor”, he too smart for that. Yes, suh, you’ll see.
Roslyn
February 24th, 2009 at 2:03 pm
You hit the problem on the head, John. Thanks.
Foreign Agent
February 24th, 2009 at 3:04 pm
Does this mean that Ross will continue to receive a paycheck from the Israeli Gov’t (via the Jewish Agency sponsored JPPPI) and US taxpayers?
If so, which paycheck is bigger? Cuz that’s the question one always has to ask before calling back my real sponsors…
Steve Hogan
February 24th, 2009 at 9:20 pm
Or he could get a real job.
That was a joke.
Patrick Hayden
February 25th, 2009 at 2:00 am
Every well informed American knows to which state Dennis Ross’ loyalty lies. He is a menace to the national security of the U.S. and his only aim is to drag Americans into more racist, colonial and never-ending wars against Muslims (one-fifth of the World’s population). Those who foolishly thought President Obama will bring “change”, should realize now that the Bush era is not over yet.
Ricardo Kolbe
February 25th, 2009 at 2:33 am
Sir, I don’t have a good feeling when reading that Mr. D. Ross became advisor reporting to Mrs. Clinton. Although his area is restricted to the Gulf region and other non-Arab countries, it is believed that he will work very hard to enlarge the area to include Israel and the occupied territories.If you read his book “The Missing Peace, The Inside story of the Fight for Middle East Peace” and his statements referring to the events in 2000, that only Mr. Arafat is responsible for the failure, while ex-President Clinton clearly indicated that the Israeli ex-premier General Ehud Barak had no courage to sign a deal that would have brought peace to the area, then you know in which direction the new “Yes, we can” foreign policy of the Obama admin. will go.
R. Nelson
February 25th, 2009 at 11:38 pm
Call me an old chauvinist if you must, but is it too much to ask that Americans placed in high positions at least not double as paid shills for foreign governments? What’s even more bothersome than their working for alien governments, is the thought that they’d do that same work for free if need be.
wadosy
February 26th, 2009 at 7:13 am
yehezkel dror is the founder of JPPPI and thinks jews should abandon moral behavior.
dennis ross is chairman of the board of JPPPI and he’s just been appointed special US envoy to the Middle East.
think of all the good ross’ appointment will do in negotiations with, for instance, iran, hamas and hezbollah… seeing as how we’ve appointed an envoy who has abandoned moral behavior.
tikkun olam at its finest.
Thomas
February 26th, 2009 at 8:24 am
Jim Lobe is my weatherman……. He sees the temperature and WIND direction OOOOOOO so well…
Without Jim, Antiwar.com and people like them, we [I] would be feeling around in the DARK…
We are watching an incredible process of learning who Obama IS……and I have a feeling….
that Obama is along for the RIDE too…….to find out WHO Obama will be WHEN push inevitably
givez way to shove…..in American politics………. Thanks for the Cliffs Notes Jim….
Lear K
February 27th, 2009 at 6:28 am
Israel planning mass expansion of West Bank settlement bloc
“The plans propose the initial construction of 550 apartments in Gva’ot, located near Alon Shvut in the Gush Etzion settlement bloc, followed by construction of another 4,450 units at a later stage. At present, Gva’ot is inhabited by 12 families. The neighboring settlement of Bat Ayin, which has about 120 families, is slated to receive another 2,000 apartments..”
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1067319.html
Stealing more Palestinian lands for Jews only!
What peace!
john lowell
February 27th, 2009 at 7:44 am
It is absolutely amazing to me, and very sad, to watch a people so absolutely decimated by a virulent racist nationalism in Europe in the 1930s and 1940s develop a darn good imitation of that very same phenomemon on their own soil. The genuine possibility of there being a Bibi/Liebermann government in Isreal brings to mind the alliance of the Nationalist von Papen with the National Socialist Hitler in 1933. The moral highground the State of Israel enjoyed as a consequence of the Nazi persecutions has been utterly sqandered over the last few decades. And I’m afraid that the worst is yet to come.
Lear K
February 27th, 2009 at 11:24 am
The Fox Guarding the Chicken Coop
Dennis Ross and Iran
“Dennis Ross is best known as the dishonest broker who led the so-called negotiations between the Israelis and the Palestinians during the Clinton Administration. He was “Israel’s lawyer,†to use Aaron David Miller’s apt description of the role that Ross’s “negotiating team†played in the Clinton era, particularly in 1999-2000. [2]
Ross, along with Martin Indyk—who was Clinton’s national security advisor and the US Ambassador to Israel—is a cofounder of the Washington Institute. [3] After leaving office in 2000, Ross became the director of the WINEP. Once the 2008 presidential election approached, Ross jockeyed for a position, left his directorship job and became a “Consultant†to the institute.[4] Originally, Ross and Indyk represented one wing of the WINEP, a wing which appeared to be close to the Israeli Labor Party. Another wing, closer to the Likud Party, and particularly Benjamin Netanyahu, consisted of individuals such as Richard Perle and Paul Wolfowitz, individuals who played a pivotal role in planning the invasion of Iraq. [5] The difference between the Likud and the Labor wing of the Washington Institute was mostly one of the means employed rather than the end sought. [6] Both wings of the WINEP, similar to Kadima, strove toward a “Greater Israel†(Eretz Yisrael) that includes all or most of “Judea and Samaria.â€
http://www.counterpunch.org/sasan02272009.html
hardtruth
February 27th, 2009 at 12:29 pm
NATO Master Narrative on Afghanistan wikileaked:
http://wikileaks.org/wiki/Wikileaks_cracks_NATO%27s_Master_Narrative_for_Afghanistan
Password was “progress”.
hardtruth
February 28th, 2009 at 4:15 am
That it goes unmentioned by the mainstream media is only to be expected, protecting evil from its own reflection being their primary role. But you’d think the decrypted leak of NATO’s master media operator directives would be worthy of AntiWar’s attention.
Ike Hall
February 28th, 2009 at 2:52 pm
Links or it didn’t happen.
Ike Hall
February 28th, 2009 at 2:52 pm
Sorry, blind and stupid. I see it now.
hardtruth
March 1st, 2009 at 2:21 am
I should have relinked.
Still no mention on the Antiwar front page. Are they ignorant or scared?
UK media aren’t reporting it either.
http://wikileaks.org/wiki/Wikileaks_cracks_NATO%27s_Master_Narrative_for_Afghanistan
prada
November 17th, 2011 at 1:04 am
Devo sottolineare, che in tutto il tempo che ho speso on-line, a seguito di siti di informazione, non ho letto uno come utile e ben fatto come questo, io non frequentemente commentare web log comunque per te io sentito il bisogno di fare un'eccezione, questo è certamente il lavoro veramente alto e completamente opposta a quella sciocchezze, che trascorrono gran parte del mio tempo on line, lettura. Grazie per aver dedicato del tempo e investire lo sforzo di presentare i vostri lettori con un rapporto di 1 ° classe. Non vedo l'ora di leggere molto di più del tuo lavoro, ancora applausi.
Lancel
November 17th, 2011 at 11:03 pm
Merci de prendre le temps de discuter de cela, je crois fermement à ce sujet et de l'amour en apprendre davantage sur ce sujet. Si possible, comme vous acquérir de l'expertise, auriez-vous l'esprit la mise à jour de votre blog avec plus d'informations? Il est extrêmement utile pour moi.
Sac longchamp
November 24th, 2011 at 12:57 am
Une fois de plus grand poste. Vous semblez avoir une bonne compréhension de cesthemes.Come sur et garder sur votre écriture blog.expecting pour quelque chose de plus attrayant.
ralph lauren
December 28th, 2011 at 1:44 am
Des Etats-Unis, Ralph lauren 2012 marque de style printemps de nouvelles chaussures avec une approach lourde aristocratique médiévale. Bullock couleurs de chaussures durante cuir design and style mixte, ou the ministère de la princesse T-chaussures de design and style, ont adopté l'ensemble des meilleures de la première couche de tissus durante cuir, l'utilisation intelligente d'une boucle, creux, et de glands et d'autres éléments, donc chaussures de cette saison de changer de forme and also multiports.