"US ambassador to Russia quitting after Olympics; McFaul says he wants more time with his family" by Kathy Lally | Washington Post, February 05, 2014
Ah, the CIA's paper!
SOCHI, Russia — US Ambassador Michael McFaul, the architect of President Obama’s effort to reset American relations with Russia, said Tuesday that he will leave his post at the conclusion of the Olympics to return to Stanford University.
McFaul, who has been ambassador for two years, said he was resigning to rejoin his family, who returned to California in the fall so that his older son could finish his high school years at home.
‘‘We tried to make a [5,600-mile] commute work for our family,’’ he wrote in a blog post. ‘‘But after seven months of separation, I simply need to be with my family again.’’
McFaul, well-known for his extensive use of Twitter and other social media, titled his blog post: ‘‘It’s Time, My Friend, It’s Time.’’
(Cheers erupt)
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McFaul, 50, arrived in Moscow as ambassador in January 2012, deeply experienced in the region, appreciative of the culture, and carrying heavy, unwelcome baggage. Before coming to Russia, he served on the National Security Council as Obama’s chief Russia adviser. Before that, he was a Stanford University professor, writing extensively on democracy in this part of the world.
That academic background was enough for President Vladimir Putin and other officials to consider McFaul a provocateur.
So do I.
He was greeted with suspicion, with one Russian political scientist writing that McFaul had been sent by Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton to promote revolution and encourage unwelcome democratic initiatives.
Which is strange because the Russian protests started just after he got there.
McFaul was followed by hostile television crews, who harassed not only him but also the people he met with if those people happened to be involved with the human rights movement or the political opposition.
The ambassador continued his efforts, for the most part maintaining good humor, except for one encounter where he told a particularly aggressive pack that they represented a ‘‘wild’’ country.
In a statement, deputy National Security Adviser Ben Rhodes said McFaul ‘‘has been tireless in advocating for the universal values that America stands for around the world, reaching out to civil society, and recognizing the right of every voice to be heard.’’ Obama, Rhodes said, is ‘‘deeply grateful’’ for McFaul’s efforts.
What would those be, torture and mass murder based on lies?
Who is Ben Rhodes anyway?
‘‘For the immediate future, my base of operations will be Stanford University,’’ McFaul wrote in his blog post. ‘‘But a part of me — an emotional part, an intellectual part, a spiritual part — will always remain in Russia. That was true before I joined the government. It will remain so forever after.’’
I wish they had kept them.
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Also see: Sunday Globe Special: McFaul Calling
I'm not going to answer it.
