Vermont Council on World affairs – December 9, 2013, key note address - Robert Gosende; via RG by email
‘Black Hawk Down: How Should the U.S. Deal with Change across North Africa and the Middle East?”
Many thanks for your invitation for me to speak this afternoon. I am honored and I will try to live up to your expectations but I am afraid that I will have no quick solutions to offer to the challenges that our country faces these days in North Africa and the Middles East. I hope to get through my remarks quickly so that we can get to what I believe will be the most important part of our time together today – the discussion that I hope my remarks will inspire –
But some background information on me and my wife is perhaps in order first: We were very much a Foreign Service family in the countries where we served so in my remarks I will be speaking on behalf of the two of use but Mary Beth is here so you should feel free to direct questions to her about her overseas experiences as well.
We were born and grew up on Massachusetts and studied in Massachusetts and then, in the case of Mary Beth, at the University of California at Berkeley. We are children of the late 50’s and early 60’s. We were much moved by President John F. Kennedy’s inaugural address when he said that Americans should not be asking what their country might do for them but rather what they could do for their country. Soon after this, in 1963 we were offered the opportunity to serve as faculty members of the University of Massachusetts at Amherst on a USAID project that UMass had been awarded to build a senior secondary school and teachers training college in Tororo, Uganda – in the very heart of Africa. Largely as a result of JFK’s exhortation, we went to Uganda where we served for three years. And then we knew that we wanted to continue working in development and international educational exchange so we sought out employment in the U.S. Foreign Service. We were accepted into the Foreign Service of the United States Information Agency and were sent off on our first diplomatic assignment to Tripoli, Libya, where I was Assistant Cultural affairs Officer and English Teaching Officer and Mary Beth taught at the American Oil Companies School and at the Wheelus Air Force Base High School. After some 19 months we were transferred to Mogadishu, Somalia where I served again as an ACAO and ETO and Mary Beth taught at the American School of Mogadishu. In another 21 months we were again transferred this time to Pretoria, South Africa, where I was responsible for setting up U.S. Information Service Offices in Gaborone, Botswana and Maseru, Lesotho and for overseeing USIS operations in Cape Town and Durban, South Africa. Seven months later we were transferred to Cape Town, South Africa where I served as the U.S. Information Service Director and Mary Beth began teaching math, physics, and chemistry immediately after our arrival at the German Junior-Senior High School. By 1973 we were completing our assignment in South Africa and were transferred to Warsaw, Poland via Washington, D.C. for Polish language training. We arrived in Warsaw in 1974 where I was Cultural Attaché in the America Embassy and Mary Beth established an American High School in the basement of our home as was the Eastern European Representative for the American Soybean Association. We were in Warsaw for four years, until just before Solidarity burst onto the scene in Poland. We came home for a domestic assignment after fourteen continuous years abroad. And then we returned to South Africa for a second tour between 1983/86 while South Africa descended into a downward spiral of violence and racial conflict. I served then as the U.S. Embassy’s Minister-Counselor for Public Affairs supervising U.S. Information Service activities across the country and Beth served Mary as a professor of nutrition at the University of Pretoria, then an exclusively white institution and at the Medical University of South Africa, an exclusively black institution. Her stories of bringing together white and black university students in their own country could take up the whole of our time together this evening. Returning to Washington in 1986 I became the senior career officer in the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA). Mary Beth resumed teaching and tutoring in the Washington, D.C. area. The Bureau I worked in provided support of our Embassies abroad in the conduct of their educational exchange programs, libraries and information centers, English Teaching Centers, student counseling centers, and the many activities they engaged in to establish linkages between universities and colleges abroad and U.S. colleges and universities. We also then provided support for the presentation of American culture abroad working to assist individuals and organizations in the plastic and performing arts American as they sought to establish international contacts and opportunities for exchange. By 1992 my Washington assignment was coming to an end and it was time for us to again work abroad. I was assigned to the 1992/93 academic year to teach at the Georgetown University School of Foreign Service and penciled in to open the first U.S. Embassy in Asmara, Eritrea when suddenly in early December I was assigned as Public Affairs Officer for the U.S. intervention into the humanitarian crisis in Somalia. After two months in that assignment I was appointed President Clinton’s Special Envoy for Somalia during the period when we had some 25,000 U.S. troops on the ground there alongside another 13,000- troops from the 21-nation coalition that President GHW Bush had assembled for that humanitarian effort. Following the October 3-4, 1993 battle that has come to be known as the Black Hawk Down incident, I was replaced as Special Envoy as our policy in Somalia shifted radically from supporting the Somalis as they attempted to establish a viable government to U.S. force-protection – i.e. the U.S. would tolerate no further loss of U.S. life there. This was a grievously bad decision.
Mary Beth and I went on to one further diplomatic assignment between 1995 and 1998 where we served at the America Embassy in Moscow in the Russian Federation. I was the Embassy’s Minister-Counselor for Public Affairs and Mary Beth served as the Assistant Principal at the America School in Moscow.
Summary of above: Mary Beth and I served abroad between 1964 and 1998 in Uganda, Libya, Somalia (twice), South Africa (twice), Poland and the Russian Federation. During this period we were assigned in Washington 1979 through 1983 and 1986 through 1991. We retired from the Foreign Service from Moscow in 1998 and moved to our present home in Guilderland, NY just west of Albany. I served as the Senior Officer overseeing international education at the State University of New York until 2010. Mary Beth has served in New York’s capitol region as a math, chemistry and physics tutor and on the boards of educational organizations devoted to the improvement of early childhood education – especially literacy.
But what of our relations now across North Africa and the Middle East?
I chose the title of this evening’s presentation deliberately to highlight the use of military intervention so that I might draw a contrast now with what I think we should be focusing on these days as change has come to the political order across North Africa and the Middle East. It will perhaps be useful to quickly trace what countries we are talking about starting with Morocco in northwest Africa: and those would be, in addition to Morocco, (Western Sahara – known as Spanish Sahara until 1991 and still completely controlled by Morocco while it tries to find consensus on the terms of a UN-sponsored referendum), Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Egypt, Sudan, Somalia, the Somali Republic (de-facto independent), Eritrea, Ethiopia, Djibouti, Senegal, The Gambia, Mauritania, Burkina Faso, Sierra Leone, Nigeria, Nigeria, Chad, Lebanon, Syria, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Iraq, Oman, the United Arab Emirates, Oman, Qatar, and Kuwait. And, though they are not technically enumerated as part of the Middle East, Turkey shares borders and religious and cultural affinity with Iran, Iraq, and Syria so it is intimately impacted by events across the region and our relations there need to be very much in our thinking this evening. I think we also have to include Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and India in our thinking this evening.
Muslims now constitute some 23% f the world’s population or some 1.6 billion people. They are divided among those who follow the Sunni tradition or interpretation of the Koran and those following Shiia tradition. Some 87% of all Muslims are Sunnis. Countries with the most Shiia followers are Iran, Iraq, Azerbaijan, Yemen, Lebanon, Pakistan, Syria, Turkey, Afghanistan, and India. As you all have heard, Sunni-Shiaa conflict is intense. The population of the countries we are talking about this evening totals some approximately 876,000,000 of the total world Muslim population of 1.6 billion and they include the countries in which Sunni/Shiia rivalry is the most intense.
Just by enumerating these countries you will recognize that they were the subject of colonialization on the part of Western European countries or the United Kingdom or the Ottoman Empire or most recently by the Soviet Union. This colonialization was seldom peaceful. It was most often accompanied by violence as the colonial power exerted it will forcibly onto people it considered its subjects. Think here about the history of the British occupation of India and Pakistan or British activities in Afghanistan, and the French occupation of Algeria, or the Italian attempts at colonialization in Libya, Somalia, Eritrea and Ethiopia and the Soviet incursion into Afghanistan.
Though we did not attempt to colonize any parts of this region, we most certainly played an active role in exerting influence on this region at key moments over the past century. The following are examples of what I am speaking about which has led to skepticism and cynicism on the part of people living in the region toward U.S. policies.
Iran: Consider here our collaboration with the United Kingdom in the removal from office of Iran’s democratically elected Prime Minister, Mohammed Mossadegh, in 1953. After our Presidential elections of 1952, which brought Dwight Eisenhower to the White House, the U.S. Government shifted away from its policy of, if not supporting Mohammed Mossadegh, at least staying clear of any attempts to overthrow him. However, when President Eisenhower was elected in 1952, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill approached his close World War II partner, Dwight Eisenhower, proposing that the U.S. participate in the removal of Mossadegh from power. Our President agreed and a U.S. CIA plot was hatched, Operation Ajax, which succeeded in removing Mossadegh from office in 1953. His sin had been to nationalize the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company which had developed Iran’s vast oil reserves and was gobbling up the vast majority of the country’s oil revenues. Mossadegh was accused of being in league with Iran’s Communist party, the Tudeh. Mossadegh himself was sent into house arrest in his own home where he died in 1967. Many of his closest associates were sentenced to jail terms and some were executed. The U.S. embarked upon a long close association with the Iranian monarch, Shah Reza Pahlavi, which came to an end in 1079 with the return of the Ayatollah Khomeini to Tehran in 1979 and quickly thereafter the occupation of the U.S. Embassy in Tehran where 52 hostages were held for 444 days and released the day after Ronald Reagan took office in 1981. These horrific events, needless to say, color our relationship with Iran to this day but the recent developments give reason for us to be somewhat more optimistic about U.S./Iranian relations although the hard work is just now beginning on this.
Last week the Rutland Herald and the Barre Times Argus published in its Perspective Section an article by Haviland Smith who the papers list as a retired CIA Station Chief who served in East and West Europe and the Middle East and as Chief of the Counterterrorism Staff. Mr. Smith concludes that the agreement that our government has worked out with Iran “looks pretty favorable for the U.S.” Mr. Smith begins his discussion of U.S./Iranian relations with November 4, 1979 when a group of students took over that American Embassy in Tehran saying that we have been at odds ever since. It is really strange that he makes no mention of Operation Ajax and the U.S.G. sponsored removal of Iran’s elected Prime Minister in 1953…this act has loomed heavily over our relationship with Iran all along.
Egypt: It is accurate to say that the intellectual, spiritual, cultural center of Shiia Islam is Iran. It is probably also accurate to say that Egypt plays that role in the Sunni Islamic world. Certainly, Cairo is a major center if not the major center for culture, communication and academic activities for Sunni Islam. Egypt’s key geographic location astride the Suez Canal and bordering on Israel has made it a major focus for the attention of the U.S. The popular belief of many Egyptians over the past decades has been very cynical toward the some $1.3 billion dollars in annual assistance we have accorded them since the Egyptian/Israeli Accords were signed on September 17, 1978. This was a major achievement coming some 18 months after President Carter took office but also served to lock the U.S. into a long term commitment to support the military dominated government of Egypt in the persons of Anwar Sadat, and after his assassination, Hosni Mubarak. This 1.3 billion dollar commitment has been divided with some I billion going to Egypt’s military and the remainder to other assistance programs. The vast majority of the 1 billion dollars in military assistance has gone over the years to U.S. defense contractors who have supplied the Egyptian military with equipment. Over the years as the Mubarak government/regime grew ever more autocratic our close association came to be viewed very cynically by Egyptians. When the Arab spring burst forth in Tunisia and quickly spread to Egypt literally forcing the Mubarak government from power within days, our government sent a high-ranking former U.S. Ambassador to Egypt to speak with people to try to gain perspective on what was going on - as if our Embassy in Cairo had not figured that out! This emissary declared that in his view President Mubarak “should be allowed to lead the way forward.” In other words Mubarak should remain in office though the crowds in Tahrir Square were clearly calling for him to resign. Egyptians looked on this with deep cynicism. The envoy in question, former U.S. Ambassador to Egypt Frank Wisner, actually worked at the time for Patton, Boggs, a consulting firm with contracts with the Egyptian Government.
Israel: The U.S. recognized Israel at its birth in 1948 and has remained a steadfast ally ever since. The U.S. is perceived across North Africa and the Middle East as unreasonably biased toward Israel. One of the major questions facing Arabs and Israelis now in Israel and Palestine is the so called two-state solution but perhaps the solution” in 1948 should have been a two state solution in the first place so that the creation of a new state, Israel, would not have come about as a result of denying one group, the Palestinians, the right to existence in their own land - to right to their own state. Suffice it to say here that how the U.S. deals with its relationship with Israel is closely watched across the region and, most often, our actions are perceived to be in favor of Israel over its Arab neighbors. We need to be ever-careful of this as we work to regain credibility in the region.
So where does this leave us know? One distinguished retired U.S. Ambassador, Charles Freeman, recently wrote an excellent article in the Globalist entitled, American Diplomacy and the Rule of Law. Ambassador Freeman points out that Americans have always believed that societies that respect the rule of law and rely upon democratic debate to make decisions are more prosperous, successful and stable than those who do not and that we can only spread freedom by setting an example that others see as worthy of emulation. So we should
- Revive the 4th Amendment ban on searches and seizures of person, house, papers, and other personal effects without probable cause and end extraordinary rendition and eavesdropping, warrantless seizure of paper and electronic records at our borders, and intrusive inspection of anything and everything in the possession of passengers using public transportation.
- Restate the 5th Amendment’s protections against deprivation of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law. No more suspension of habeas corpus or executive branch assertions of a right to detain or even kill people, including American citizens, without charge or trial.
- Return to respect for the 6th Amendment’s guarantee of the right of anyone accused of a crime to be informed of the charges and confronted with the witnesses against him and to be represented by a lawyer. No more “secret” evidenced.
- Return to the 8th Amendment’s prohibition of “cruel and unusual punishments,” including torture. And we must reaffirm our adherence to the several Geneva Conventions. We Americans can have no credibility as advocates for human rights if we do not practice what we preach.
Mary Beth and I worked abroad for 36 years focused on international education. It was an endlessly exhilarating experience from when were junior high school teachers in Uganda trying to keep up with Ugandan girls who had grown up without television and thus had entertained themselves by reading everything they could get their hands on. They were reading and speaking at senior high school level when they arrived at our school at the beginning of the seventh grade. And they were full of charm and good humor and optimism.
Out tours of duty in South Africa, Somalia, Libya, Poland and Russia were crammed with more exhilarating experiences working with young people in those countries. We were on about something that really interested people in those countries. But our programs were always woefully underfunded – we were always out of funs long before we ran out of qualified and interested students and good ideas.
International educational and cultural exchange activities are now the best opportunity our country has to regain its credibility across the world. We should be leading with such programs now across North Africa and the Middles East – across the Muslim world. There are now just on 2,000 Egyptian students studying in our country. This is a wholly inadequate number for U.S. and Egyptian interests in the future.
However, I would like to conclude this evening by speaking about how we should be changing ourselves right here in the U.S. That call to service that John F. Kennedy issued in his 1961 inaugural address is every bit as relevant today as it was all those years ago. Every American should be called to serve our country in one way or another. One of the reasons we were so respected abroad in the past was because of the way we treated each other. And here I am not referring only to the terrible income disparity that has developed in the U.S. but also to the respect we had for each other, and especially young people, by what we called upon them to do. Am I calling for reestablishment of the draft? Yes, draftees were enormously important for our Armed Services and this was not only in terms of manpower but also because of the infusion of what I would call democratic reality to the services. Retired General Stanley McChrystal, former Commander in Afghanistan, recently called for the return of the draft saying, “I believe we need a draft. America’s defense should be performed by a representative cross-section of the population.” The General realizes that the presence of a broad spectrum of Americans within our Armed Services would be positive across the board for our country.
But I suggest more here. Service to our country should be a requirement of citizenship. Young Americans should have the opportunity to serve their country for a two year period following high school or college. We should make it possible for people to fulfill that service obligation at the local, state or national levels across the widest possible spectrum of opportunities. During times of international crisis or war, service should be mandatory in the U.S. military. There is nothing more serious that any country can do than to cross an international border and begin shooting people. The waging of war should involve as many of us as possible in every possible manner – from service in the military to paying appropriate taxes in the present to pay for the war. And as our Constitution states, Congress should have to declare war – something that has not happened in our country since 1941. But service during times of peace in civilian capacities is universally important for us now. It will help all of us regain a sense of national purpose.
I will close with some quotations from a retired U.S. Army Colonel and West Point professor and graduate, Dr. Andrew Bacewicz, who is now a Professor of International Relations and History at Boston University. Professor Bacewicz has written extensively on American foreign policy and diplomacy and most especially on the role and use of our military in recent years. He has been a persistent and vocal critic of the U.S. occupation of Iraq, calling the conflict a catastrophic failure. In the spring of 2007, Professor Bacewicz described President George W. Bush’s endorsement of preventive wars as “immoral, illicit, and imprudent”. In 2010 he wrote, “Who is more deserving of contempt? The commander-in-chief who sends young Americans to die for a cause, however, misguided, in which he sincerely believes? Or that commander-in-chief who sends young Americans to die for a cause in which he manifestly does not believe and yet refuses to forsake?
I look forward to your questions and our discussion.
Image from, with caption: Faculty/Staff Update www.eastlongmeadowhighschool1964.com - 364 × 442 - Search by image Robert Gosende (History Teacher, 1961-64)—b.
Image from, with caption: Faculty/Staff Update www.eastlongmeadowhighschool1964.com - 364 × 442 - Search by image Robert Gosende (History Teacher, 1961-64)—b.
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