US diplomats struggle to defend democracy abroad as criticism mounts at home

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WASHINGTON (NYTIMES) - American diplomats who are the global face of the United States are struggling with how to demand human rights, democracy and rule-of-law abroad amid concerns overseas and criticism at home over the Trump administration's strong-arm response to the protests across the country.. Read more at straitstimes.com.

WASHINGTON - American diplomats who are the global face of the United States are struggling with how to demand human rights, democracy and rule-of-law abroad amid concerns overseas and criticism at home over the Trump administration's strong-arm response to the protests across the country.

"As American diplomats, it is our job to explain America to the world," Mr Eric Rubin, a career diplomat and former ambassador to Bulgaria, wrote in a letter on Wednesday to the union of American foreign service officers that he leads."We have always pointed to our story as being worthy of emulation."

More than 160 British lawmakers have called for ending exports of riot gear, tear gas and rubber bullets to the US - similar to a ban that Mr Trump and Congress placed last year on products to Hong Kong. Current officials who described frustration and concern in the diplomatic corps spoke only on the condition of anonymity for fear of retribution or of endangering their careers. The department is led by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who in the last year alone has pushed Trump to fire the agency's inspector general and refused to back foreign service officers who came under attack from Mr Trump over the issue of Ukraine.

Representative Tom Malinowski, who served as assistant secretary of state for democracy, human rights and labour in the Obama administration, said"the use of the military to violently disperse peaceful protesters in front of the White House was the biggest gift we could possibly have given to Putin or Xi Jinping and to every other dictator around the world who delights in arguing that America's government is no different than theirs".

"How many Black women have fled the State Department in the last five years?" she wrote."I felt angry that this career opportunity I dreamed of since I was 19 was something I had to flee to save myself." "Americans can no longer hide behind a vision of US exceptionalism," seven former career officials at the US Agency for International Development who are now with the Alliance for Peacebuilding wrote in a June 1 letter posted on Medium.

 

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Nope - they don't. Democracy is fully functioning in USA. What laws in Singapore do they have that are more 'democratic' Straits Times Editors? Lost your tongue?

It’s a known fact that democracy is a only false guise by the US to implement control over the sovereignty of other nations.

Hero

It takes generations of leaders to build a legacy but, only one selfish moron is needed to destroy it. In less than 4 years.

Peaceful protest is a normal event. It is an evidence about the power of democracy. Is it a problem?

Do not mess up. There is fundamental difference between protest problems in democratic system and fight against dictator power.

Don’t even bother until next January.

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