US diplomats cry foul as Obama donors take over top embassy jobs

[IDemo]

72. Almost the entire rest of the article supports my position

While Barzun may be one of the rare ones with money and capability, some in the diplomatic community disagree with buying your way into an embassy.

Susan Johnson, president of the American Foreign Service Association (AFSA), which represents career US diplomats, added: "The giving of ambassadorships to people who have raised a lot of money for the campaign has increased and that's a concern to us in particular.

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"In a few exceptional cases they are not detracting from credibility of diplomatic service, but at the scale it's being done it is undermining the concept of a career diplomatic service and weakening the strength and capacity of the diplomatic service."

And,

The Foreign Service Act of 1980, states that "contributions to political campaigns should not be a factor in the appointment of an individual as a chief of mission." *

At at time when the US is reaching the limits of its "hard power", career foreign service staff argue it is time for professional diplomacy to mount a comeback.

* Not that any Act actually serves to limit the exercise of power anymore.