New US envoy: The devil in the diplomatic detail
Re: "We don't choose sides, we choose principles", Exclusive Interview, October 29.
This excellent report of the new US ambassador’s answers to sharp questions posed by your reporter, Veenarat Laohapakakul, reminded me of Sir Winston Churchill’s words: “Diplomacy is the art of telling people to go to hell in such a way that they ask for directions.”
Here are a few examples:
“The longer the delay to the general election, the harder it is for Thailand to achieve democracy.”
Really? By rushing for an election, might not chaos ensue?
The ambassador was also reported as saying that the Thai government should open up space for discussion and debate, before adding that the US does not see itself as the judge or jury to decide Thailand’s political direction. He then expressed confidence in Thailand as a model for others.
“We do not choose sides but we choose principles,” he said.
The message is that the US will not interfere in Thai politics. But then comes the sting: We will interfere under the guise of principles. What a thicket of contradictions!
They culminated in the ambassador’s claim that, as a friend of Thailand, the US will help Thais to achieve the objective of returning to the democratic path.
Sir Winston would have been proud!
Songdej Praditsmanont
