時事新聞:奧巴馬選大使唯"錢"是舉?
【英文原文】
Donors Find A Home In Obama's Ambassador Corps
摘要：前副總統蒙代爾(Walter Mondale)、前參議院多數黨領袖曼斯菲爾德(Mike Mansfield)和貝克爾(Howard Baker)及前衆議院議長福裏(Tom Foley)都曾擔任駐日本大使，他們在這個充斥着軍事與貿易緊張關係的地區經營着美國與日本這一複雜而重要的盟友的關係。
The U.S. Embassy in Tokyo has seen its share of luminaries in the ambassador's suite. Former Vice President Walter Mondale, former Senate Majority Leaders Mike Mansfield and Howard Baker and former House Speaker Tom Foley are among those who have brokered relations with a complex and critical ally in a region bristling with military and trade tensions.
President Barack Obama's pick for the post is from a different mold: John Roos, a San Francisco Bay area lawyer, was the president's chief Silicon Valley fundraiser and contributions 'bundler.' He has no diplomatic experience.
Mr. Obama's choice of Mr. Roos, along with other political boosters -- from former investment banker Louis B. Susman, known as the 'vacuum cleaner' for his fundraising prowess, to Pittsburgh Steelers owner Dan Rooney -- has raised eyebrows among some who thought the president would extend his mantra of change to the diplomatic corps.
'We're not only insulting nations [that] we're appointing these bundlers to, we're risking U.S. diplomatic efforts in these key countries,' said Craig Holman, a government-affairs lobbyist at watchdog group Public Citizen.
This tension can be traced back to Mr. Obama's claim during last year's campaign that President George W. Bush engaged in an 'extraordinary politicization of foreign policy.' Mr. Obama said he instead would ensure that hires are based on merit, rather than party or ideology. The American Academy of Diplomacy, an association of former diplomats, seized on the comments in lobbying him to lower the portion of ambassadors drawn from outside the foreign-service establishment to as little as 10% from the 30% average since President John F. Kennedy's tenure. (Mr. Bush's score was 33%.)
Of the Obama administration's 55 ambassadorial nominees so far, 33 -- or 60% -- have gone to people outside the foreign-service ranks, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.
That ratio is almost certain to tilt back toward career diplomats as dozens of the remaining posts are filled.
'The president said in January that he would nominate extremely qualified individuals like Mr. Roos, former Congressman Tim Roemer, and Miguel Diaz, who didn't necessarily come up through the ranks of the State Department, but want to serve their country in important diplomatic posts,' said White House spokesman Tommy Vietor.
Mr. Obama has chosen some diplomatic heavy hitters. Diplomacy experts have praised the experience of Christopher Hill, ambassador to Iraq; Lt. Gen. Karl Eikenberry, ambassador to Afghanistan; and United Nations Ambassador Susan Rice.
Representatives of Mr. Roos and other ambassadorial nominees said they wouldn't comment before confirmation, a customary position for all nominees, White House aides said.
Ronald E. Neumann, president of the Academy and a retired Foreign Service officer, cautioned that it is far too early to tell how the Obama lineup will look. When administrations turn over, the first ambassadors to leave their posts often are the prior president's political appointees; those spots are first to be filled, in turn, with new political appointees. Mr. Roos's predecessor in Tokyo, in fact, was a former business partner of Mr. Bush, although he had served as ambassador to Australia before the Japan post.
【中文譯文】
駐東京的美國大使館官邸見證過許多名噪一時的人物。前副總統蒙代爾(Walter Mondale)、前參議院多數黨領袖曼斯菲爾德(Mike Mansfield)和貝克爾(Howard Baker)及前衆議院議長福裏(Tom Foley)都曾擔任駐日本大使，他們在這個充斥着軍事與貿易緊張關係的地區經營着美國與日本這一複雜而重要的盟友的關係。
奧巴馬總統對這個職位的人選不同於以往：在舊金山灣區擔任律師的魯斯(John Roos)曾是奧巴馬在硅谷地區的主要籌款人，號稱捐款“打包機”。他並沒有外交經驗。
娛樂業大亨裏夫金(Charles Rivkin)是捐大使的積極人士之一奧巴馬選擇魯斯和其他政治上的支持者──如因超人的籌款能力被稱爲“真空吸塵器”的前投資銀行家薩斯曼(Louis B. Susman)和匹茲堡鋼人隊(Pittsburgh Steelers)的老闆魯尼(Dan Rooney)──已經引起了一些人的不滿，他們認爲總統應該讓資深外交家們也能聽到他變革的頌歌。
監督組織Public Citizen的政府事務遊說者霍爾曼(Craig Holman)說，我們任命這些籌款人不但侮辱了這些國家，而且也是拿美國在這些主要國家的外交努力冒險。
這種緊張關係可以追溯到去年奧巴馬競選總統之時，當時他曾稱布什總統把外交政策極端政治化了。奧巴馬說，他保證這種人事安排是以業績爲依據，而不是基於黨派或意識形態。由前外交官組成的協會──美國外交學院利用這些意見遊說奧巴馬，希望將從外事部門以外挑選的大使人數所佔的比例從肯尼迪總統任期以來的平均30%降至10%。（布什總統時期爲33%。）
據響應性政治中心(Center for Responsive Politics)稱，在奧巴馬政府迄今提名的55名大使中，有33人，即60%都是外事領域之外的人。
由於還有幾十個職位的空缺，這個比例肯定會向職業外交家傾斜。
白宮發言人威爾多(Tommy Vietor)說，總統在1月份時曾表示，他將提名完全合格的人選，如魯斯、前衆議員羅默(Tim Roemer)和迪亞茲(Miguel Diaz)這種不見得來自國務院，但希望在重要外交崗位爲國家服務的人員。
奧巴馬選擇了一些重量級的外交人物。外交專家稱讚了駐伊拉克大使希爾(Christopher Hill)、駐阿富汗大使艾肯伯裏中將(Karl Eikenberry)中將和駐聯合國大使賴斯(Susan Rice)的經驗。
白宮助手說，魯斯和其他大使提名人選的代表稱，他們在任命確認前不予置評，這是所有獲得提名者的慣例。
外交學院院長、已退休的外交官紐曼(Ronald E. Neumann)警告說，奧巴馬的陣容究竟如何，現在還言之過早。當政府更迭時，第一批離任的大使往往是前總統的政治委派者；這些空缺同樣也將由新的政治委派者來填補。事實上，魯斯在東京的前任就曾是布什的商業合夥人，不過他在擔任駐日本大使前曾任駐澳大利亞大使。
