时事新闻:奥巴马选大使唯"钱"是举?
【英文原文】
Donors Find A Home In Obama's Ambassador Corps
摘要：前副总统蒙代尔(Walter Mondale)、前参议院多数党领袖曼斯菲尔德(Mike Mansfield)和贝克尔(Howard Baker)及前众议院议长福里(Tom Foley)都曾担任驻日本大使，他们在这个充斥着军事与贸易紧张关系的地区经营着美国与日本这一复杂而重要的盟友的关系。
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.
【中文译文】
驻东京的美国大使馆官邸见证过许多名噪一时的人物。前副总统蒙代尔(Walter Mondale)、前参议院多数党领袖曼斯菲尔德(Mike Mansfield)和贝克尔(Howard Baker)及前众议院议长福里(Tom Foley)都曾担任驻日本大使，他们在这个充斥着军事与贸易紧张关系的地区经营着美国与日本这一复杂而重要的盟友的关系。
奥巴马总统对这个职位的人选不同于以往：在旧金山湾区担任律师的鲁斯(John Roos)曾是奥巴马在硅谷地区的主要筹款人，号称捐款“打包机”。他并没有外交经验。
娱乐业大亨里夫金(Charles Rivkin)是捐大使的积极人士之一奥巴马选择鲁斯和其他政治上的支持者──如因超人的筹款能力被称为“真空吸尘器”的前投资银行家萨斯曼(Louis B. Susman)和匹兹堡钢人队(Pittsburgh Steelers)的老板鲁尼(Dan Rooney)──已经引起了一些人的不满，他们认为总统应该让资深外交家们也能听到他变革的颂歌。
监督组织Public Citizen的政府事务游说者霍尔曼(Craig Holman)说，我们任命这些筹款人不但侮辱了这些国家，而且也是拿美国在这些主要国家的外交努力冒险。
这种紧张关系可以追溯到去年奥巴马竞选总统之时，当时他曾称布什总统把外交政策极端政治化了。奥巴马说，他保证这种人事安排是以业绩为依据，而不是基于党派或意识形态。由前外交官组成的协会──美国外交学院利用这些意见游说奥巴马，希望将从外事部门以外挑选的大使人数所占的比例从肯尼迪总统任期以来的平均30%降至10%。（布什总统时期为33%。）
据响应性政治中心(Center for Responsive Politics)称，在奥巴马政府迄今提名的55名大使中，有33人，即60%都是外事领域之外的人。
由于还有几十个职位的空缺，这个比例肯定会向职业外交家倾斜。
白宫发言人威尔多(Tommy Vietor)说，总统在1月份时曾表示，他将提名完全合格的人选，如鲁斯、前众议员罗默(Tim Roemer)和迪亚兹(Miguel Diaz)这种不见得来自国务院，但希望在重要外交岗位为国家服务的人员。
奥巴马选择了一些重量级的外交人物。外交专家称赞了驻伊拉克大使希尔(Christopher Hill)、驻阿富汗大使艾肯伯里中将(Karl Eikenberry)中将和驻联合国大使赖斯(Susan Rice)的经验。
白宫助手说，鲁斯和其他大使提名人选的代表称，他们在任命确认前不予置评，这是所有获得提名者的惯例。
外交学院院长、已退休的外交官纽曼(Ronald E. Neumann)警告说，奥巴马的阵容究竟如何，现在还言之过早。当政府更迭时，第一批离任的大使往往是前总统的政治委派者；这些空缺同样也将由新的政治委派者来填补。事实上，鲁斯在东京的前任就曾是布什的商业合伙人，不过他在担任驻日本大使前曾任驻澳大利亚大使。
