Most of you must be wondering about my dual allegiance i.e. to the Crown (UK) and the U.S., which you must know started from the 13 British colonies.

How about this WAIS post by Timothy Brown from his book Diplomarine?

Excerpt: “A minor aside. One of the most active American champions of the Kurdish cause was the late Governor of Nevada Mike O’Callaghan, a close personal friend, to whom I dedicated Diplomarine. O’Callaghan was many things, among them a very devout Catholic, a Sergeant in the Israel Defense Forces that went to Israel at least once a year to help repair tanks, a champion of the Nicaraguan Contras and, as the Senator says in his comments in Diplomarine, both my mentor and the mentor of Senator Harry Reid. I leave it to others to try to explain which was a product of the Governor’s nature and which was a result of his nurture.

JE comments:  How does a devout Catholic end up in the Israeli Defense Forces?  And how does that jibe with becoming the governor of a US state?

In the game of political realism, do the Kurds really have any “champions”?  Or are they seen as a useful foil to our enemy du jour (Saddam Hussein, ISIS, and whatever may come next)?

A Kurdish State? (Timothy Brown, USA, 12/29/15 11:47 am)

https://waisworld.org/go.jsp?id=02a&objectType=post&o=101281&objectTypeId=80414&topicId=59

Here’s another WAIS post from Timothy Brown a former Marine and Diplomat on multiple citizenship of a US citizen

Excerpt: “To make the story a bit shorter, she was legally a citizen of five countries, including the US. She was Israeli because she had automatically become an Israeli citizen when her parents immigrated to Israel. She was also a German because of her father, French because of her mother, British because of her wartime husband, but perhaps still a US citizen.

A bit bewildered myself, to be sure I wrote up her case and sent to the State Department for adjudication. State concurred that she was legally still a US citizen because she had been misinformed otherwise by a Vice Consul. Once that decision reached my desk, bewildered but happy, I issued her a US passport with which she left my Tel Aviv office, US passport in hand.

Can a US citizen also be a citizen of another country–or two, or three, or more? YES. ‘Nuf said.

From: An Extraordinary Case of Multiple Citizenships (Timothy Brown, USA, 05/04/17 8:42 am)

https://waisworld.org/go.jsp?id=02a&objectType=post&o=113591&objectTypeId=85033&topicId=127

 

 

I highly recommend Timothy C. Brown’s book “Diplomarine ” Reviews:

Ambassador Myles Frechette, himself a professional diplomat, calls Diplomarine “a celebration of a life lived to the full serving the United States; a book I simply couldn’t put down. Brown is a master storyteller who entertains and amazes you as he tells you about his life. He has a funny, unvarnished, almost swashbuckling style, and interweaves recollections of life as a Marine, diplomat and academic with wise reflections on what he learned along the way. He describes working on several continents as well as his experiences in ideological conflicts in Central America and Southeast Asia. His vantage point is not that of a senior military or diplomatic practitioner but of the man on the ground carrying out instructions sometimes based on an inaccurate understanding of local reality or, occasionally, on policies that cannot achieve their announced objectives. Empathetic, and with an instinctive cultural sensitivity, the reader can’t help but admire his self-confidence, ability to spot opportunities and quick thinking. “

Juan Tamayo, of the Miami Herald, says Diplomarine is “a great read for anyone interested in how the United States views and interacts with other countries and other peoples by a veteran diplomat, a 27-year veteran of the State Department, who was far more boots-on-the-ground than striped pants and suspenders. His snappy stories of good and bad ambassadors, smart and dumb U.S. policies, provide more lessons on foreign relations than any academic tome.”

Robert Morton, of NewsMax and Geostrategy, formerly of the Washington Times, adds, “Brown is that rare former ‘U.S. official’ who can both write well and keep readers awake simultaneously. In Diplomarine he makes a convincing case that there is no real substitute for life experience, common sense and humor. This travelogue of a fascinating life makes for a thoroughly enjoyable and often hilarious education about important aspects of 20th Century U.S. foreign policy that the history books may have covered, but without Tim Brown’s down-to-earth anecdotes and insights.”

Dr. Bill Ratliff, a Fellow at the world renown Hoover Institution, calls Diplomarine “a rare, possibly unique, bottom-up presentation of diplomacy with a Chaucerian flair that relates fascinating and exciting experiences on important foreign policy issues with a freshness and verve that will appeal to a broad audience, even those too young to remember many of the events on which he worked. Especially valuable are the author’s very candid, and at times politically incorrect, insights into the ideas, events, policies and groups with which he dealt. An invaluable portrait of the lives of Americans serving abroad painted by a true insider, Diplomarine has all the makings of a New York Times best seller.”

For Dr. Paul Manoukian it’s “a riveting autobiographical account of the author’s experiences and adventures during his almost four decades as a Marine and Foreign Service Officer. Wending its way from country to country, the book exposes the often practical ironies of foreign policy and multifaceted relationship between the Foreign Service and other parts of the government. Diplomarine also offers the reader rare insights into the stresses and dangers of raising a family in the Diplomatic Corp. Close shaves, near misses and competing agendas keep the pages turning as the reader gradually begins to understand the extraordinarily complex variables that govern the expression and implementation of America’s foreign policies in the field.” A riveting account of experiences and adventures; a celebration of life; a great read full of common sense and humor; a rare, possibly unique presentation of diplomacy with a Chaucerian flair; a thoroughly enjoyable, often hilarious education on events in 20th Century U.S. foreign policy the history books may have covered, but without Brown’s down-to-earth anecdotes and insights; all the makings of a New York Times best seller. Who could ask for anything more?

https://www.amazon.com/DIPLOMARINE-Terrorism-Cocktail-Parties-Painful/dp/1481134744

Photo from wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mike_O%27Callaghan

Early life

Born in La Crosse, Wisconsin, O’Callaghan later moved to Sparta, where his family subsistence farmed.^[3] He lied about his age to join the U.S. Marine Corps, at the age of 16 and served from 1946 to 1948.

He attended Boise Junior College and joined the U.S. Air Force in 1950 and served as an intelligence operator in the Aleutian Islands. O’Callaghan was transferred to the U.S. Army in 1952 in order to see combat and lost part of his left leg after being hit by a mortar round during a battle in the Korean War. He was awarded the Silver Star and Bronze Star and returned to the United States.

O’Callaghan resumed his college studies at the University of Idaho in Moscow and completed his bachelor’s and master’s degree in education in 1956,^[4] then became a high school teacher and boxing coach in Nevada.^[5] He was U.S. Senator Harry Reid‘s history teacher at the Basic High School in Henderson and later promoted Reid’s political career. From 1961 to 1963, he was the chief probation officer and director of court services for Clark County.