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Human Rights Crusader Samantha Power To Be Next U.N. Ambassador

Benjamin Li |
July 9, 2013 | 3:00 p.m. PDT

Staff Reporter

Obama’s announcement to appoint Samantha Power as the 28th American ambassador to the United Nations has sparked a great deal of controversy lately. 

The bubbling contention in Washington intensified when conservatives gathered to express their indignation at Obama’s decision the night before Independence Day.

“Her position is easily confused with that of people who are actually enemies of the United States,” said Frank Gaffney of the Center for Security, a Washington-based national security think tank.

Power has a reputation in political circles as an idealistic crusader of human rights, particularly as an impassioned spokesperson for the anti-genocide movement. Despite her Washington-bred background as an alumna of both Yale and Harvard Law, Power is notorious for being decidedly undiplomatic, blunt, and straightforward.

(Steve Rhodes/Flickr Creative Commons)
(Steve Rhodes/Flickr Creative Commons)
Her unabashed directness and extreme humanistic ideals have made her quite a few enemies in the political arena, and have repeatedly ensnared her in problematic situations. 

For example, Power was forced to resign from Obama’s 2008 presidential campaign after she called Hillary Clinton a “monster” who would “stoop to any level.” 

Power’s straightforwardness is not limited to press interviews—her direct personality is also evident in her idealistic perceptions of humanitarianism.

Many of Power’s opinions on sensitive situations suggest a failure to fully appreciate the diplomatic consequences that her views may have.

During the Obama administration’s frustrations in Libya with Gaddafi, Power pushed for military intervention to prevent war atrocities, saying that failure to carry out the moral obligation to prevent crimes to humanity would have been “extremely chilling, deadly, and indeed a stain on our collective conscience.”

Power’s involvement in American foreign policy with Libya reflects her ardent support of military involvement for humanitarian causes, a position which concerns many politicians in light of America's recent problems regarding involvement in the Middle East. 

As if interventionism wasn’t already a touchy subject, Power is also known to be outspoken about the Israel-Palestine conflict—but not in a way most American politicians would appreciate.

During an interview in 2002, Power answered a "thought-experiment" regarding the state of affairs between Israel and Palestine by calling for American aid “not in servicing Israel’s military, but actually investing in the new state of Palestine” to establish a military presence in Palestine and prevent war crimes.

The two-and-a-half-minute-long video raised accusations of anti-Semitism, which have since been disavowed by Power. Power has been working towards making amends with the Jewish community ever since.

She is also extremely unpopular among conservatives for her advocacy of American “mea culpa” diplomacy, urging American politicians to adopt an apologetic stance for past war crimes.

“A country has to look back before it can look forward,” wrote Power in an essay published in the New Republic magazine. “Instituting a doctrine of the mea culpa would enhance our credibility by showing that American decision-makers do not endorse the sins of their predecessors.”

Despite her controversial statements and extreme moral standpoints, Samantha Power’s ideals seem to come from a good place, rooted in her experiences in the humanitarian world. Her early experiences in Bosnia as a wartime journalist exposed her to genocide and human suffering in a way that most White House politicians have never known, which helps to explain her fiery anger for human rights abuses and willingness to use military intervention.

Power is the author of the Pulitzer Prize winning book “A Problem From Hell,” which outlines the history of the American government’s responses to international genocide. 

Before the recent appointment, she was also an experienced player in the Obama administration as Special Assistant to the President, and as Senior Director for Multilateral Affairs and Human Rights in the National Security Council.

Though her scholarly credentials, work experience, and contributions to the world of human rights should be more than enough to validate her new position as U.N. ambassador, Power's critics remain firm.

“Ms. Power is an uber-left, militant progressive,” said Allen West, a former Republican congressman in Florida. “Her previous statements against America and Israel should cause us concern.”

Her controversies and questionable statements may hinder her rise in Washington, but perhaps what American diplomacy needs right now is a blunt, undiplomatic politician like Power: uninterested and inexperienced in the world of political relations and interested only in promoting peace and preventing human suffering.

Reach Staff Reporter Benjamin Li here.



 

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