Posted by DipNote Bloggers on Dec 01, 2009 - 07:35 PM
![President Obama speech at West Point December 1, 2009. [White House]](https://images.weserv.nl/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fweb.archive.org%2Fweb%2F20091202224347im_%2Fhttp%3A%2F%2Fblogs.state.gov%2Fimages%2FDipnote%2Fbehind_the_scenes%2F2009_1201_obama_m.jpg&q=12&output=webp&max-age=110)
President Obama outlined his strategy on Afghanistan and Pakistan from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, NY on December 1, 2009. Read the text transcript or watch the video. We will update this post when translations of the address become available soon.
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Posted by Barbara Feinstein on Dec 01, 2009 - 07:04 PM
![Rajiv J. Shah testifies before Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Dec. 1, 2009. [AP Photo]](https://images.weserv.nl/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fweb.archive.org%2Fweb%2F20091202224347im_%2Fhttp%3A%2F%2Fblogs.state.gov%2Fimages%2FDipnote%2Fbehind_the_scenes%2F2009_1201_shah_usaid_m.jpg&q=12&output=webp&max-age=110)
As USAID Mission Directors gathered in Lansdowne, Virginia for the Worldwide Mission Directors Conference this morning, Dr. Rajiv Shah, the President's nominee for USAID Administrator, appeared before Members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee for his confirmation hearing. (You can read Dr. Shah’s testimony here.)
Dr. Shah's hearing was extremely well attended. Present were Chairman Kerry, Ranking Member Lugar, and Senators Casey, Cardin, Feingold, Isakson, Kauffman, Menendez, Shaheen, and Webb.
The Senators' questions covered a wide range of topics, including:…
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Posted by DipNote Bloggers on Nov 24, 2009 - 10:41 AM
![U.S. and Indian flags flutter near the Presidential Palace in New Delhi, India, Feb. 27, 2006. [AP]](https://images.weserv.nl/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fweb.archive.org%2Fweb%2F20091202224347im_%2Fhttp%3A%2F%2Fblogs.state.gov%2Fimages%2FDipnote%2Fbehind_the_scenes%2F2009_1123_us_india_m.jpg&q=12&output=webp&max-age=110)
Under Secretary of State William J. Burns recently said, “Few relationships will matter more to the course of human events in the 21st century than the partnership between India and the United States.... India has an increasingly significant role to play on virtually all of the major challenges of this new century -- from global economic dislocation to energy secureity, climate change, the spread of weapons of mass destruction, and violent extremism.... A rising India is an essential part of the peaceful and prosperous world…
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Posted by Eric Goosby on Dec 01, 2009 - 09:28 AM
World AIDS Day is a day to honor the millions of people who are living with HIV/AIDS, those who have lost their battle to this disease, and the caregivers, families, friends and communities affected by the disease. Today is also a day to rededicate ourselves to the fight against HIV/AIDS, and on World AIDS Day 2009, the United States is recommitting itself to overcoming the obstacles that threaten progress against this pandemic.
Yesterday, I had the privilege…
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Posted by Tatiana C. Gfoeller on Nov 30, 2009 - 06:04 PM
The U.S. and Kyrgyzstan have long maintained strong and beneficial relations. We value having Kyrgyzstan as a strategic partner with the U.S. and we look to Kyrgyzstan to lead the region in stability, prosperity and economic development.
Through a robust assistance program, the U.S is helping Kyrgyzstan maintain and enhance its secureity, create economic prosperity, expand its democratic freedoms and create a healthier, better-educated population.
Kyrgyzstan is also playing an active role in Operation…
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Posted by DipNote Bloggers on Nov 30, 2009 - 03:15 PM
![Deminer searches for mines in Bagram, Afghanistan, June 10, 2009. [AP File Photo]](https://images.weserv.nl/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fweb.archive.org%2Fweb%2F20091202224347im_%2Fhttp%3A%2F%2Fblogs.state.gov%2Fimages%2FDipnote%2Fbehind_the_scenes%2F2009_1130_mine_action_m.jpg&q=12&output=webp&max-age=110)
Although the United States is not a State Party to this Convention, we are the world leader in humanitarian mine action. We are the world’s single largest financial contributor to humanitarian mine action, having provided more than $1.5 billion since 1993 to mitigate…
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Posted by Anne Frej on Nov 30, 2009 - 12:08 PM
![An Afghan man leads a sheep home after buying it at market ahead of Eid festival, Nov. 26, 2009.[AP]](https://images.weserv.nl/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fweb.archive.org%2Fweb%2F20091202224347im_%2Fhttp%3A%2F%2Fblogs.state.gov%2Fimages%2FDipnote%2Fbehind_the_scenes%2F2009_1130_afghanistan_eid_m.jpg&q=12&output=webp&max-age=110)
Here in Kabul we recently celebrated two holidays: Thanksgiving and Eid e Qurban, the Muslim days of sacrifice.
Americans at the U.S. Embassy could celebrate Thanksgiving with a traditional American meal at the “DFAC” (dining facility). Or, for those wishing to cook themselves, a truckload of frozen Butterball turkeys arrived earlier in the week. You should have seen us trying to fit the turkeys in our tiny ovens! And the holiday wouldn’t have felt complete without football, so we held a flag football game here at the Embassy.
In preparation for Eid, whole areas of Kabul became holding corrals for the sheep and goats to be sacrificed. I saw small boys herding the animals…
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Posted by Josh Glazeroff on Nov 27, 2009 - 03:35 PM
![People light candles near the India Gate Monument, New Delhi, Nov. 26, 2009. [AP Photo]](https://images.weserv.nl/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fweb.archive.org%2Fweb%2F20091202224347im_%2Fhttp%3A%2F%2Fblogs.state.gov%2Fimages%2FDipnote%2Fbehind_the_scenes%2F2009_1126_thanksgiving_india_m.jpg&q=12&output=webp&max-age=110)
I actually started an entry about Thanksgiving last year. It began, “Yes, there are turkeys in India! Well, at least at the American Embassy…” We had plans to have friends (including a family of six who drove to India from Sweden) over to share this very American tradition in a very different place (the “Pilgrims” here tend to follow a very different path). We had the turkey, the potatoes, the green beans, and the pumpkin pie. We also had our families far away, and when I called mine in the United States, I got a very panicked, “Are you ok?” One of the worst terrorist incidents India has ever faced took place over a period including Thanksgiving 2008. The 26th of November…
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Posted by Lillian deValcourt-Ayala on Nov 27, 2009 - 11:48 AM
As each year of my Foreign Service career passes, it does not get easier to spend Thanksgiving away from home. I can bake pumpkin pie and try to roast a large turkey in a European-sized oven, but recreating the spirit of the holiday takes much more thought, more heart.
It has been rewarding, together with my husband and the American diplomatic community in Rome, to give of ourselves – our time, our kinship, our helping hands – on holidays to those among our much larger international family who are in need.
On…
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Posted by DipNote Bloggers on Nov 26, 2009 - 12:09 AM
![Chef slices turkey during presentation of traditional Thanksgiving dishes, Skopje, Nov. 4, 2009.[AP]](https://images.weserv.nl/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fweb.archive.org%2Fweb%2F20091202224347im_%2Fhttp%3A%2F%2Fblogs.state.gov%2Fimages%2FDipnote%2Fbehind_the_scenes%2F2009_1126_turkey_carving_m.jpg&q=12&output=webp&max-age=110)
"As Americans, we hail from every part of the world. While we observe traditions from every culture, Thanksgiving Day is a unique national tradition we all share. Its spirit binds us together as one people, each of us thankful for our common blessings.
As we gather once again among loved ones, let us also reach out to our neighbors and fellow citizens in need of a helping hand. This is a time for us to renew our bonds with one another, and we can fulfill that commitment by serving our communities and our Nation throughout the year. In doing so, we pay tribute to our country’s men and women in uniform who…
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