Do Pigs have Lips?

Some things can be said in a thousand ways and they still seem to come out the same. Richard Giedroyc in his column "Around the World", World Coin News, February 2008 added a new twist this month to complaints about State Department spin and internal policy. Referring to the imposition of import restrictions on coins of Cypriot type, Giedroyc wrote, "Although it is likely there are politics veiled behind the State Department decision of July 2007, Undersecretary of State Nicholas Burns tried to put lipstick on this pig by saying the move would help Cyprus battle 'those who would plunder its heritage and seek to sell that heritage illegally'." Kudos to Mr. Giedroyc for hitting the nail on the head so graphically and succinctly. Unfortunately, the other end of that nail is trying to penetrate steel plate.

In all fairness to Undersecretary Burns, it is unlikely that he knows much, if anything, about the history or nature of ancient coin collecting. If he had even a remote clue, he might not have tossed collectors and the legitimate market, who are the inevitable victims of this State Department action, into the same bag with plunderers and black marketeers. Clearly taking his script from philosophically anti-collector bureaucrats at the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA), Mr. Burns seems merely to have been a Master of Ceremonies for what was in essence a gloat fest. ECA once again proved to the world, and especially to Washington's elected and appointed officials, that the government is really run by mid-level bureaucrats and woe be unto anyone who tries to oppose their view or stand in their way. He certainly could not have understood the issues and still, in clear conscience, suggested that the manipulative ECA action on Cypriot import restrictions served the interests of society.

When the U.S. Congress decided, after more than a decade of careful deliberation, to implement parts of the UNESCO Convention of 1970, a precise and thoughtful series of safeguards was included to assure that this law would not be used as a weapon against legitimate trade in objects from the past. These wise safeguards have over time been circumvented by administrators who turned at least one element of the State Department into a haven and a hammer for ideologues. These bureaucrats have their own view of what policy and law should be in America and they know how to orchestrate events to suit their own agenda. In a recent media article, former Bush Administration official John Bolton called them "shadow warriors". He sees the State Department as "one of the savviest bureaucracies in Washington, experts in co-opting, seducing or subverting political appointees." Although Mr. Bolton's focus was on Iran and North Korea, rather than on cultural property, his observations can be applied with equal legitimacy to ECA.

In the very near future, the Senate will be holding confirmation hearings for two Bush nominees that would replace Dina Powell and Karen Hughes. Hopefully, nominees Goli Ameri (Assistant Secretary of State for Educational and Cultural Affairs) and James Glassman (Undersecretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs) will be made aware of the transparency issues and the ideological views that have long permeated the departments they hope to manage.