NATO Conference Is Canceled After U.S. Ambassador Barred a Trump Critic

[cigaretteman]

Deplorable:

Carla Sands, the United States ambassador to Denmark, in January at Christiansborg Castle in Denmark.Credit...Philip Davali/Ritzau Scanpix, via Associated Press


The United States ambassador to Denmark barred an American NATO expert critical of President Trump from speaking at an international conference hosted by the American embassy and a Danish think tank, prompting the event’s cancellation, organizers said.

The expert, Stanley R. Sloan, was scheduled to give a keynote speech at the conference, which was celebrating the 70th anniversary of NATO, on Tuesday.

Mr. Sloan, a visiting scholar at Middlebury College in Vermont, a fellow at the Atlantic Council and a former analyst for the Central Intelligence Agency, planned to speak about the future of trans-Atlantic relations.

One day before he was set to leave for Copenhagen, Mr. Sloan was informed that the United States Embassy in Copenhagen had vetoed his participation because of his previous criticisms of President Trump, Mr. Sloan said on Facebook on Saturday.

Carla Sands, the United States ambassador to Denmark, did not want Mr. Sloan to participate, and the Danish Atlantic Council “had no other option” than to revoke his invitation to speak, Lars Bangert Struwe, the secretary general of the council, said in a statement.

Mr. Sloan said the decision had left him “stunned and concerned about our country.”

On Sunday morning, Mr. Struwe canceled the NATO conference.

“After serious consideration, we have decided not to proceed with the conference,” he said on Twitter. “The progress of the process has become too problematic; and therefore, we cannot participate in the conference, let alone ask our speakers to participate.”

From a Danish point of view, the decision to bar Mr. Sloan would turn the conference’s focus to internal American politics and away from the future of NATO, Mr. Struwe said in an interview on Sunday. There were 12 people scheduled to speak, and about 100 attendees were expected, he said.

“We have all the time known that Mr. Sloan has a critical approach towards President Donald Trump,” Mr. Struwe said in the statement. “That is no secret, especially when following his Twitter and Facebook profile. We have, however, never doubted that Mr. Sloan at our conference would deliver an unpolitical and objective lecture.”

In his book, “Defense of the West,” published in 2016, Mr. Sloan discussed the impact that the Trump administration could have on the deterioration of trans-Atlantic relations, given its questionable support for NATO, its relationship with Russia and its response to threats from the Islamic State.

The United States Embassy in Denmark in a series of tweets on Sunday said Mr. Sloan had been added to the program at the last minute — without the same joint decision-making used in recruiting the other speakers.

The event’s cancellation was “unfortunate,” the embassy said, as it would have provided speakers and attendees an opportunity to exchange views and strengthen NATO for the future.

Mr. Sloan posted the speech he had prepared for the conference on Facebook, in which he thanked Ms. Sands for her expression of support for the democratic values that the alliance promotes.

Ms. Sands, who previously worked in the entrepreneurial, investment and philanthropic sectors, was confirmed by the Senate in 2017, according to the embassy’s website. She also served as a board member of several arts and education institutions in California and has a doctor of chiropractic degree from Life Chiropractic College, now Life University, in Marietta, Ga.

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/08/...ml?action=click&module=Latest&pgtype=Homepage

 

[BelemNole]

Yeah, sounds like a typical Trump Ambassador:

Sands was born Carla J. Herd, daughter of Jack (a chiropractor[5]) and Barbara Herd, on October 13, 1960. She grew up in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania. She studied fine art at Indiana University of Pennsylvania and history of art at Elizabethtown College but graduated from neither.[6] She later attended Life Chiropractic College, now Life University, and earned a degree in chiropractic.[7][8][9]

Career[edit]
Sands started a career in acting in 1987, appearing in several episodes of the TV Series "The Bold and the Beautiful".[10][11] In 1988 and 1989 she appeared in two movies, including Deathstalker and the Warriors from Hell.[12]

Sands worked as a chiropractor in private practice from 1990 to 1999. In 1995 she became engaged to but did not marry movie producer Larry Thompson. In 1998 Sands married real estate mogul Fred Sands. Following his death in 2015, she became the chair and CEO of Vintage Capital Group, which has around $150 million in assets, and of Vintage Real Estate.[9][13] In 2016, Sands donated nearly a quarter million dollars and organized high-dollar fundraisers for Donald Trump's presidential campaign. She also gave $100,000 to President Donald Trump's inaugural committee.[14][8][15][16] Sands was the 2016 California Delegate for the 33rd Congressional District to the 2016 Republican National Convention.[8][17]

 

[sober_teacher]

I'm honestly a little surprised they didn't go ahead and invite the speaker anyways. If previous criticism of POTUS is now a qualification, there won't be many who qualify.

 

[TJ8869]

Yeah, sounds like a typical Trump Ambassador:

As opposed to her predecessor, Rufus Gifford, whose primary qualifications for the job were serving as a senior staff member on Barack Obama’s 2012 reelection campaign and also a bit role in “Garfield: The Movie”.

Ambassadorships have long been distributed as a reward to people who help get the POTUS into the White House. Let’s not pretend Trump started this concept.

 

[BelemNole]

As opposed to her predecessor, Rufus Gifford, whose primary qualifications for the job were serving as a senior staff member on Barack Obama’s 2012 reelection campaign and also a bit role in “Garfield: The Movie”.

Ambassadorships have long been distributed as a reward to people who help get the POTUS into the White House. Let’s not pretend Trump started this concept.

Well, he graduated from a real college - so he already looks more qualified...

Gifford grew up in Manchester-by-the-Sea, Massachusetts.[3] He graduated from St. Paul's School in Concord, New Hampshire in 1992 and he received his B.A. from Brown University in Rhode Island.[2]

After college, Gifford moved to Hollywood and served as an assistant to producer John Davis. During his time there, he became the associate producer for Daddy Day Care, Life or Something Like It, and Dr. Dolittle 2, and appeared as an actor in the films Garfield: The Movie and The Hiding Place.[4]

Political career[edit]
Gifford started in Democratic politics by working on John Kerry's 2004 presidential campaign, and subsequently started his own consulting business and advised numerous Democratic officials and advocated for progressive causes across the country.

He first met then-Senator Barack Obama in January 2007, at a party hosted by Senator Ted Kennedy. Prior to the meeting, Gifford had been offered a job on Hillary Clinton's 2008 presidential campaign, but he declined and instead accepted the same job for Obama's campaign.[5]

After Obama took office, he served as Finance Director for the Democratic National Committee in Washington, D.C. before moving to Chicago as a senior staff member of President Obama's 2012 re-election campaign. As National Finance Director for the re-election campaign, he was ultimately responsible for the record-setting billion-dollar budget.[6]

 

[h-hawk]

Wonder what she gave Trump to get her ambassadorship

 

[TJ8869]

Well, he graduated from a real college - so he already looks more qualified...

Gifford grew up in Manchester-by-the-Sea, Massachusetts.[3] He graduated from St. Paul's School in Concord, New Hampshire in 1992 and he received his B.A. from Brown University in Rhode Island.[2]

After college, Gifford moved to Hollywood and served as an assistant to producer John Davis. During his time there, he became the associate producer for Daddy Day Care, Life or Something Like It, and Dr. Dolittle 2, and appeared as an actor in the films Garfield: The Movie and The Hiding Place.[4]

Political career[edit]
Gifford started in Democratic politics by working on John Kerry's 2004 presidential campaign, and subsequently started his own consulting business and advised numerous Democratic officials and advocated for progressive causes across the country.

He first met then-Senator Barack Obama in January 2007, at a party hosted by Senator Ted Kennedy. Prior to the meeting, Gifford had been offered a job on Hillary Clinton's 2008 presidential campaign, but he declined and instead accepted the same job for Obama's campaign.[5]

After Obama took office, he served as Finance Director for the Democratic National Committee in Washington, D.C. before moving to Chicago as a senior staff member of President Obama's 2012 re-election campaign. As National Finance Director for the re-election campaign, he was ultimately responsible for the record-setting billion-dollar budget.[6]

Aside from a college degree and helping Obama raise a billion dollars in campaign donations, do you see anything in there that made him particularly qualified to be our Ambassador to Denmark?

 

[BelemNole]

Aside from a college degree and helping Obama raise a billion dollars in campaign donations, do you see anything in there that made him particularly qualified to be our Ambassador to Denmark?

No, he was a political appointee like many before him. I don't like the practice, nor am I defending it. That doesn't change the fact that Sands is a particularly bad example. But feel free to continue that whataboutisim defense.

 

[Rifler]

Ambassadorships have always been handed out as political favors,... not good, but a very common practice by numerous administrations...

 

[TJ8869]

No, he was a political appointee like many before him. I don't like the practice, nor am I defending it. That doesn't change the fact that Sands is a particularly bad example. But feel free to continue that whataboutisim defense.

It’s not whataboutism to point out that Presidents of both parties give out ambassadorships as political favors and have done so since the early days of our nation. That’s just stating reality.

 

[BelemNole]

It’s not whataboutism to point out that Presidents of both parties give out ambassadorships as political favors and have done so since the early days of our nation. That’s just stating reality.

True, you did use "As opposed to" instead of "what about" - so that makes it completely different.