| Submit your comments on this article |
| Home Front: Politix |
| Nicholas Burns to step down |
| 2008-01-19 |
 Nicholas Burns, undersecretary of state, is retiring after 25 years of service to join the private sector.His resignation was announced by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Friday. Burns, 51, is to be replaced by his namesake, though no kin, US Ambassador to Russia William Burns. ‘’This is a very bittersweet time for us, because Nick Burns has decided to retire,’’ Rice said. Burns has served as State Department spokesman and US ambassador to and Greece. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #6 ‘’This is a very bittersweet time for us, because Nick Burns has decided to retire,’’ Rice said. Considering that she could have not included the "sweet" part, methinks she had no tears about the departure. But diplomats is diplomats..... |
| Posted by: OyVey1 2008-01-19 21:18 |
| #5 We were burned by Burns. Put him on the POTG tour. |
| Posted by: Icerigger 2008-01-19 13:00 |
| #4 Â’This is a very bittersweet time for us, because Nick Burns has decided to retire,Â’Â’ Rice said The Bitter: 25 years in striped pants and probably another 40 collecting his monthly govt kiss in the mail while writing "tell all" books and lecturing impressionable college students about the evils of Uncle Sap. The Sweet: No longer undermining the US from within. |
| Posted by: regular joe 2008-01-19 08:02 |
| #3 And another heir of Alger Hiss steps up. |
| Posted by: g(r)omgoru 2008-01-19 05:51 |
| #2 "He should be given the respect, dignity and hospitality in the US that a Palestinian leader deserves." Actually, I thought Rudy did just that. |
| Posted by: GORT 2008-01-19 04:00 |
| #1 Here is an NRO article on Mr. Burns, a Clintonite: Nicholas Burns and the Clinton Legacy at State [Andy McCarthy] Reports indicate R. Nicholas Burns, the State Department's Number 3 official, will be stepping down. A career foreign service officer, Burns will best be remembered for his most visible post: the Clinton administration's top State Department spokesman during the mid-1990s. It was thus he, on behalf of Secretary of State Warren Christopher, who lambasted then-New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani for having the temerity to eject Yasser Arafat from Lincoln Center when the PLO terror master crashed a private event held in connection with the UN's 50th anniversary. Arafat "is the leader of the Palestinian people," Burns scoffed at the time, according to Agence-France Presse (Oct. 24, 1995). "He should be given the respect, dignity and hospitality in the US that a Palestinian leader deserves." When it was pointed out that Fidel Castro, as well as Arafat, had been excluded from several City functions, Burns countered, "Arafat is someone we have a good relationship with. I have no comment on Castro." For those keeping score, that was after Arafat's first Intifada but before his second Intifada. |
| Posted by: Alaska Paul 2008-01-19 00:14 |