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From: wolda002@umn.edu
Date: Tue Feb 02 2010 - 00:59:50 EST
But haven’t US policies in Somalia, which included support for warlords
and tacit support for an invasion by Ethiopia, contributed to the exodus of
Somalis from the country, which directly affects Malta?
Kmiec is willing to admit that “some of our policies have increased the
instability in the region… We introduced a level of instability which
caused a portion of the population to migrate and that is nota good thing.
We have to recognise that.”
But the problem of migration is larger than that. “People in Africa,
whether from Somalia, Nigeria, Sudan or Eritrea, are seeking a better life
for their families and an economic opportunity, a life where they are not
threatened by violence and warlords…”
The curious ambassador
US ambassador and legal scholar Douglas Kmiec is curious about Malta’s
constitutional neutrality. But has he overstepped his remit as an
ambassador in a sovereign nation in seeking a clear interpretation?
James Debono
If you happen to be in church and a very polite, middle-aged American guy
starts chatting with you, it very well could be the US ambassador trying to
get some insights into the Maltese way of life.
I interview Douglas Kmiec against a background of folk music, which he
describes as “a veritable depositary of America’s historical memory”
in the tranquillity of his Attard residence, seeking to unravel the
intentions of the representative of the world’s remaining superpower.
As a devout Catholic, his first knowledge of Malta was the reference to the
hospitality of the Maltese towards St Paul, immortalised in the Acts of the
Apostles. His appointment as ambassador came as a result of his role in
Barack Obama’s campaign, as the President’s “liaison to the Catholic
community” – in the midst of the campaign Kmiec even wrote a book,
entitled ‘Can A Catholic Support Him?’, explaining his support, as a
Catholic, for Senator Obama in spite of his pro-choice stance on abortion.
Reminiscing on his discussions at the White House prior to his appointment,
he recalls the President telling him how he would “enjoy a country with
365 churches”. Now he has committed himself to visit as many of these
churches as he possibly can. “I am making an effort to get to mass in the
mornings if the schedule permits… churches are a place to experience the
people, culture and the different cities which make Malta.”
But churches have not been the only thing on Kmiec’s mind in the few
months since his arrival to Malta. Kmiec, whose legal background includes
serving in the US Attorney General’s office, is particularly proficient
in constitutional matters, and has lately been seeking a clear definition
of Malta’s neutrality.
I bluntly ask the ambassador whether he is going out of his remit by
provoking a discussion on Malta’s constitutional neutrality. “I do not
think so. Sincerely, I wanted to get the best understanding of
neutrality.”
As my ear catches a hook off a Bruce Springsteen song in the background
(Kmiec actually shuffled through his iPod to find something that I
liked…) I present Kmiec with the hypothetical scenario of the Maltese
ambassador in the US, disputing on controversial parts of the US
constitutional right to bear arms. Would this not offend Americans, known
for their quasi-religious devotion to their Constitution?
Kmiec makes it clear that his intention was not to interfere in Maltese
constitutional matters. “Neutrality surely touches on the work of an
ambassador in so far as it has an effect on diplomatic and external
relations. But it is obviously not up to the American ambassador (or any
ambassador, Amercian or otherwise), to tell you what your Constitution
means or should mean.”
What prompted him to ask for a clear definition of Malta’s neutrality
during the Mediterranean Academy of Diplomatic Studies conference was the
“very expansive meaning” given to neutrality by some people. “Some
people gave it a very expansive meaning and that troubled me a bit.Some
interpretations of neutrality would have excluded the military training
that has been going on for years very successfully between the United
States and the Armed Forces of Malta, training that assists the search and
rescue efforts which is so vital in saving migrant families from the sea as
well as efforts to stop trafficking of human beings and drugs.”
Kmiec caused a stir in political circles by suggesting that Malta’s
neutrality could be abused by terrorists when he warned that “we must not
allow an interpretation of the scope of a constitutional neutrality
provision to be taken advantage of by those who might wish to use a Maltese
port to unleash a future terror plot, whether in London, Madrid, on a
flight bound for Detroit, or for that matter, may the good Lord forbid,
Valletta”.
Kmiec is now convinced that this is not the case. “I am pleased that the
discussion has illustrated that this is not the case.”
Once again, he blames expansive definitions of neutrality for giving such
an impression. He claims that such a definition of neutrality could have
even excluded training aimed at strengthening Malta’s ability to stop
terrorists from bringing lethal material into the island. “That was my
concern. That was the connection. I didn’t think that neutrality meant
that, but I wanted somebody to confirm my understanding… I think that the
last thing that any country would want would be to have their door left
open to people who would unleash this type of tragic harm.”
Speaking a day after US President Barack Obama announced an increase in the
total number of US troops in Afghanistan to 100,000 by mid-2010, when asked
how Malta could help, Kmiec suggested that Malta could contribute by
teaching agriculture skills to the Afghan people or contribute through
development assistance, civilian training and aspects of good governance.
“When asked what Malta’s role could be I made it clear that we have to
respect Malta’s principle of neutrality, but my understanding of
neutrality was that it did not preclude training and assistance for civil
governments and law enforcement.”
The Maltese government has heeded Kmiec’s suggestion and proposed to
conduct the training of the Afghan civil service on Maltese soil. Kmiec is
not disappointed that Malta will not be sending any contingent to
Afghanistan. “The fact that the training will take place in Malta makes a
great deal of sense.”
He gives three reasons in defense of Malta’s choice. “It reduces the
cost to Malta. It also means that wider range of advisors can participate
in the exercise. And it addresses the justifiable concern on the part of
some civilian advisors on going to a war zone. So it makes perfect sense to
conduct the exercise here.”
Quoting from the Koran and the US constitution in a speech delivered in
Cairo in June, Obama raised great hopes of a rapprochement with the Arab
world by calling for a new beginning in relations between the US and
Muslims around the world “based upon mutual interest and mutual
respect”. Yet has the mood in the Arab street turned sour by the lack of
progress made towards a quick solution of the Palestinian question?
“I think that people who expected the world to change with a wave of the
hand or signature on a piece of paper may be disappointed. But people who
are realistic still sense the energy and the hope in the proper direction
of the Obama administration.”
Kmiec is also clear on where the US stands on this issue. “Some people
say ‘where is the resolution?’ The resolution has been plain to
everybody. It has always been a two-state solution. It has always been
Jerusalem as a shared capital. It has always been a Palestinian nation as a
separate economic entity. Everybody knows what the objective is. The
question is getting there.”
But despite the US commitment to make Jerusalem a shared capital, the White
House was unable to stop Israel to stop unfettered building in East
Jerusalem, which is the focus of a strategy to seal off the city and ensure
all of it remains under Israeli control.
“We are unhappy about that,” the ambassador promptly interjects.
But doesn’t Israel’s stubbornness on the settlement issue perpetuate
the widespread perception that Washington is unable or unwilling to impose
its will on Israel?
“If the US were to impose its will on Malta, you would be concerned about
that and rightly so… The United States does not have the capacity to
impose its will on another sovereign state.”
Still, doesn’t the USA have the leverage to put pressure on Israel which
it provides with economic and military assistance? I ask. Kmiec reply
reveals the US sensitivity to Israel’s concerns: “Of course it does…
And it also wants the integrity of the Israeli state recognised. And it
wants its daily operations to be free of terror, just as much as it wants
that the same thing for the Palestinians”.
The question for Kmiec is how to get back at the table to give the
requisite assurances to both sides. “The past administration ignored this
almost entirely. President Obama decided initially that it was going to be
resolved with the good efforts of the special envoy Senator Mitchell. We
still have great confidence in Senator Mitchell but we have realised that
the process is more difficult than we thought.”
Kmiec insists the new approach of President Obama is that of getting more
actors involved “adding their weight to the Arab Israeli conflict…
Justifiably the United States has been in the past criticized for acting
unilaterally. The price for that criticism is that people should be more
willing to act in multilateral way. ”
Such an approach would also address the widespread perception of
pro-Israeli bias on the part of the US. “It is OK for you to say that on
occasions we have been too close to Israel in the past, or that we have not
been objective. But if more voices are involved to push the two sides back
to the table for a constructive resolution, you would also counteract any
suspicion of bias on the part of any particular party.”
Obama’s election was often portrayed as a victory of hope against fear.
But has the US been gripped by a new sense of overwhelming fear since the
last terrorist attempt on Christmas day?
“I went back and forth to the US during that period of various security
sprees. What I saw was a heightened sense of preparation… This time our
response has been more calibrated. We have the capacity at airports to do
screening which we did not have before through better equipment and trained
people.”
What do you feel at the invasion of privacy posed by increased security at
airports? “I would rather have someone asking me to take the laptop out
of my briefcase than losing 300 fellow citizens of the world on an
aircraft.”
But how does he feel about being seen naked through a body scanner? “I
certainly do not like that at all, but when you have that sort of
technology the smartest thing one can do is to minimise its intrusion. The
important thing is we have decent criteria to apply this technology. It is
not based on race, ethnicity or gender. It is not applied arbitrarily but
applied meaningfully to address the threat itself.”
The US has had a troublesome history with Malta’s southern neighbour, to
the extent that in the 1980s Muammar Ghaddafi was described by Ronald
Reagan as the mad dog of the Middle East. Kmiec insists the US government
believed in the sincerity of Ghaddafi’s transformation “from the moment
Libya renounced its weapons of mass destruction and rejoined the
international community… That is why there is an embassy of the USA in
Libya. That is why I have Muammar Ghaddafi’s saddle on display in this
residence.”
The saddle – a gift to former US ambassador Anthony Gioia – is
described as the attraction of the house, especially for children of
migrant families who visit the ambassador’s home before being relocated
to the US. “When the children come in they do not want to listen to the
ambassador; they just want to ride Ghaddafi’s saddle. It has served as a
very useful entertainment.”
But did the hero’s welcome for the convicted Lockerbie bomber Al-Megrahi
sour relations with the USA? “This certainly annoyed some people in the
USA. But as a diplomat, I have to say that if one always looks backwards
and never forward, you never get a stronger relationship.”
For Kmiec the hero welcome for Megrahi was “to say the least odd and
incongruous with the act of blowing up an airplane… But if you dwell on
that aspect and not dwell on the fact that Ghaddafi has renounced forms of
behaviour which previously put him on the wrong side of the world
community, you will never get to a new level.”
For the past years, the US has been one of the few nations to share
Malta’s burden on immigration through resettlement programmes.
But haven’t US policies in Somalia, which included support for warlords
and tacit support for an invasion by Ethiopia, contributed to the exodus of
Somalis from the country, which directly affects Malta?
Kmiec is willing to admit that “some of our policies have increased the
instability in the region… We introduced a level of instability which
caused a portion of the population to migrate and that is nota good thing.
We have to recognise that.”
But the problem of migration is larger than that. “People in Africa,
whether from Somalia, Nigeria, Sudan or Eritrea, are seeking a better life
for their families and an economic opportunity, a life where they are not
threatened by violence and warlords…”
They are no different from Kmiec’s own grandfather, who migrated from
Poland, and his wife’s Irish parents. “When these people come to our
home and sit down telling us their story we may as well be listening to the
stories of an American grandparent.”
African immigrants to the US often ask him what being an American means.
“It starts with being yourself and sharing that self. I tell them when
you go Minnesota, Arizona, Georgia and all the places where we resettled
migrant families, do not hesitate to interact with the rest of the
population.”
According to Kmiec, the primary motivation for re-settlement of migrants
from Malta to the US is that of showing appreciation to Malta’s efforts
to maintain the safety of migrants in the sea.
“One of the ways through which the USA has said thank you to Malta for
this effort in behalf of the world, is to take some of these people.”
Profile
Name: Douglas Kmiec
Age: 58
Status: Married to Carolyn Keenan and together they have five children
Previous appointments: Taught at Notre Dame Law School from 1980 to 1999;
nominated by President Ronald Reagan in 1988 as head of Office of Legal
Counsel (OCL); Recently held the Caruso Family Chair in Constitutional Law
at Pepperdine University School of Law