Dipnote, Don't Be So Diplomatic

Dipnote, welcome to the Middle East blogosphere!

In case you missed it, last week the U.S. State Department launched its own blog, called Dipnote, which is shorthand for diplomatic note, the formal means of communication between governments.

Alas, we won't find any scoops here. When I scanned the blog's initial output, there wasn't too much helpful info on the Middle East, or on anything else, for that matter. Of course, diplomats have to stick to the official line, especially when they're speaking in public. So most of the posts were a rundown of schedules and blah-blah about how the State Department works. To be fair, State Department Spokesman didn't promise much more in one of his items explaining Dipnote: "With Dipnote we are going to take you behind the scenes at the State Department and bring you closer to the personalities of the Department. We are going to try and break through some of the jargon and talk about how we operate around the world."

My favorite was the post by Noel Clay, a press officer in the Baghdad embassy, who provided a brief, simple and honest glimpse into the often dangerous, often mundane, daily routine U.S. diplomats experience in Iraq. Several of the posts including Clay's mentioned the department's interactions with journalists. Karen Hughes, Under Secretary for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs, began her post from the U.N. noting, "As is the case at a lot of world events these days, it seems there are more journalists here at the United Nations than there are dignitaries..." Tara Rigler, deputy press attache in New Delhi, got a chuckle about the "three journalists who lost it" while she was escorting them on a rough ferry ride out to the USS Nimitz.

Kristen Silverberg, Assistant Secretary for International Organization Affairs, posted five items from the United Nations last week, but there was zilch about the crucial behind-the-scenes talks Bush and Condi were having with Middle East leaders about the upcoming U.S.-sponsored peace conference. C'mon, Dipnote, can you do better than...

(Excerpts) Post No. 1: "We arrived from Washington, D.C. on Saturday. Secretary Rice went immediately to a high-level meeting on Iraq..." Post No. 2: "Hello again from New York. I spent most of today following the President’s busy schedule, which required me to run quickly (and in heels!) to keep up..." Post No. 3: "Another busy day in New York!" Post No. 4: "What a busy day! I’m exhausted!" Post No. 5: "Today was another full day of meetings with my counterparts from a number of countries, including Italy, Israel, and Libya..."

You had to admire Silberberg's persistence, though. Undersecretary of State Hughes seemed to run out of steam after uploading her "Dispatch No. 1 from UNGA." We never heard from her again until she popped up in Budapest this week.

I'd rather see more items like the piece on Ahmadinejad, "Listening, But Not Always Liking," posted by somebody named Masharika Prejean, who was not clearly identified but seems to be some sort of visiting fellow. Writing from the UN in one of Dipnote's few opinionated posts, Prejean commented:

"Even the most unliked and least admired receive their five minutes of fame during UNGA. The particularly unpopular Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, addressed the Assembly amid a fair share of empty seats on Tuesday... If I could send Mr. Ahmadinejad a welcome message, it would go something like this: 'Sure, you can have your time at the podium because that’s how we do things in the U.S. I don’t have to like what you say, because that’s what the American way of agreeing to disagree is all about. But just so you know, while you’re out pushing your agenda, there’s going to be a fair share of people just beyond the walls of the United Nations Headquarters, Columbia University’s lecture hall where you’ll be speaking, and on the streets of New York with a few thoughts of their own. Just thought you might want to know that people have voices here, aren’t afraid to use them, and refuse to go unheard. Welcome to America.'"

And, Prejean might have added, welcome to Dipnote!

--By Scott MacLeod/Cairo