http://politics.standard.co.uk/2011/07/the-missing-us-ambassador-at-the-feas t-for-ronald-reagan.html or http://tinyurl.com/3btvb3p
05 July 2011 3:08 PM The Missing US Ambassador at the feast for Ronald Reagan Last night's Guildhall dinner in honour of Ronald Reagan's centenary was a truly glittering and warm occasion. The British roasted lamb and the sunny Californian chardonnay evoked the close Anglo-US relationship of Reagan and Thatcher as much as the fine speeches by Condi Rice and William Hague. But guests were left asking, where on earth was the American ambassador to London, Louis B Susman? "Our ambassador should be here," said Lynn de Rothschild, the American entrepreneur who is married to Sir Evelyn de Rothschild and was one of Hillary Clinton's key fundraisers in 2008 as well as a supporter of several Republican presidential candidates. "This was an historic dinner to mark Reagan's centenary and to celebrate him as the man who ended the Cold War. What could not be more important? "Why is our ambassador not here on Independence Day? No excuse. How is it that America is not represented in this room by our ambassador? It is appalling that no representative of our government is in this room. This has the feel of petty partisanship." Ambassador Susman is, of course, a long-standing Democrat fundraiser, nicknamed the vaccuum cleaner for his skill at sucking donations out of the wealthy. And his efforts to fill Obama's campaign pockets was said by many to be his main qualification to come to London. According to the US embassy spokesman: "Ambassador Susman was pleased to be invited to the dinner but was unable to attend." He had however been at the unveiling of a statue of Reagan in Grosvenor Square earlier in the day, and hosted a generous breakfast for the entire VIP visiting party and the military band. So he cannot be accused of snubbing the Reagan centenary. But he missed some cracking speeches and anecdotes. For more details see the Standard story here. And where was he? The embassy won't say. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard/politics/article-23967383-the-riddle- of-the-missing-us-ambassador-as-london-toasts-ronald-reagan-centenary.do or http://tinyurl.com/5tfqudr The riddle of the missing US ambassador as London toasts Ronald Reagan centenary Joe Murphy, Political Editor Joe Murphy, Political Editor 5 Jul 2011 Sponsored links Ads by Google Ronald Reagan Documentary He Revived, Restored, and Fought for America. Watch the Trailer! It was one of the most glittering events of the year, attracting some of the greatest names in American and British politics. But as the British roasted lamb and the sunny Californian chardonnay were cleared away, one notable absence was the hottest topic among guests at the Guildhall dinner in honour of Ronald Reagan's centenary. Where was the American ambassador to London, Louis B Susman? He had, it soon transpired, been invited. But despite a guest list that boasted four British Cabinet ministers, ex-Prime Minister, nine US congressmen and a senator and former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, there was no sign of President Obama's representative in London. And in a warm atmosphere evoking the closest days of the special Anglo-US relationship of the Eighties, the surprise at Mr Susman's absence turned to annoyance. "Our ambassador should be here," said Lynn de Rothschild, the American entrepreneur who is married to Sir Evelyn de Rothschild and was one of Hillary Clinton's key fundraisers in 2008 as well as a supporter of several Republican presidential candidates. "This was an historic dinner to mark Reagan's centenary and to celebrate him as the man who ended the Cold War. What could not be more important? "Why is our ambassador not here on Independence Day? No excuse. How is it that America is not represented in this room by our ambassador? It is appalling that no representative of our government is in this room. This has the feel of petty partisanship." Where indeed? Mr Susman had been at the unveiling of a statue of Reagan in Grosvenor Square earlier in the day, and had hosted a generous breakfast for the entire VIP visiting party and the military band, so he had certainly not snubbed the grand centenary events. According to the US embassy spokesman: "Ambassador Susman was pleased to be invited to the dinner but was unable to attend." Mr Susman missed some sparkling speeches and anecdotes, announced by trumpet blasts, including Foreign Secretary William Hague recounting a gem from the Royal Wedding: "I told an Arab Ambassador, 'look, a million people are heading for the palace - and we're totally relaxed'." London MP Greg Hands said: "It was a non-partisan occasion to celebrate a great American and President's 100th birthday." Among the VIPs were John Major, Defence Secretary Liam Fox, who sat next to Ms Rice, Home Secretary Theresa May, Commons leader Sir George Young, former ambassador Robert Tuttle, ex-California governor Pete Wilson and the company heads of BP and Visa. The menu reflected the Anglo-US alliance, starting with a bouquet of English asparagus, organic smoked salmon, baby leaf salad and dill hollandaise, followed by duet of new season lamb, served with Beringer chardonnay from the Napa Valley and Peachy Canyon zinfandel, also from California. [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] ------------------------------------ -------------------------- Want to discuss this topic? Head on over to our discussion list, discuss-os...@yahoogroups.com. -------------------------- Brooks Isoldi, editor biso...@intellnet.org http://www.intellnet.org Post message: osint@yahoogroups.com Subscribe: osint-subscr...@yahoogroups.com Unsubscribe: osint-unsubscr...@yahoogroups.com *** FAIR USE NOTICE. This message contains copyrighted material whose use has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. OSINT, as a part of The Intelligence Network, is making it available without profit to OSINT YahooGroups members who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information in their efforts to advance the understanding of intelligence and law enforcement organizations, their activities, methods, techniques, human rights, civil liberties, social justice and other intelligence related issues, for non-profit research and educational purposes only. We believe that this constitutes a 'fair use' of the copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Law. If you wish to use this copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use,' you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtmlYahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/osint/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/osint/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: osint-dig...@yahoogroups.com osint-fullfeatu...@yahoogroups.com <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: osint-unsubscr...@yahoogroups.com <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
