Sh*t, a former US ambassador is not on message.
Better not report any of it in the mainstream of western media. Better not ask him to comment. Better make up talking points (to be used in polit talkshows), that the issue started in the early nineties. Better finance thinktanks and entire institutes fully. Better push for statements of non german politicians about germanys politics, and take over the media circuit to make the inquiry “if germany is not in line with US announcements” an accusation and the most pressing issue over the past week.
Better go with western propaganda.
Matlock has taught diplomacy at Duke University, Princeton University, Columbia University and Hamilton College. In a 1997 interview, Matlock offers some advice to prospective diplomats: have an optimistic nature, get a liberal education, do not expect to change the world, know the country, know your own country, faithfully represent your government, find the mutual interests, and remember that timing is everything.[13]
[…]
Since leaving government service, Matlock has occasionally joined with other experts to criticize U.S. foreign policy. On June 26, 1997, he signed an Open Letter to President Bill Clinton criticizing plans for NATO expansion.[60] His reason for opposition, as given in testimony before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, was his belief that NATO expansion would preclude significant nuclear arms reduction with Russia, and consequently increase the risk of a nuclear attack by terrorists.[61]
Matlock drew the ire of many Republicans during the 2004 presidential election campaign when he signed the Official Statement of Diplomats and Military Commanders for Change, which criticized the policies of President George W. Bush and endorsed Senator John Kerry for president.[62]
On Jan 4, 2007, Matlock joined with George Shultz, William Perry, Henry Kissinger and Sam Nunn to advocate a goal of a world free of nuclear weapons.[63] On 23 September 2008 after a two-day conference at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, he joined several other former ambassadors to issue a joint statement on how Russia and the United States might move forward in their relations.[64] He has endorsed the Global Zero Initiative, a plan to eliminate all nuclear weapons by 2030.[65] Matlock has also signed an open letter of May 13, 2011 asking the implementors of the New START treaty between the U.S. Russia to make public the locations and aggregate numbers of nuclear weapons, in order to promote transparency and reduce mistrust.[66][67]
On Jan 18, 2011 he co-signed an open letter to President Obama urging a United Nations resolution condemning Israeli settlements in the occupied territory.[68]
Matlock has been openly critical of the American mass media’s coverage of the Ukraine crisis. On Jan 26, 2022 he published an review of Richard Sakwa’s article “Whisper it, but Putin has a point in Ukraine” on his personal blog, stating agreement that Russia desires a neutral Ukraine and pushing back against claims that Russia seeks to annex Ukraine.[69] On Feb 15, 2022, he published an op-ed in Antiwar.com, questioning the validity of the media narrative around the current state of Russia–Ukraine relations, stating “Maybe I am wrong – tragically wrong – but I cannot dismiss the suspicion that we are witnessing an elaborate charade, grossly magnified by prominent elements of the American media, to serve a domestic political end.”[70]
src: click
