DIPLOMAT' S ENEMIES PLAY ROLE IN BLOCKING HIS APPOINTMENT

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00552R000100030003-6
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: June 24, 2010
• Sequence Number: 3
• Publication Date: May 21, 1982
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/06/24: CIA-RDP90-00552R000100030003-6
ART CLE APPEARED
ON PAGE
THE WASHINGTON POST
21 May 1982 -
DiplOmat's
in ~iociiing.
By Dori;Oberdorfer
._kva~11tn6SGR1 e$841f WArar
bast September veteran diplomat
Moron I. Abramowitz was offeredl
the choice post of assistant secretaryy
of state for East-Asian and Pacific
affairs, the top Asian- policy job in
the government. He .was naturally
pleased-but he had.''enemies who
were not.
Partly because of, . theirpolitical
and bureaucratic opposition, his ap-
pointment.did not develop, and he
was selected instead in early October I
to-be U.S. ambassador to Indonesia.-
President Reagan himself. tele
phoned the offer; Abramowitz ac
cepted. 1
But within a few weeks, disap-`4
pointing word was mysteriously re-
ceived from Jakarta that the Indo-
nesian government preferred that he
not be named.
A statement issued yesterday in
the name. of Secretary of State Al-
exander M. Haig Jr. announced with
.regret that Indonesia will not accept
this "truly outstanding Foreign Ser-
vice officer," thus-ringing down the
curtain on six months of agonizing
uncertainty for Abramowitz, and,
quite possibly presaging the end of a
22-year diplomatic career. -
What happened to Merton Abra-
mowitz is an extraordinary episode,
even for unusual times, illuminating
a netherworld of intrigue that has
affected several `Reagan diplomatic
nominations, as well as the torturous .I
,pace at which a number of key per-
sonnel decisions have been made.
Though he was backed by Haig
and at times personally approved by
Reagan, Abramowitz was opposed
not by outsiders but by enemies
Within the administration itself.
envies Play Role 6
is Appointinentl
Among their most ; important three years preceding his travail, as
weapons in this effort was an ann- U U.S. ambassador to Thailand.
ymous and confidential paper, much Both in the Pentagon and as am-
ofit inaccurate, which was prepared bassador to Thailand, Abramowitz
by military officers, reportedly with received awards for unusually effec-
the:. help; of Abramowitz's former I tive service, including the prestigious 1
e-
hi
ev
CIA station chief at a post abroad, in Joseph C. Wilson Award for ac
an- effort to stop Abramowitz's rise ment in diplomatic affairs, and last
within the administration.' year the President's Award for Dis-
At the
l Servee
F
d
-
senior as-
,After Reagan'iand his
sistants deddecti to-rnominate ? Abra
mowitz-sa ambassador to Indonesia,
the ,.internal paper mysteriously
found.its way to the top rank of the.
-
'
and , ulti
Indonesian government
I dally vulnerable in connection with
?mately into the hands of columnist
Jack'Anderson. Reagan administration posts because
The. document apparently played of a long friendship with Richard C.
a role in Jakarta's decision, conveyed Holbrcoke, the Carter administra-
finn'a assistant secretary of state for !
in preliminary terms last November
and in final terms two weeks ago,
'not to accept Abramowitz as U.S.
ambassador.
. Another shadowy aspect of the
case, prominent in reporters' ques-
tions about it, at the State Depart-
ment yesterday, is "the religion an-
gle."- Abramowitz is Jewish, and In-
donesia is a predominately Islamic
country. Despite rumors that this
affected Jakarta's decision, both
State Department spokesman Dean
Fischer and Abramowitz himself, in
a terse statement yesterday, said the
Indonesians never conveyed an in-
dication that religion was a factor.
Abram owitz, 49, has amassed one
of the most outstanding records in
the active U.S. diplomatic service,
most of it involved with Asia. Among
other things, he served in Taiwan
and Hong Kong, as political adviser
to the chief of the U.S. forces in the
'
Pacific, as the Pentagon
s senior spe- top Asian affairs job, where his com-
cialist on Asian affairs and, in the bination of experience and bureau-
cratic toughness was high on Haig's
qualifications list. - "
.
era
e
tinguished
same time, though, his bltnt manner
and some of his bureaucratic moves
and positions earned him the enmity
of some officials.
who is anathema to
ian affairs
A
,
s
many conservatives. The two men,
though friends, did not always agree,
and Abramowitz had many admirers
who disliked Holbrooke. _
Abramowitz remained in Bangkok
for seven months after the onset of
the Reagan administration. When he
was replaced in that post last August
d was around - that he was
h
wor
t
e, likely to be nominated as ambassa-
dor to the Philippines, ir. part be-!
cause President Ferdinand Marcos is}
said to have personally expressed his
admiration for Abramowitz and his-;
interest in his appointment.
In mid-September, back in Wash- :
ington, Haig had decided to replace
his assistant secretary for Asian af-
fairs, John H., Holdridge, and. to .
offer him the embassy in the Phil-
ippines. It was Haig's idea, according
to several knowledgeable sources,
Abramowitz was considered espe-
that Abramowitz would move to the
After Abramowitz was offered and
Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/06/24: CIA-RDP90-00552R000100030003-6 ;n PnnvPr?Ation3