New US Ambassador Announced

By Taing Sarada, VOA Khmer Original report from Washington 10 June 2008

The US has nominated a new ambassador for Cambodia, who will take the place of Joseph Mussomeli.

Carol Rodley was chief of mission in Phnom Penh between 1997 and 2000. Following that, she worked in the US State Department's Bureau of Intelligence and Research.

Mussomeli told VOA Khmer Rodley's experience in Cambodia gave her a "better sense of the country and the culture."

Members of Cambodia's main political parties welcomed the new ambassador.

Who Is Carol Rodley (Besides the new U.S. ambassador to Cambodia) ?

10 06 2008

U.S. President George has just dropped this notice:

The President intends to nominate Carol A. Rodley, of Virginia, to be Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to the Kingdom of Cambodia. Ms. Rodley, a career member of the Senior Foreign Service, currently serves as a Faculty Advisor at the Foreign Service Institute. Prior to this, she served as Counselor for Political Military Affairs at the United States Embassy in Afghanistan. Earlier in her career she served as Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Intelligence and Research. Ms. Rodley received her bachelor’s degree from Smith College.

People with more experience than I can read this sort of language easily. Not me - I have to actually try and figure it out. So, who is Carol Rodley? Most immediately, Carol Rodley used to be the Deputy Chief of Mission for the US Embassy in Cambodia, from 1997-2000. Her official (out of date) biography page says she speaks Khmer. Those might be good things.

According to the Australian Broadcasting Service, she’s a “senior spy.” Hmm. That’s not positive.

According to Hon. Arthur Chesterfield-Evans, stated in the Parliament of New South Wales, Carol Rodley is not only a “senior spy,” but has been serving

as the head of the USA State Department’s Bureau of Intelligence and Research. That department is the spy agency for America’s diplomats. She has access to America’s most tightly guarded secrets about Al Qaeda and the global war on terror. Ms Rodley’s job will involve liaising with Australian intelligence and law enforcement officers on terrorist threats in Asia and to Australia. She is part of the inner circle of Washington’s top spies, which includes the Director of National Intelligence, John Negroponte.