DrWeb<p><strong>Opinion | American history can be painful. The Smithsonian should embrace it. – The Washington Post</strong></p><p><a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2025/08/18/smithsonian-mamdani-rubio/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"></a></p> <a class="" href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Opinion</a><p></p> <span class="">Letters to the Editor</span> <p><strong>Good foreign policy depends on good information</strong></p><p class="">Readers also discuss a new way to address Confederate memorials, socialism in New York City and the Smithsonian.</p> <span class="">Today at 4:58 p.m. EDT, </span>8 min<p></p> The Smithsonian Castle (Jonathan Newton / The Washington Post) <p>Regarding the Aug. 13 news article “<a class="" href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2025/08/12/rubio-human-rights-reports/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Rubio recasts beliefs with cuts to human rights reports</a>”:</p> <p class="">I oversaw the production of the State Department’s annual <a href="https://www.state.gov/reports-bureau-of-democracy-human-rights-and-labor/country-reports-on-human-rights-practices/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">human rights reports</a> from 2009 to 2012. For almost 50 years, thousands of career diplomats have participated in the compilation of these reports, which have become the most comprehensive and reliable public assessment of human rights conditions in almost 200 countries.</p> <p class=""><a href="https://www.npr.org/2025/08/12/nx-s1-5495621/state-department-human-rights-reports-slashed" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Mandated by Congress in the 1970s</a> to inform decision-making about foreign aid and trade policies, the reports have become an indispensable resource. Global leaders use them to assess risks where they conduct business. Immigration judges in the United States and elsewhere rely on them when evaluating asylum claims. Civil society activists turn to them for credible information when they operate in places where publishing criticism of government actions leads to official reprisals. Journalists and representatives of humanitarian organizations use them to orient themselves as they begin working in complex environments.</p> <p class=""><strong>All of these benefits are now being jeopardized by the Trump administration’s decision to slash the comprehensive nature of these reports and to dramatically politicize their content. Good foreign policy depends on good information. That begins with thorough, independent accounting of the state of human rights everywhere.</strong></p> <p class="">Weakening this foundation risks blinding us to them. Once the credibility of our reporting is lost, it will be extraordinarily difficult to rebuild.</p> <p>Continue/Read Original Article Here: <em><a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2025/08/18/smithsonian-mamdani-rubio/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Opinion | American history can be painful. The Smithsonian should embrace it. – The Washington Post</a></em></p> <p><a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://drwebdomain.blog/tag/2025/" target="_blank">#2025</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://drwebdomain.blog/tag/america/" target="_blank">#America</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://drwebdomain.blog/tag/american-history/" target="_blank">#AmericanHistory</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://drwebdomain.blog/tag/donald-trump/" target="_blank">#DonaldTrump</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://drwebdomain.blog/tag/health/" target="_blank">#Health</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://drwebdomain.blog/tag/history/" target="_blank">#History</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://drwebdomain.blog/tag/human-rights-report/" target="_blank">#HumanRightsReport</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://drwebdomain.blog/tag/libraries/" target="_blank">#Libraries</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://drwebdomain.blog/tag/library/" target="_blank">#Library</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://drwebdomain.blog/tag/library-of-congress/" target="_blank">#LibraryOfCongress</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://drwebdomain.blog/tag/mandated-by-congress/" target="_blank">#MandatedByCongress</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://drwebdomain.blog/tag/opinion/" target="_blank">#Opinion</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://drwebdomain.blog/tag/politics/" target="_blank">#Politics</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://drwebdomain.blog/tag/resistance/" target="_blank">#Resistance</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://drwebdomain.blog/tag/rubio/" target="_blank">#Rubio</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://drwebdomain.blog/tag/science/" target="_blank">#Science</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://drwebdomain.blog/tag/smithsonian-institution/" target="_blank">#SmithsonianInstitution</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://drwebdomain.blog/tag/the-washington-post/" target="_blank">#TheWashingtonPost</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://drwebdomain.blog/tag/trump/" target="_blank">#Trump</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://drwebdomain.blog/tag/trump-administration/" target="_blank">#TrumpAdministration</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://drwebdomain.blog/tag/u-s-state-department/" target="_blank">#USStateDepartment</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://drwebdomain.blog/tag/united-states/" target="_blank">#UnitedStates</a></p>