Talk:Dana Shell Smith

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Reported resignation as U.S. Ambassador to Qatar

There are reports that Ambassador Smith has just resigned her position. I decided not to put this on the main page, since the reports are early. I am also concerned that reasons are being ascribed to her resignation that, while perhaps credible, are not substantiated by actual direct quotes from Amb. Smith. I tend to believe the report of her resignation, and I also lean toward believing in the reported reasons for her doing so, but I see no rush to report what amounts to hearsay at this point. Also, bear in mind that she was an Obama appointee, so she was going to move on anyway, likely soon. It seems a good time for her to do so for that reason alone. Sharl928 (talk) 14:33, 13 June 2017 (UTC)[reply]

Some follow-up: a tweet posted on 09May2017 by Ambassador Smith (@AmbDana - this Twitter account will presumably soon be deactivated/terminated)

Increasingly difficult to wake up overseas to news from home, knowing I will spend today explaining our democracy and institutions.

From reporter Joyce Karam

Ambassador Smith was slated to leave in matter of weeks per sources but resignation if true is rebuke to #Trump handling of #Qatar crisis.Sharl928 (talk) 15:07, 13 June 2017 (UTC)[reply]

Update: A recent online post in The Independent (UK) claims that Amb. Smith has already resigned. However, no confirmation of this can be found from other sources (that doesn't mean it isn't true, of course). Presumably Amb. Smith still intends to resign from her position by the end of this month (June 2017), as she herself has announced, and presuming she hasn't already (as stated in the piece in The Independent).
She has made some changes in her Twitter presence, deleting all but one of her official government tweets from the still-active @AmbDana Twitter account. Official government tweets from the U.S. Ambassador to Qatar can now be found at @USAmbQatar. There has been no recent news from her of a personal Twitter account, which she had promised was coming soon. ........ Sharl928 (talk) 23:03, 19 June 2017 (UTC)[reply]

Update (20Jun2017): (Former?)* Amb. Smith announced on Twitter that she is departing Qatar for the U.S. today, and also noted (implicitly) that no replacement has yet been appointed. .....Sharl928 (talk) 16:27, 20 June 2017 (UTC)[reply]

*Ms. Smith's Twitter bio serves as evidence that she has in fact resigned her ambassadorial post, although no definitive declaration to that effect has been found in searches of reputable news sources. ...Sharl928 (talk) 16:38, 20 June 2017 (UTC)[reply]

Closing note (03Jul2017): Other than occasional tweets from her personal Twitter account, there has been no further news from or about Ms. Smith. As noted in a cited reference in the Main Article, her resignation came near the end of an almost three-year tour - which is typical for U.S. Ambassadors appointed from the ranks of career Foreign Service Officers - but the recent eruption of a diplomatic crisis centered on Qatar may have indirectly influenced the exact timing of her resignation, due to the conflicting responses to that crisis from the White House and the State Department. It has also been reported that an anonymous source - described as being close to Ms. Smith - says that she has also resigned (or will do so) from the U.S. Foreign Service.

{Conjecture/speculation} Any future mention of former Ambassador Smith by an official of the U.S. government may only happen when there is an announcement of a new nominee for the position of U.S. Ambassador to Qatar, if for no other reason than to not bring further attention to the fact that the position is currently vacant during the ongoing Qatar diplomatic crisis. Sharl928 (talk) 04:57, 3 July 2017 (UTC)[reply]