I'm back

I won't start off by apologizing for not blogging in a while. Sometimes it is hard to blog when life is pretty good.

And life has been pretty good. My wife and I are in jobs we like. Life at post is good...the pollution and less than awesome health care makes it a little challenging at times, but the work is interesting and the people we work with are awesome. So we are happy here.

And while we only have six months left at post, we both got our top choice of onwards. We are going back to DC and really happy about it.

I started this blog as a way to let my dad know I was safe in Jerusalem, but it turned quickly into a combination of recruiting tool (because life is better when your co-workers are awesome) and a way to raise awareness about the Foreign Service in general and LGBT issues specifically.

But in those areas, life too has been pretty good. We have marriage equality as the law of the land, so my wife and I are officially a tandem and my LGBT colleagues who are not tandems have EFM status for their spouses. Members of the trans* community can have their passports issued according to their gender identity regardless of surgical status. Yes, there are still challenges ahead (reciprocity, I am looking at you), but things are pretty good.

But then we had the election, and everything changed.

Things don't look so great anymore.

Congress has already started making noise again about attacking federal employees via their pensions and outsourcing more to contractors (because not only are contractors more expensive, but using them worked so well with Snowden). Even more concerning, they have re-enacted a rule allowing them to target individual federal employees and reduce their salaries to ONE DOLLAR. When you couple that with the President -elect's transition team's requests for the names and positions on anyone working on particular issues (like climate change at the Department of Energy or gender equality and LGBT issues at State), that looks a little ominous. (kudos to Energy for refusing and to certain bureaus at State for handing the team a complete org chart and saying we all work on gender equality).

And now you have Senators putting forward a bill to move our Embassy from Tel Aviv. I will leave aside whether or not that is a good idea, since that is specifically a foreign policy matter and so not one I feel I can discuss on this forum (but if you know me in person, you know I am not ambivalent about it).

Now that in and of itself is not all that concerning. Such bills have been put forth for years, always delayed by the President. But this time, not only do we have a President-elect who says he is willing to sign it, but a really frightening caveat has been added: 50 PERCENT funds for Diplomatic Security will be withheld, until the embassy is moved.

Never mind that we in the Foreign Service are simply the implementers of the President's policy. So whether we think it should move or not is irrelevant (much like the issues above that they want the names of people who cover them. We all follow the directives of the President, whether we agree or not).

And never mind that it can take as much as 15 YEARS to build a new embassy. Senators Heller, Cruz, and Rubio (and now others) want to cut our security budget and put our lives in very real danger. These are by the way, the same Senators who have been raising hell about Benghazi and how State's lack of security cost the lives of four diplomats, including my friend, Ambassador Chris Stevens. (Also please be kind enough not to notice that the lack of security was a direct result of cuts those same Senators made to State Department security...nothing to see here...).

(It is almost like those hearings were really about damaging Secretary Clinton's chances at becoming President and not about our safety. But I am sure I am wrong...)

And never mind that only the day before yesterday, a first tour consular officer was deliberately targeted and shot in Guadalajara.


Clearly we can do without half of our security funding for up to 15 years. It isn't like our jobs can be dangerous.

Except they are. We know they are. We all knew that when we signed up.

But we shouldn't be used as pawns for political points when we are serving the country. Or have our livelihoods threatened for following the directives of our bosses. Or have our retirements threatened because that wins political points while doing almost nothing for the budget.

And so I am back..

Dangers In The Work We Do

There have been a number of interesting stories in the news lately (and by lately, I mean last month, because I have sucked as a blogger lately) about the risks of being a diplomat. The articles stem from the deaths of journalists and other Westerners held hostage by ISIS, though I wonder whether some of this is also related to the new show Madam Secretary (which no, I will not review here. A lot of my colleagues hate it, much as my friends in construction hate HGTV, but I am enjoying it and figure anything that shines a positive light on the work we do is a good thing, even if it is not terribly accurate).

I meant to share these sooner, but I don't yet have a desk in my office in our new home and that makes blogging challenging. But hopefully my new desk will arrive tomorrow and I can organize my office so that work up here will be possible.

So for now, I will just share some links with you.

From Federal News Radio: It happened to me: Diplomats recount stories of crisis and survival

From the Center for American Progress: Attacks Against American Diplomats.

From the Washington Post: Reporters’ deaths point to dangers Foreign Service officers also face abroad

Please support the Mustafa Akarsu Local Guard Force Support Act

You might remember a post I did a while back about Mustafa Akarsu.

He is the member of the local guard force in Ankara who was killed by a terrorist in February who was trying to blow up our embassy there. Many many lives were saved because of his bravery.

The Huffington Post wrote this of him:

"Men like Mustafa Akarsu, who are at work at any given hour of the day at over 250 embassies and consulates around the world, are much more than faceless figures in uniform standing inside guard booths. Their dedicated efforts enable American diplomats to operate freely and unencumbered by threat. They know that at any time they can bear the brunt of a terrorist strike against the embassy. The fact that the only people killed that fateful afternoon in Ankara was the bomber and Mustafa Akarsu was a testament to the training and courage that these guards display on a daily basis. Akarsu made the ultimate sacrifice so that the men and women he swore to protect would be safe from harm.

Mustafa Akarsu had grown to love the country whose distant outpost he protected. He felt a unique sense of pride working for the United States of America, and playing a role in its defense overseas. And, this always-smiling member of the local guard force at the U.S. Embassy in Ankara wanted his children to live the American dream. Before his death he had applied for a Special Immigrant Visa; the SIV is reserved only for those who have dedicated many years of service for the U.S. government. Akarsu's hope was to become an American citizen and he dreamed of sending his children to university in the United States. Because he was killed before his SIV could be issued, the status of that request -- the fulfillment of his dream -- is now up to the State Department and special political consideration."

The current policy is that any local employee who has worked for the U.S. Government for 15 years or more is eligible to become a U.S. citizen with his family. With 22 years of service, Mustafa was already eligible for the SIV, and in fact was in the process of finishing his application when he was killed defending Americans. He was killed on the brink of realizing his dream of becoming an American.

On April 26, 2013, Rep. McCaul, Michael T. [R-TX-10] also introduced the Mustafa Akarsu Local Guard Force Support Act. According to DiploPundit, the bill currently has 18 cosponsors. In June, it was referred to the Subcommittee on Immigration and Border Security.

The gist of the bill is this: The Mustafa Akarsu Local Guard Force Support Act "amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to provide special immigrant status for the surviving spouse or child of a U.S. government employee killed abroad in the line of duty, provided that: (1) the employee had performed faithful service for at least 15 years; and (2) the principal officer of a Foreign Service establishment (or, in the case of the American Institute of Taiwan, the Director) recommends, and the Secretary of State approves, the granting of such status. States that this Act shall be effective beginning on January 31, 2013, and shall have retroactive effect."

This bill is fundamentally and foremost about fairness. It is about honoring the lives and dreams of those who died for us. Please take a moment to contact your representatives and express your support for this bill, because believe it or not, there are those who are opposed to it.

Please do it today. It is the right thing to do.

Remember Him Like You Remember Us

The world for those of us in the Foreign Service is incredibly small. In all of those places where you hear of awful things happening, we have family. Foreign Service family.

We lost another member of our family yesterday in a bombing at our embassy in Ankara, Turkey. Like me, my wife, and all of our colleagues, he was serving our country. He was serving America.

But he wasn't American. He was Turkish, a local guard at our embassy. And this is what I find frustrating. So much attention was paid to when we lost Ambassador Chris Stevens, and rightly so, though often for the wrong reasons. But we regularly lose members of our Foreign Service family in attacks like these. Often, those are members of our local staffs and local guard forces. And Americans quickly move on to the next thing because no American was killed.

But these people are serving you too. They are working to keep you safe too. Often at greater risk to themselves than we diplomats are because of local attitudes regarding working for America. And I can tell you that I am closer to my local staff than I am to many of the Americans I have served with. They are my family.

I did not know the guard who was killed in Ankara, but I mourn him. And I want you to remember him. So here he is.

This is Mustafa Akarsu, a much-loved guard at the American Embassy in Ankara who an innocent victim of yesterday's senseless bombing at the Embassy. He was part of the foreign service family, and we hold him and his family in our prayers. May he rest in peace.

Please remember him.

These are the people

There was a terrorist attack against Americans in Peshawar, Pakistan today.

According to the most current reports, suicide bombers drove a car laden with explosives into a consulate vehicle. Two Americans and two local employees were injured.

You can read more about it here.

There are lots of people who think life in the Foreign Service is glamorous...and easy. This is one of the reasons why the American public is so willing to freeze our salaries for years and cut our pay when we go overseas. Because we have it so good.

Yes, there are great parts to being in the Foreign Service. I love my job, and I love serving my country.

But there are parts of it that are hard.

Like living in places where your health is compromised by the local conditions and local healthcare (or lack thereof).

Like having to spend your career away from your family, missing birthdays, weddings and funerals.

And like being a target.

I am lucky. I am in a safe place.

But I have been in dangerous places. And clearly, I have colleagues who are in even more dangerous places. Places I will likely serve in before my career is over.

So when you say your prayers tonight, say a few for those who are risking their lives to serve you. And when you hear someone talking about useless government employees and overpaid bureaucrats, remind them that the people who were injured today are the people they are talking about. That it takes both military and diplomatic power to advance our interests in the world, and that diplomats too sometimes pay the ultimate price for our country.

Why I Am Celebrating...

I am celebrating Osama's death because it is justice, and justice should be celebrated.

There is a quote circulating around Facebook originally credited to Dr. Martin Luther King. It basically says: I will mourn the loss of thousands of precious lives, but I will not rejoice in the death of one, not even an enemy. "Returning hate for hate multiplies hate, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars. Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate, only love can do that."

The first sentence was apparently written by a Facebooker, and only the last was actually said by MLK.

I'd like to share another quote from MLK with you:

"Justice delayed is justice denied."

And for nearly 15 years (because you will remember that the first attacks on the World Trade Center were also the work of bin Laden), all of his victims, his THOUSANDS of victims, have been denied justice. And his victims weren't just those who died, but the families and friends they left behind. And the people who could no longer feel safe, even if they didn't know a single person who died. These people deserved justice.

And now they, and we, have it.

Think about it another way.

Imagine that you have a stalker.

A real stalker, one who means you real harm.

One who you never know when or where he will pop up. One who has already killed members of your family. And you know he wants you to be next.

You would know you were never safe. You would wish him dead, because with some people, you know that even having them in jail won't make you safe. They will find a way to get to you, whether in person or by sending a proxy. Because there are just some people who will not stop as long as they live.

Now imagine that stalker leads hundreds or thousands of people who will do his bidding, and you have Osama bin Laden.

He was my stalker, and the stalker of every diplomat, every soldier, every American. He was the stalker of every person in the world who didn't buy into his perverted version of Islam, even his fellow muslims.

He murdered members of our family...people in embassies, soldiers at war, innocents in the World Trade Center, in London, in Madrid...

No, killing him won't end all terrorism. But the lack of a smart, charismatic leader will likely fracture al Qaeda in a way that will make planning acts of terror, especially on a large scale, harder for the world's main terrorist organization.

And killing him will make his followers feel a little like the stalked rather than the stalkers.

And maybe if they are busy looking over their shoulders, they will be spending a little less time trying to kill my family.

And I think that is worth celebrating.

Finally.

Osama Bin Laden is dead.

As with most decisions I make, the reasons behind my decision to join the Foreign Service were complicated. Among them of course was that my wife was in the Service. But bin Laden was a deciding factor too...after 9/11, I wanted to serve my country. And as an out lesbian, military service was not an option.

So I am glad he is dead...I know that while this has cut the head off the snake, the danger continues. I pray for the safety of all those serving our country now.

As President Obama said, bin Laden was not a Muslim leader. He was a murderer of Muslims.

I think the manner in which he was living really speaks to that.

He is (was) a spoiled rich kid. He sent poor muslims off to die in the service of a jihad that most muslim leaders reject. He never took a risk to his own life to carry out his murderous plans.

And so all this time, while we had an image of him living in caves, an image that no doubt served him well among his followers, many of whom actually are living in caves and other lives of desparate poverty, he was actually living in a million dollar mansion.

He had excellent security and was in town and a mere 60 miles from Islamabad. He was not living a life of hardship, but he used the lives of hardship of his followers to carry out his plans with no personal risk to himself.

How profoundly hypocritical.

Now I know there are those who will decry this action, who will say all war is wrong.

I am a believer in diplomacy, in negotiation. I believe soft power must go hand in hand with hard power, that we can save lives by better funding the diplomatic corps so we can fight fewer wars. But I don't think we can ever hope to stay out of all wars.

Because I believe Hitler would have continued his evil plans to wipe all Jews from the face of the earth had it not been for war. I am not convinced that slavery would have ended without war. And I am not convinced that Osama could have been convinced to change his ways while there was breath in his body.

So good riddance. Lives will be saved because his is dead.

More Foreign Service Reality

Many thanks to Foreign Policy for this piece, which talks about some of the dangers facing people in the Foreign Service. Every so often, some ya-hoo comes along with the same old drivel about how cushy we have it. It is nice to occassionally see a piece recognizing the risks we face to serve.

U.S. Outposts in the Crosshairs

BY PETER WILLIAMS

As the most visible symbols of U.S. foreign policy around the world, embassies have always been a target for political violence. Last weekend’s attack on the U.S. consulate in Peshawar was just the most recent example. But embassies are addressing their vulnerabilities, as the Peshawar case shows: While two consulate employees were killed when a suicide bomber blew himself up outside, the casualties could have been much worse if gunmen had breached the mission’s heavily guarded gate. Following are five U.S. facilities around the world that are ramping up security in response to worsening local conditions.

[...]

A Response to Utter BS About FS Life

Zoe, a fellow American Indian from South Carolina (yes, that means we are probably related somehow!) and part of the FS blogger community, from over at Something Edited This Way Comes asked my thoughts on this piece that ran in Atlantic Free Press: American Diplomats Shun Hardship Posts in Third World Counties, particularly because he mentioned Jerusalem. He said, "Jerusalem is considered a hardship, which does not make any sense. To anyone who has ever visited Jerusalem, it is a joy to be there, not a hardship. Apparently, living in close proximity to Arabs is a hardship for American diplomats."

I'll address that particular statement in a minute.

But just let me say that this piece by Matthew Nasuti is one of the most ill-informed pieces of drivel I have read in a long time, and as someone who blogs on the Foreign Service, I read a lot of negative stuff about our work. Nasuti knows nothing about Foreign Service life and employs the most tired and inaccurate stereotypes he can find.

Let's start with our "generous base salary." Junior Officers join the Foreign Service at an FS 04 to FS 06, with the lower the number, the higher the rank. Starting salary at FS 06 is $38,394. The highest salary for someone coming in at FS 04 is $77,837. Trust me, anyone who comes into the Foreign Service as an FS 04 could be earning MUCH more in in the private sector, but we choose to take a pay cut to serve our country. Now, when we serve in Washington, DC, we get 24% locality pay, meaning that FS 06 makes $47,693. Let me assure you, that is not a high salary in D.C. But they lose that locality pay when they go overseas, and they are the only American public servants who do. Folks from other agencies keep their locality pay salary as their base salary, even though they are serving at the same embassies and consulates that we do. Senior members of the Foreign Service keep it as well. Efforts are being made to correct this, but currently, the lowest ranking, lowest paid Foreign Service Officers are the ONLY ones to take a pay CUT to go overseas.

The cut doesn't end there. When they are in the states, the spouses of FSOs can easily work to supplement their family income. Not so overseas. The few jobs available are extremely low paying, and the truth is that most FS spouses can not find work overseas. Yes, they get housing or a housing allowance. But this is of little consequence if they lose both the spouse's salary and a portion of their "generous base pay" and still have a mortgage to pay in the states.

He talks about the swimming pools and clubs for Americans in Baghdad. Did he mention that in some places, diplomats have those swimming pools to insure they have drinkable water? Of course not. He also neglects to notice the PTSD people return with after being awoken nightly by bombs, after losing colleagues to IEDs, after narrowly escaping death themselves. They work 7 days a week in physically and mentally unhealthy conditions. Yes, they get paid a big bonus. They earn every penny. And keep in mind for that JO, every penny could be less than $80,000. And unlike the military and other Americans there, they pay income taxes on every penny.

He mentions our housing, and how we live like elites compared with our neighbors in these countries. It is true, we often get some of the nicest housing a country has to offer. But that doesn't translate to nice housing. Victoria DeLong's house in Haiti didn't protect her. It collapsed on her and killed her.

He mentions language shortfalls. That is true. And not because we don't want to learn languages. All of us have languages other than English. But the truth is that we are so understaffed do to the lack of hiring in the 90s and the rapid build up of our embassies in Iraq and Afghanistan that we don't have enough people to fill our posts, let alone give them language training. They are working on that, both with recruitment of speakers of critical needs languages and general increased recruitment. But we had to wait for Congress to give us permission to increase our numbers. We can't just allocate money to it...they approve the number of FSOs. So fixing that issue takes time, but it is one we are all committed to. And meanwhile, our embassies are staffed at only 70% (except Iraq and Afghanistan, which is nearly completely staffed because we volunteer for the hard posts).

He mentions Beijing, but doesn't tell you about the FS spouse who has lost her health to the pollution. Her husband has lost his hearing from an unknown virus and poor health care. Sure, they are in a historic city. But there is a huge difference in visiting a historic city and living there. And they are paying the price. And their hardship pay was reduced.

And while we are talking about living in historic cities, let's do talk about Jerusalem. First, it is profoundly offensive that he thinks the hardship is living near Arabs. I LOVED my Palestinian colleagues, and I found the Palestinian people warm and hospitable. And Jerusalem is, as I have said many times, a wonderful place to visit. But living there is hard. The tension there is palpable. The people who live in Jerusalem are not the secular Jews and Arabs of Tel Aviv. They are the ones who choose to live on the seam, to fight with their very existence the battle of who belongs there. Daily you see Palestinians having their homes, homes they have lived in for generations, bulldozed over an unfair permitting process. Daily you seem Israelis who have been the victims of terror attacks. Daily you watch the size of the settlements increase and the chances for peace decrease. You see protests, sometimes you get caught in the middle of them, especially if you have, as part of your job, covering the areas most disputed. You worry about terror attacks. And because the issue is so important to so many people, the hours are long. The Secretary and other high level delegations visit often and it is hard to get a break. I came out of there physically and emotionally drained. It is a wonderful place to visit, but it is a hard place to live.

I recommend you go to his site, but not to read his drivel. Instead, read the comments of the FS families. I have not responded there because I could not do better than they have.To a person, they are all proud, as am I, of our service, and they all love this crazy life we lead. But no one would accuse someone who loved being in the military of having an easy life, and they should be aware that neither do we. We just love serving our country and are tired of the crap people peddle about our life of service when they have never walked in our shoes.

Not just visas

Joel Mowbray has an editorial in the Washington Times today blaming the Christmas Day Under Bomber attack squarely on the State Department. I have have seen this sentiment in the blogosphere and completely disagree with it, but I have been loath to discuss it here. Now that someone has stirred that hornets nest in the mainstream media (both WT and CNN), I'll weigh in a bit.

MOWBRAY: It's the visas, stupid

By Joel Mowbray
"Tucked away in a single paragraph near the end of the declassified preliminary report on the failed Christmas Day terrorist attack is the key fact glossed over by most in media and the government: Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab had a valid visa when he boarded his Detroit-bound flight.

Whether or not "dots" had been "connected," Mr. Abdulmutallab never could have come as close as he did to successful mass murder had the State Department immediately revoked the man's visa when his father first raised concerns. Without a valid visa, the young Nigerian would not have been en route to the United States in the first place. "

Digger comments:
As Mowbray mentions later in the editorial, Abdulmutallab was qualified for the visa when he received it. He said, "he is, after all, well-educated and from a successful family." He had travelled previously without breaking any laws. So issuing the visa was the appropriate decision. However, even had State revoked the visa the moment his father raised concerns, this would not have affected his ability to get onto the flight because he still had in his passport a visa that looked valid. Airlines don't have access to our visa records for understandable security reasons, and we don't have DHS agents at every overseas airport in the world. So the first place that it could have been noticed that his visa had been revoked would have been at the U.S. border. and his attack occurred long before that.

The only way that the visa could have been invalidated so that the airlines would know would have been to get him to come into the embassy and let them stamp "revoked" on his visa. What do you think the chances of that are?

Mowbray continues:
"All the more maddening is that this is precisely the lesson we learned from the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorists, none of whom actually qualified for the visas that were nonetheless issued to them. Yet eight years later, the State Department has barely budged its default position that visas are to be issued unless they have a clear reason to deny applications. "

Digger continues:
Absolutely false. When I took con-gen (the training course for consular officers), I was told that for tourist visas you start at no. All applicants are to be presumed to be intending immigrants until they can prove otherwise. For me, this meant that they needed to overcome, in addition to everything else, what I called my "hinky feeling." If I wasn't sure you intended to come to the U.S. for legitimate reasons, you didn't get the visa. Period. And I think this is the default position for every officer working the visa window, especially those of us who joined after 9/11. Because no one wants to be part of letting that happen again. We all jumped through a lot of hoops to join the Foreign Service because we love this country and wanted to serve it.

Mowbray continues:

"[...]

As part of this larger power struggle, DHS has been thwarted in many of its attempts to open Visa Screening Units (VSUs), which were mandated for every visa-issuing post as part of the Homeland Security Act of 2002. Nearly eight years later, there are only 14 VSUs, or fewer than 10 percent of all embassies and consulates. There is no VSU in Nigeria, even though DHS has wanted to establish one.

Lack of funding is partly to blame, but several ambassadors have successfully rebuffed efforts to create VSUs in their countries - fearing that enhanced security enforcement would slow visa processing, angering local government officials. "

Digger comments:
I think the lack of VSUs has much more to do with funding than any power struggle. It cost a lot of money to have someone overseas. Not only do you have the cost of the person's salary, but their housing and transportation as well. Add to that the cost of training in language and area studies (most FSOs going to do visa work receive six months to a year of language training alone. DHS would have to bear the expense of that training for someone who was likely to serve in that country only once and then come back to the U.S. FSOs know that there is a likelihood of returning to the countries where their language skills are needed). If I had to guess, most of those 14 VSUs are in English-language posts. I would personally welcome DHS at any post where I served, but it is going to cost the American taxpayers a bundle.

You can read the rest of his editorial, which continues from the building blocks above, here.

A Dangerous Life

The U.S. announced today that it was closing the Embassy in Yemen because of Al Qaeda threats there. They will re-evaluate the closure tomorrow. Britain has taken similar measures.

This, and the recent attack on the CIA Forward Operating Base (FOB) in Afghanistan that killed eight Americans, highlights the dangers faced not just by our military but by those serving our country overseas in a civilian capacity. I hope that as you offer your support, encouragement and prayers for our troops and their families, you remember to do the same for those serving alongside them.

30th Anniversary of the Embassy Takeover in Iran

Thirty years ago today, on November 4, 1979, Iranian students overran the U.S. Embassy in Tehran and took the occupants hostage. Six hostages escaped and took refuge at the Canadian Embassy (they later fled the country with the assistance of the Canadaians, who then closed their own embassy). Over the course of the next two weeks, some were released, including non-Americans, all but two of the women and all but one African American. Eight months later, another hostage was freed because of illness.

The remaining 52 hostages were held for a total of 444 days. One of them was William Belk, a native of South Carolina. I vividly remember the news reports each night about him. It brought this crisis home to South Carolina. In some small way, I hope my service honors him.

The hostages were released on January 20, 1981, moments after President Reagan was inagurated.

Today, the the former American Embassy Tehran is a museum to the Iranian revolution.

You can read more about the takeover in the book Guests of the Ayatollah.

The following list of hostages was borrowed from allmilitary.com's entry about the Embassy takeover.

The Hostages:

6 Evading Diplomats

Robert Anders, 34 - Consular Officer

Mark J. Lijek, 29 - Consular Officer

Cora A. Lijek, 25 - Consular Assistant

Henry L. Schatz, 31 - Agriculture Attaché

Joseph D. Stafford, 29 - Consular Officer

Kathleen F. Stafford, 28 - Consular Assistant

13 Women and African-American Personnel were captured, held hosage and released on 19-20 November, 1979

Kathy Gross, 22 - Secretary

Sgt. James Hughes, 30 - USAF Administrative Manager

Lillian Johnson, 32 - Secretary

Sgt. Ladell Maples, 23 - USMC Embassy Guard

Elizabeth Montagne, 42 - Secretary

Sgt. William Quarles, 23 - USMC Embassy Guard

Lloyd Rollins, 40 - Administrative Officer

Capt. Neal (Terry) Robinson, 30 - Administrative Officer

Terri Tedford, 24 - Secretary Sgt.

Joseph Vincent, 42 - USAF Administrative Manager

Sgt. David Walker, 25 - USMC Embassy Guard

Joan Walsh, 33 - Secretary

Cpl. Wesley Williams, 24 - USMC Embassy Guard

1 hostage captured, held and released on 11 July 1980 because of Multiple Sclerosis diagnosis

Richard I. Queen, 28 - Vice Consul 52

Remaining Hostages, held captive until 20 January, 1980

Thomas L. Ahern, Jr., -Narcotics Control Officer

Clair Cortland Barnes, 35 - Communications Specialist

William E. Belk, 44 - Communications and Records Officer

Robert O. Blucker, 54 - Economics Officer Specializing in Oil

Donald J. Cooke, 26 - Vice Consul

William J. Daugherty, 33 - 3rd Secretary of U.S. Mission

Lt. Cmdr. Robert Englemann, 34 - USN Attaché

Sgt. William Gallegos, 22 - USMC Guard

Bruce W. German, 44 - Budget Officer

Duane L. Gillette, 24 - USN Communications and Intelligence Specialist

Alan B. Golancinksi, 30 - Security Officer

John E. Graves, 53 - Public Affairs Officer

Joseph M. Hall, 32 - CWO Military Attaché

Sgt. Kevin J. Hermening, 21 - USMC Guard

Sgt. 1st Class Donald R. Hohman, 38 - USA Medic

Col. Leland J. Holland, 53 - Military Attaché

Michael Howland, 34 - Security Aide, held at Iranian Foreign Ministry Office

Charles A. Jones, Jr., 40 - Communications Specialist and Teletype Operator. Only African-American hostage not released in November 1979.

Malcolm Kalp, 42 - Affiliation Unknown

Moorhead C. Kennedy Jr., 50 - Economic and Commercial Officer

William F. Keough, Jr., 50 - Superintendent of American School in Islamabad, Pakistan, visiting Tehran at time of embassy seizure

Cpl. Steven W. Kirtley - USMC Guard

Kathryn L. Koob, 42 - Embassy Cultural Officer; one of two female hostages

Frederick Lee Kupke, 34 - Communications Officer and Electronics Specialist

L. Bruce Laingen, 58 - Chargé d’Affaires, held at Iranian Foreign Ministry Office

Steven Lauterbach, 29 - Administrative Officer

Gary E. Lee, 37 - Administrative Officer

Sgt. Paul Edward Lewis, 23 - USMC Guard

John W. Limbert, Jr., 37 - Political Officer

Sgt. James M. Lopez, 22 - USMC Guard

Sgt. John D. McKeel, Jr., 27 - USMC Guard

Michael J. Metrinko, 34 - Political Officer

Jerry J. Miele, 42 - Communications Officer

Staff Sgt. Michael E. Moeller, 31 - Head of USMC Guard Unit at Embassy

Bert C. Moore, 45 - Counselor for Administration

Richard H. Morefield, 51 - U.S. Consul General in Tehran

Capt. Paul M. Needham, Jr., 30 - USAF Logistcs Staff Officer

Robert C. Ode, 65 - Retired Foreign Service Officer on Temporary Duty in Tehran

Sgt. Gregory A. Persinger, 23 - USMC Guard

Jerry Plotkin, 45 - Civilian Businessman visiting Tehran

MSgt. Regis Ragan, 38 - USA NCO assigned to Defense Attaché’s Office

Lt. Col. David M. Roeder, 41 - Deputy USAF Attaché

Barry M. Rosen, 36 - Press Attaché

William B. Royer, Jr., 49 - Assistant Director of Iran-American Society

Col. Thomas E. Schaefer, 50 - USAF Attaché

Col. Charles W. Scott, 48 - USA Officer, Military Attaché

Cmdr. Donald A. Sharer, 40 - USN Air Attaché

Sgt. Rodney V. (Rocky) Sickmann, 22 - USMC Guard

Staff Sgt. Joseph Subic, Jr., 23 - Military Police, USA, Defense Attaché’s Staff

Elizabeth Ann Swift, 40 - Chief of Embassy’s Political Section; 1 of 2 female hostages

Victor L. Tomseth, 39 - Senior Political Officer, held at Iranian Foreign Ministry Office

Phillip R. Ward, 40 - Administrative Officer

A Reason to Be Thankful

There was a car bomb today near the U.S. Embassy in Afghanistan. No doubt the idea was to send the message to prospective voters for next week's presidential election to stay home.

From the coverage I have seen, that message was received by some. I hope not many.

None of the folks at the mission were hurt, and they have all been accounted for. For this, I am extremely grateful. I have friends there, including one very close friend. Until she left for Kabul last month, we had continued our tradition, begun in Jerusalem, of having dinner together once a week or so with a group of friends. Aside from my partner, she is one of my very best friends, and one of the people that make me think I should stay in the service because without it, I'd have never met her.

I hope everyone in Afghanistan stays safe and comes home soon.

Sad Anniversary

Tomorrow will be the 11th anniversary of the terrorist attack on our Embassies in Nairobi, Kenya and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. More than 200 people were killed in those attacks.

Today, during her trip to Africa, Secretary Clinton honored the victims of those attacks by placing a wreath at the memorial on the site of the Kenya attack. She also signed the guestbook and met with survivors.

She said the site is a reminder of "the continuing threat of terrorism, which respects no boundaries, no race, ethnicity or religion, but is aimed at disrupting and denying the opportunity of people to make their own decisions and to lead their own lives.''

She vowed to "to renew our resolve to do all that we can to ensure that these attacks don't take more innocent lives in the future.''

Some of those behind the attacks have not yet been brought to justice and are being sheltered in neighboring Somalia.

Let's hope they get what they deserve soon.

Happy Thanksgiving

I hope this Thanksgiving finds you and your family safe, happy and secure.

Our thoughts go our to our friends in Kabul, where a bomb went off near the Embassy while they were having a Thanksgiving Day event, and to those in Mumbai, where the chaos at the hands of terrorists continues.

I am thankful all of the folks serving our country in those two places are safe, and I pray for those others, both American and not, enduring the unbearable.

USAID Contractor Killed In Pakistan

From USAID:

From USAID Administrator, Henrietta H. Fore
On USAID Contractor Killed In Pakistan

WASHINGTON, D.C. - The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) was saddened to learn that two members of our valued professional team were shot and killed Wednesday in the Peshawar province of Pakistan. Stephen D. Vance, a USAID contractor with CHF International and his driver were serving the common interests of the U.S. and Pakistan in bringing peace and stability to a country that has long been wracked by violence and conflict.

Stephen was deeply committed to his work on a USAID-funded job creation and workforce development project in Pakistan's FATA region, and he was highly respected by his colleagues in Pakistan and throughout his organization. He had fully immersed himself in the community in which he worked. We extend our most heartfelt condolences to the families and friends of these fallen colleagues.

American men and women and foreign nationals alike put their lives on the line every day in an effort to further the humanitarian and development programs throughout the world and they deserve our deepest gratitude. It is this dedication and compassion that keeps us all dutifully committed to our work.

Another terrorist attack

You probably saw in the news about the bomb blast at the Marriott Hotel in Islamabad yesterday. At least 57 people were killed and as many as 230 were injured. No doubt the place was targeted in part because it is a favorite spot among western diplomats. Initial reports I saw said that four Americans from the Embassy were there but made it out alive (one was apparently injured).

I was greatly relieved to hear a friend of mine who is serving there was not among those hurt, and that apparently none of the folks from our embassy were killed (of course, the media never says if locally-hired embassy workers were killed because Americans don't count them as "our people." But all of us in the foreign service do.)

My heart goes out to the Czech mission. Their Ambassador, Ivo Zdarek, who had just arrived in country a month ago, was staying at the hotel and was killed in blast.

You can read more about the attack here.

UPDATE: Reports are now that two American military personel working at the Embassy are among those killed. Our hearts go out to their families.

Bastards

I am glad my friends are okay, but sorry that innocent police and civilians died in this attack.

Al Qaeda blamed for U.S. Embassy attack

(CNN) -- Suspected Al Qaeda disguised as security forces launched an explosive assault ck on the U.S. Embassy in Yemen's capital, Sanaa Wednesday killing 10 Yemeni police and civilians, officials said.

The attack involved two car bombs, a spokesman for Yemen's embassy in Washington said. Six attackers, including a suicide bomber wearing an explosive vest, were also killed in the attack, Mohammed al-Basha said.

The attack involved at least four explosions -- including at least one car bomb -- and sniper fire, a senior State Department official said, adding that no U.S. Embassy employees were killed.

The heavily fortified compound in the capital of Yemen -- the ancestral home of al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden -- has previously been targeted in attacks.

The U.S. official told CNN that the attackers initially opened fire outside the embassy's security gate, then there was the main explosion followed by a secondary explosion.

At some point, snipers positioned across the street from the embassy opened fire on Yemeni first responders as they arrived on the scene, the official said.

Those killed include six Yemeni policemen and four civilians, he said, noting that the number of wounded is unclear.

Yemen believes al Qaeda is responsible for the attack, al-Basha said. Media reports said Islamic Jihad in Yemen -- which is affiliated with al Qaeda -- has claimed responsibility for the attack, but CNN could not independently confirm those reports.

Trev Mason, a British national who lives near the embassy, said he saw "a massive fireball" near compound. Eyewitness tells of fireball outside embassy »

"We heard the sounds of a heavy gun battle going on," he told CNN. "I looked out my window, and we saw the first explosion going off -- a massive fireball very close to the U.S. Embassy.

"The gun battle went on for a further 10 to 15 minutes, followed by two further loud explosions."

The first explosion happened about 9:15 a.m. Wednesday (0615 GMT/2.15 am ET) and was followed by several secondary blasts, said U.S. Embassy spokesman Ryan Gliha. Listen to Gliha describe aftermath

Gliha was at the embassy at the time of the attack and said he felt the compound shake.

"We were all ordered to assume what we call a duck-and-cover position which is a position where we guard ourselves and bodies from potential debris," Gliha told CNN.

"From that vantage point, I can't tell you much after that except we did feel several explosions after the main explosion that shook the ground."

Al-Basha called it a "despicable and heinous act" particularly because it took place during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

The White House has condemned the bombing and vowed to "to increase our counterterrorism activities to prevent more attacks from taking place."

The U.S. official told CNN that Yemen's cooperation in fighting terrorism "needs to be better."

Witnesses told CNN they heard gunfire, and said they saw ambulances rushing from the scene.

Yemeni officials said the first car contained people in police uniforms who exchanged fire with Yemeni security forces, the officials said. The second car exploded after it passed an outermost gate to the Embassy but before it reached a second protective barrier, the officials said.

But al-Basha said there were two cars packed with explosives involved in the attack.

The U.S. State Department has warned of violence that it attributes to Islamic extremists in Yemen. It has cited concern "about possible attacks by extremist individuals or groups against U.S. citizens, facilities, businesses and perceived interests."

The State Department ordered the departure of all non-emergency American staff from the Embassy, along with their family members, in April, after attacks against the Embassy and a residential compound. That order was lifted last month.

In March, three mortar rounds landed near the Embassy, injuring Yemeni students at a nearby school and Yemeni government security personnel, the State Department said.

The next month, an expatriate residential compound in the Hadda neighborhood was attacked by mortar fire. Suspected extremists fired two mortar rounds toward the Yemen Customs Authority and Italian Embassy in April, as well, but no one was hurt.

Authorities in Yemen have been struggling to curb the activities of al Qaeda-linked groups, with militants seen as having free rein outside major cities, says CNN's International Security Correspondent Paula Newton.

Honoring Those Lost

Ten years ago today, terrorists bombed our embassies in Nairobi and Dar es Salaam. At least 213 people, including 12 Americans, died in Nairobi, and another 4000 or so people were injured. Forty four of the dead were American Embassy employees (12 Americans and 32 Foreign Service National employees). Eleven people died in the Dar es Salaam explosion, and at least a hundred were injured there. Neither embassy had a setback. Had it not been for the bravery of unarmed FSNs in Nairobi keeping the terrorists outside the embassy compound, many more would have died.

The Department is having a memorial ceremony this morning to honor their sacrifice. There will also be ceremonies honoring the victims at both of the embassies. You can read more about those ceremonies here.

You can read more about the attacks at Diplopundit and Dead Men Working. Diplopundit's post contains the names of each of the victims and links to more information about them. Great Diversions reminds us that 9/11 was not our wake-up call. It came three years earlier.

The One That Got Away

I hope they catch him and lock him away forever. Or lock him in a room with the families of those lost. Or in a room with anyone in the Foreign Service.

Kenya: U.S. embassy bomb suspect flees raid

NAIROBI, Kenya (CNN) -- One of the FBI's most wanted terrorists escaped a raid over the weekend, Kenyan police said Monday.

Fazul Abdullah Mohammed, indicted in the United States for alleged involvement in the 1998 bombings of U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, managed to evade police in a raid Saturday morning in Malindi, along Kenya's coast, said police spokesman Eric Kiraithe.

The United States calls Mohammed a senior al Qaeda operative in East Africa.

U.S. officials accuse him of being an architect of the embassy bombings that killed 225 people.

They also believe Mohammed was involved in attacks on an Israeli-owned hotel and airliner in Kenya in 2002.

You can read the entire piece here.