Note: "ADCM" is the acting deputy chief of mission. Also, as you can see, the entire comment was redacted by the State Department.
US State Department cables from places I have served plus items from my time as a UN peacekeeper. To increase public awareness of how diplomacy and peacekeeping are (were) actually done. All cables cleared by USG FOIA procedure. Cables are mostly those sent under my name from my posts but also others in which I was directly involved. UN documents and other items will also include occasional notes and background. Most recent in series on top with cables under the new series of UN documents.
Thursday, January 15, 2015
Monday, January 12, 2015
03 Khartoum 1042 *
* Note: This cable actually should have been posted previous to the last as it came first and provides background to this media case.
Thursday, December 11, 2014
Journal Entry for December 2, 2003
Sitting here at 8am on December 2 with a nice breeze waifing in
Khartoum air. The scent is a bit musky but not unpleasant and it is
cool. Opened the windows in the middle of the night and turned the
AC off. Yahoo says the temp will range from 65 to 89 today and it'll
get into the high 50's for lows this week. Beats Belize by miles.
Woke up to birds singing and the occasional cry of a distant hawk.
Went
to Nyala, capital of Southern Darfur yesterday. Took 3 1/2 hours of
flying each way. Went with UK and EU Ambassadors to highlight our
concern over the conflict there. The Wali (governor), a tough
military man (and possible war criminal) had stopped the UK
ambassador and me from making previous tries to get there. He was
absent yesterday.
We
met with state government officials, NGOs and then with a group of
tribal leaders. The Wali had tried to stop us from meeting them but
we insisted. The leaders of the two main Darfur opponents -- Arab nomad
tribes and the Fur tribe (African farmers) -- both gave us their
sides. We encouraged them to make peace. (The Arab nomads have been
trying to drive the African farmers from their land. Both are
Moslem.)
Some
of our group went to a camp of people displaced by the war. They are
in bad shape. Darfur from the air looks absolutely barren and it
we'd call it desert.* But Greater Darfur has 6 million people and as
the Sahara spreads south, they have less good space and thus fight
for it. I find it hard when I am in such a place to grasp how the
people who live there and the people who live in the First World,
North America or Europe, could possibly be on the same planet. The
distance between realities is so great.
*2014 Note: Darfur does look very arid to an outsider. But it gets just enough rain when the Inter-tropical Convergence Zone moves north. The Jebel Marra region sticks up into the clouds and can get enough rain for agriculture and pasture. It's thus worth having.
Wednesday, December 3, 2014
Wednesday, November 26, 2014
Journal Entry for November 28, 2003
Yesterday was Thanksgiving. I missed being in Pittsburgh. But we carried on the traditions here in Khartoum. Had 20
fellow Embassy folks, Americans from all over the US. We all wanted
to be somewhere else, with family and friends, but here we were. I
said a few words of thanks, for all the loved ones and people back
home who give us the reason for being here to serve and for each
other. I hugged everyone who came. We all had good food and a good
time. Tradition carrying on.
Tuesday, November 18, 2014
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