Daily Archives: August 7, 2019

21 Years Ago Today: Bombings of US Embassies Nairobi and Dar es Salaam #August7 #Remember

August 7, 2019 By in Diplomatic Attacks, Foreign Service, Memorial, Realities of the FS, State Department, Terrorism, U.S. Missions Tags: , , , , , ,

 

Twenty-one years ago today, the near simultaneous vehicular bombings of the US Embassies in Nairobi, Kenya, and Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania cost the lives of 224 people and wounded more than 4,500 others. Twelve American USG employees and family members, and 32 Kenyan and 8 Tanzanian USG employees, were among those killed.

East African Embassy Bombings (Photo by FBI)

According to the FBI, over 900 FBI agents alone—and many more FBI employees—traveled overseas to assist in the recovery of evidence and the identification of victims at the bomb sites and to track down the perpetrators in the aftermath of the attacks. Below via the FBI:
These attacks were soon directly linked to al Qaeda. To date, more than 20 people have been charged in connection with the bombings. Several of these individuals—including Usama bin Laden—have been killed. Six are serving life sentences in U.S. prison, and a few others are awaiting trial.
The KENBOM and TANBOM investigations—as the FBI calls them—represented at that time the largest deployment in Bureau history. They led to ramped up anti-terror efforts by the United States and by the FBI, including an expanded Bureau overseas presence that can quickly respond to acts of terrorism that involve Americans.
The investigation continues, with the following fugitives still wanted for their alleged roles in the attacks:

 

Related posts:

New AFSA Governing Board (2019-2021 )Takes Office

August 7, 2019 By in Ambassadors, Foreign Service, FS Groups, State Department, USAID Tags: , , , , , , , , , , ,

 

New AFSA Governing Board (2019-2021). Photo by AFSA/Twitter

The 2019-2021 American Foreign Service Association Governing Board took office on July 15. It will serve a two-year term (Also see 2019-2021 AFSA Governing Board Election Results). Below via AFSA:

Incoming President Ambassador Eric Rubin comes to AFSA from his posting as Ambassador to Bulgaria, where he served from three years. He was previously deputy chief of mission in Moscow, deputy assistant secretary of State for European and Eurasian affairs, consul general in Chiang Mai, executive assistant to the under secretary of State for political affairs and Rusk Fellow at Georgetown University’s Institute for the Study of Diplomacy.

Foreign Service Officer Thomas Yazdgerdi, AFSA’s new Vice President of the Department of State constituency, is a 28-year veteran of the State Department. Yazdgerdi is finishing his tenure as Special Envoy for Holocaust Issues, but has also served in Kabul, Kirkuk, Baghdad, Pristina, Panama, Bratislava, Tirana and Athens, as well as Director of the Office of South Central European Affairs.

John K. Naland returns as Vice President for the retiree constituency. He has held numerous positions on AFSA’s board, including State Vice President and AFSA President.

Foreign Service Officers Jason Singer, Jay Carreiro and Michael Riedel will serve as Vice Presidents of the USAID, Foreign Commercial Service and Foreign Agricultural Service constituencies, respectively.

Completing AFSA’s leadership team, retired senior FSO Virginia L. Bennett will serve as Treasurer and Kenneth Kero-Mentz will serve as the organization’s Secretary.

Complete bios for AFSA’s elected leadership, including all officers and constituency representatives, can be found on the AFSA website.

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Thank you! Some Fireworks to Share, Not Rum!

August 7, 2019 By in Blognotes Tags: , ,

 

 

Our thanks and appreciation to 540 people who made this blog’s funding campaign a success! People even took time out from their weekend and turned out for the campaign! Some made second donations to help ensure that we get to where we want to be. We reached our funding goal hours before our self-imposed deadline of August 5. So sharing some fireworks (from Winfield House’s 2017 event), but not rum:-)!

 

As of this writing, the campaign has raised $41,432. GoFundMe deducted $1,364.02 in transaction fees, and left the campaign with $40,067.98 to withdraw. We won’t get the funds for a few more weeks but we are now funded from August 2019 to August 2020.
We are relieved we don’t have to worry about funding for the next 12 months, and at least for the moment, we are able to put the bag lady nightmare at bay. Thank you for making this possible!

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