The Damascus Affair by Shawn Tenbrink

Author:Shawn Tenbrink [Tenbrink, Shawn]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Scoutswell
Published: 2023-03-20T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 18

The Ambassador Is Not Safe

The timing of my move closer to the Embassy was spot on because things became a little more dangerous for U.S. diplomats. On October 23, Ambassador Ford was called back to Washington, DC, in a “surprise recall.” Mark Toner, a spokesman at the State Department, said that Mr. Ford was being called back to Washington from Damascus after “credible threats against his personal safety.”

I am sure Ford had credible threats against him, as the mob proved. The regime was also making up false rumors about Ford. One was a rumor that his motorcade hit and killed a Syrian child. The regime was trying to make Ford out to be a supporter of terrorists and a child killer. It seemed that the regime’s intimidation was now directed at Ford.

After Washington announced that Ford would be heading back to Washington, DC, I received many emails from State colleagues, friends, and family asking if I was also leaving Damascus. It was a logical question. If there were credible threats against the Ambassador, it probably meant that there were also threats against the U.S. Embassy in general. I would have thought that we were all in danger, but that was not the calculation of those in power in DC.

The State Department’s spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said on October 24 that the administration planned to send Ford back to Syria once the threat had eased. I am not sure how the threat would’ve eased. It was not like U.S. relations with the regime were headed in the right direction. She also added that his visit back to DC would just “give him a little bit of a break” from a harrowing assignment.

When I heard that Ford was departing, many red flags started waving in my head. For sure, Ford was a target of the regime; the planned mob attack showed that. However, if he was gone, wouldn’t the regime just find another target?

To answer all the emails about Ford’s departure, I responded with a simple answer, “No. I am fine. Don’t worry about me. No, I don’t need a break.”

I could not explain to my family why the Ambassador had to leave and why it was okay for me to stay. I guess generals in the army don’t fight on the front lines all the time. When things get bad, they just keep the grunts in the danger zone. Maybe I was just a grunt.

Even if I was a grunt, I don’t blame Ford, our general, for leaving us. I don’t think he had a choice in the matter. I thought that maybe having him go back to DC to push policy on Syria in the hallways of power could be a good thing. However, that still did not take away the feeling of being a grunt stuck in the foxhole we called the U.S. Embassy in Damascus.

While it was discomforting that Ford was leaving, it also did not surprise me that the rest of us stayed. Taking risks was part of a diplomat’s job.

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