Michael R. Pompeo
Secretary of State
Washington, DC
August 7, 2018
Today, on the twentieth anniversary of the bombings of the U.S.
Embassies in Nairobi, Kenya and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, we remember the
victims of these terrorist attacks. These bombings, carried out by
al-Qaida, resulted in more than 250 deaths and nearly 5,000 injuries. We
will never forget the legacy of those who perished, nor the courage,
bravery, and valor of all who survived. Today also reminds us that we
must continue to be vigilant to prevent further attacks. We must honor
the memory of those we mourn today by pressing the cause of freedom and
justice. Our partnership with our African allies remains stronger than
ever. As we remember and honor the sacrifices of the victims and their
families, we stand together in the continuing fight against terrorism.
Remarks at the 20th Anniversary Commemoration Ceremony of the Embassy Bombings in Nairobi, Kenya and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
08/07/2018 03:06 PM EDT
Remarks
John J. Sullivan
Deputy Secretary of State
Washington, DC
August 7, 2018
DEPUTY SECRETARY SULLIVAN: It’s a great honor for me to stand here today, and it’s a solemn day on which we gather.
I have had the honor of speaking at events like this. I speak at our
embassies when I travel around the world, and I thank all of those women
and men I meet, including our locally employed staff. I always make a
point, as my colleagues know, of speaking first to the locally employed
staff and tell them how important they are to us, to our mission. I also
thank them for their service.
And I’ve said this many times, and some of my colleagues are sort of
sick of me reminding everyone, but I have a personal connection, a
family connection to some of what you and your loved ones went through.
My family – my uncle was a career Foreign Service officer and served for
32 years. And his last post was as our ambassador to Iran, and he was –
he and my cousins and my aunt Marie – my uncle’s name was Bill Sullivan
– they were – my uncle was recalled by President Carter before his
colleagues were taken hostage on November 4th.
But as I’ve reminded people – and I mentioned this when I testified
in my confirmation hearing – what I most remember about his service in
Tehran was the fact that on Valentine’s Day, February 14th, 1979, our
embassy in Tehran was overrun, and my uncle and all of our – all of his
colleagues at the embassy were briefly held hostage. They were
eventually rescued, ironically enough by the Revolutionary Guards, but
they were held hostage briefly.
But the memory that sticks with me the most from that day is on the
same day our Ambassador to Afghanistan Spike Dubs was kidnapped and
assassinated. And I at the time was a sophomore in college, and I always
thought the life of a diplomat, I thought of my uncle’s life as
glamorous and dinner parties and socializing. And it dawned on me, boy,
this is hard, dangerous work; these are women and men who go out to
their posts unarmed with – representing the United States, representing
us, and subjecting themselves to enormous risks.
All of you here know and lived through what we came to realize were
the even larger risks that materialized on August 7th, 1998. And it’s my
honor to stand before you today to remember the victims of that
terrorist attack on our embassies in Nairobi and Dar es Salaam.
Before I continue any further, I want to first acknowledge
Ambassadors Bushnell and Lange for their efforts in bringing everyone
here together. Ambassador Bushnell has impressed upon me the need –
although not necessary, but I’m grateful to hear it – the need to both
remember what happened on August 7th, but – and continue to work to make
sure the United States Government not only remembers but does all that
it needs to, to make everyone who was impacted by those events whole, to
be respected and made whole.
I also want to acknowledge the Deputy Chief of Mission of Kenya David
Gacheru and the Ambassador of Tanzania Wilson Masilingi for attending
today’s event.
Most importantly, I want to thank all of you, survivors and families
who are here today. We are here to honor you today, and to honor those
who lost their lives in Nairobi and Dar es Salaam, 20 years ago. Twenty
years after that fateful morning, we’re reminded of the bravery,
heroism, compassion, and sacrifice of those who are here today and those
who were taken from us. We remember especially the legacy of those who
perished.
Many of you here today acted to save lives and help your colleagues
and strangers. We thank all of you for your courage, bravery, and valor
as you answered that call – call of duty, call of basic humanity – to
respond to those attacks and to those who were injured and killed on
that day.
It is to those brave women and men here and countless others who have
perished defending the cause of freedom that we owe a great debt of
gratitude.
Yesterday, we hosted an event – many of you here, I’m sure, attended.
The theme was – Remembrance, reflection, and resilience.- One thing we
can draw from that powerful event is that no one who survived is
untouched by the events of that day. Twenty years later – and I was
commenting to some of you, it seems like in my mind – and I did not – I
just witnessed those events through the media as a spectator, but
they’re etched in my mind from 20 years ago, and it seems like just
yesterday to me. I can only imagine what it’s like for those of you who
survived. It must seem – the immediacy of those events, despite the
passage of 20 years, must be profound. On the other hand, the pace of
events, all that’s happened in those 20 years, is also remarkable.
But despite the passage of time, the gravity of those events and the
experiences we remember compel us to gather today to share our memories –
your memories – and to discuss lessons – lessons in leadership from
across the department, Ambassador Bushnell, Ambassador Lange, and all of
you. I read in the
Foreign Service Journal, I know they’ve
dedicated the recent issue to the embassy bombings. The leadership
lessons, the memories – it’s important that they be recorded and not
forgotten.
Leadership from across the department is what’s represented here this
morning, and I want you to know that the leadership of this department,
the current leadership of this department, stands united with you in
remembrance and respect of the human toll that these events took on our
embassy communities. And of course, that includes other government
agencies beyond the Department of State, some of whom are represented
here – USAID, our military colleagues, et cetera, Commerce Department,
Foreign Commercial Service – I previously served at the Commerce
Department – and of course, innocent bystanders, all of who were
affected by the devastating attacks on that day.
I spent time earlier this morning with some of you, speaking to the
survivors and the family members of those who perished. Many of us, I
included – millions of Americans will never understand the ultimate
sacrifice made 20 years ago by those who perished in the attacks. It’s
just a fact of life. The pace of life in modern America, trying to
remember what happened 20 years ago – I remember, but it’s difficult, I
think, for most Americans, thinking about ‘ something that happened 20
years ago seems like an ancient memory. It’s not for this department,
it’s not for those of you gathered here, and know that the leadership of
this department will ensure that Americans remember. And this
department certainly will remember.
We recognize the depth of you and your loved ones’ commitment to
public service, and we’ll never forget the price that was paid by so
many of our colleagues, our friends, our loved ones, and innocent
strangers.
August 7th was and still is a difficult reminder of the sacrifice
members of our community make every day to answer the call to public
service, a call that is inextricably tied to promoting and defending the
interests of our republic. The women and men who serve in our embassies
and consulates around the world, as you all know, do challenging work
that is not always fully appreciated by many of those fellow Americans.
They protect our interests and promote our values abroad. Our staff –
Americans, locally employed staff, those who serve in uniform, all of
those who serve at our embassies – endure hardships, often at great
risk, far away from home, because it keeps the United States safer and
stronger.
And as I mentioned at the outset, we can’t succeed in this effort
without the vital assistance of our locally employed staff who work hand
in hand with us each day to advance the interests of the United States.
And I would like to thank personally all those survivors, many of whom
continue to hold important positions at our embassies in Nairobi and Dar
es Salaam today, as we speak. And of course we recognize the valuable
contributions of our locally employed staff who make those contributions
every day at U.S. posts around the world.
Twenty years ago, al-Qaida tried and failed to undermine the values
we’re sworn to uphold. While we may be facing new threats in different
parts of the world, the imperative to remain vigilant endures. And to
this end, we remain committed to ending the scourge of global terrorism
by whatever means it now organizes and it calls itself. In so doing, we
must honor the memories of those we continue to mourn today by pressing
the cause of freedom and justice to which they dedicated their lives.
The sacrifices of the victims and their families will not be in vain. We
must continue to stand strong in our values. Those who would inflict
violence on others in service to their countries will not be allowed to
prevail. Those who preach intolerance and hatred will not break us.
Even as we remember our fallen colleagues, we continue our efforts to
defeat al-Qaida, ISIS, and other global terrorist organizations, and to
prevent further attacks on the United States and our citizens. Our
resolve is as strong today as ever, and we owe it to those whose lives
have been taken by terrorist violence to remain steadfast in our efforts
to root out violent extremism wherever it exists.
I would now like to welcome to the podium Ambassador Prudence
Bushnell and Ambassador John Lange to say a few words. Their leadership
was inspirational, necessary, and recognized by all, and I’m really
honored that they are here today to be able to share some of their
observations. It was their dedication that kept our embassies in Nairobi
and Dar es Salaam running in the aftermath of October 7th
.
They’ve continued to serve as true champions for their communities, for
all of you gathered here, and they’ve been selfless patriots over the
past 20 years. It’s my honor to introduce Ambassador Bushnell and
Ambassador Lange.
Thank you. (Applause.)
