Posted by Noah Eden on Nov 28, 2007 - 03:34 PM
![Noah Eden at the Jolo airport in the Philippines June 7, 2007. [State Department photo]](http://blogs.state.gov/images/UNGA/field/2007_1128_joho_bh_m.jpg)
On the fringes of the earth - June 7, 2007...
"Zamboanga?"
The airport security guard's voice expressed deep concern, as if to say, "Are you sure you want to go there?"
Jet-lagged and groggy from 22 hours of previous flights, I could only manage to respond with a quiet yes. My route to the Philippines had taken me from Washington, D.C. to Minneapolis to Tokyo, and finally to Manila. Now, I was venturing even further from home -- to the city of Zamboanga and, a helicopter ride later, to Jolo.
Jolo is a small island in the southern Philippines, where the dreaded Abu Sayyaf terrorist organization is known to operate.…
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Posted by Nancy Brinker on Nov 27, 2007 - 02:18 PM
![Opening session of the Annapolis Conference in Annapolis, Md. Nov. 27, 2007. [AP]](http://blogs.state.gov/images/UNGA/field/annapolis_m.jpg)
Tuesday Afternoon:
We’re now in Bancroft Hall and President Bush and Abbas have spoken. All three leaders called for peace. President Bush came to set the stage and urge the process, which he did with great energy and determination.
Both President Abbas and Prime Minister…
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Posted by Shelia Moyer on Nov 24, 2007 - 04:24 PM
![Sun sets behind the Green Zone that houses the U.S. Embassy in Iraq Jan. 19, 2007. [AP file photo]](http://blogs.state.gov/images/UNGA/field/2007_iraq2_bh_m.jpg)
I joined the Foreign Service committed to serve and to work anywhere in the world to use my skills to help accomplish our nation’s objectives. I’ve done so willingly throughout my career with great satisfaction. Having fulfilled my requirement to serve at hardship posts, I returned to Washington intent on planning for my transition to a career outside of government, to support young family members now in college or contemplating careers, particularly since I have not been around to watch them grow into young men and women. Because we are a close-knit family, the Foreign Service has always been a difficult sacrifice for us.
I have had the good fortune to live, work, or travel…
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Posted by Brian Heath on Nov 23, 2007 - 11:36 AM
![Foreign Serivce Officer Brian Heath in Lahore, Pakistan. [State Department photo]](http://blogs.state.gov/images/UNGA/field/lahore_m.jpg)
The Foreign Service I know and am proud to be…
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Posted by Richard G. Kidd IV on Nov 21, 2007 - 12:04 PM
![Anti-personnel mines are seen in Nicosia, Cyprus November 22, 2006. [AP file photo]](http://blogs.state.gov/images/UNGA/field/2007_1121_landmines_bh_m.jpg)
It is a curious and unfortunate paradox that the United States, the world’s largest single financial contributor to mine and unexploded ordnance (UXO) clearance, and the only major military power that has pledged to leave no mine behind on any battlefield, is considered by some to have rejected the humanitarian goal of protecting civilians from the effects of landmines during and after armed conflict. Why is this so? Simply because we will not join the Ottawa Convention, a landmine treaty whose absolutist formulation we cannot accept.
This paradox results in a situation in which the United States operates at the center of the humanitarian mine action community,…
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