Citizenship | Literature
Select novels, short stories, and nonfiction on contemporary life.
What began as a bold experiment in grassroots service produced future ambassadors to help guide U.S. diplomacy through seven decades of global upheaval.
Read, Listen, Watch
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We greeted the New Year from a treehouse in old Ceylon. We rode the waves at Midigama and Weligama in Southern Serendib. We climbed to Buddha’s retreat at Pidurangula and looked out over forests surrounding the ancient ruins of Sigiriya. In Kandy, we spied the room housing the casket that holds the dagobas wherein rests…
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This next episode from life at the Bureau of Government Intelligence and Execution—aka BOGIE—introduces the Bureau of Administration, Management, and Facilities. DC may shut its doors on the public workers who serve the Republic. But that can’t stop the mofos in BAMF from installing new ones to protect its workers from America’s next shooting rampage. Also…
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Shutdown 2018 continues unabated, and so do excerpts from life at the government’s Bureau of Government Intelligence and Execution—better known as BOGIE. What happens when DC’s ‘Fed Buffet’ closes its doors—and its payroll—on the public servants who work to prevent America’s next tragedy? Furloughed, you say? Is this what you signed up for? “How do you arrive at…
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Week one of Government Shutdown 2018 comes to an end, bringing to mind the plot of Patchworks. So why not run a few excerpts from Chapter 12, in which DC’s ‘Fed Buffet’ closes its doors—and its payroll—on a mix of kindly public servants who only wanted to prevent the next great American tragedy. Government intern…
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Revisiting publication credits to stimulate and inspire 2019 projects. I’d like to make it a year of broader platforms with more non-fiction. The days ahead, if the Grinches in DC keep Grinching, might provide both the means and the need to fulfill that prospect. Non-fiction The Card from Kabul—The Foreign Service Journal May 2018 Transition Brief…
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All that is left today is to recall those friends who lost their lives, and those who survive with wounds—scars both physical and emotional. In 2004 five zealots attacked our consulate in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. These men left for paradise: Imad, who several times took me in hand, a guide through the complicated process of…
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Today’s news has me thinking about redactions. You know, those heavy black lines that prove there are things we do not know or should not know or cannot know, God save the Queen and long live the Republic. And these known unknowns are significant enough that an unseen hand took the trouble of writing them down…
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I picked up Greg Matos’ Shattered Glass—The Story of a Marine Embassy Guard with a narrow purpose. I wanted to read about the December 2004 attack on the U.S. Consulate in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. I wanted to know what it felt like to be the Marine standing Post when five heavily armed terrorists stormed our compound, killing…
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ABC News details the deadly attack by five terrorists against the U.S. Consulate in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia (Read Part 1). Three minutes into the attack—11:19 on Dec 6, 2004—the U.S. Marines bolt from their temporary barracks, unarmed, under fire, to access the chancery through the rear hatch. It happens in a flash. Security camera footage…
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I’m parsing the script of this 2005 ABC News report this week, analyzing a bad day for diplomacy in Saudi Arabia. Five heavily armed terrorists attacked the U.S. Consulate in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Dissecting security tapes of the attack, Former Diplomatic Security Special Agent has the best lines. So he goes first. The assault in…
Ben East Books 