Secretary of State Antony Blinken is being criticized for handing a prestigious award to the former ambassador to Sudan, who was airlifted out just eight months after he arrived.
Ambassador John Godfrey was the first confirmed U.S. ambassador to Sudan in nearly 25 years — a position he served in for just eight months until the outbreak of a civil war between the Sudanese government and the Rapid Support Forces paramilitaries. Godfrey and nearly 100 staff at the U.S. Embassy in Khartoum, Sudan, were evacuated shortly after the fighting broke out.
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In a letter to Blinken, Rep. Cory Mills (R-FL) described the evacuation as “disastrous,” along with the policy of the United States toward Sudan that Godfrey helped facilitate. As such, Mills took issue with giving the Ryan C. Crocker Award for Outstanding Leadership in Expeditionary Diplomacy to Godfrey, which included a $10,000 cash prize.
“Selection is based upon leadership at a mission in wartime or in an extreme hardship environment; performance that advances the nation’s foremost foreign policy objectives; and the enhancement of the safety and well-being of mission employees,” he wrote. “Given the abject U.S. policy failures in Sudan, I am concerned with the selection made for the 2023 award.”
“I am astounded that given the failure of U.S. policy in Sudan, including the 13 attempts to stymie the fighting that have produced no results, that Ambassador Godfrey would be selected for the award for Outstanding Leadership in Expeditionary Diplomacy,” he said.
Mills told the Washington Examiner that under the Biden administration, the “clear pattern of abandoning American citizens amidst violent conflicts is unfathomable.”
“In stark contrast, during President Trump’s tenure, we never faced such failures resulting in evacuations. Given these failures and the dire situation in Sudan, Secretary Blinken owes the American people answers, and I intend to hold him accountable until he provides them,” he added.
The Florida lawmaker concluded by demanding a response from Blinken justifying the issuance of the award to Godfrey by Jan. 16.
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The letter also condemned Biden’s foreign policy record, saying the five embassy evacuations under his leadership have projected an “unacceptable show of weakness.”
The Sudanese Civil War has dragged on since the embassy evacuation, causing the deaths of thousands and the displacement of millions. The RSF has been accused of ethnic cleansing in the Darfur region, along with a slew of other war crimes.
