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Blane, John P The Association for Diplomatic Studies and Training Foreign Affairs Oral History Project AMBASSADOR JOHN PROPST BLANE Interviewed by: Charles Stuart Kennedy Initial interview date: August 8, 1990 Copyright 1998 ADS TABLE OF CONTENTS Background Born and raised in Alabama niversity of Tennessee S Army, Korea niversity of Vienna, Austria (Fulbright Scholar) Entered the Foreign Service in 1956 ,ogadishu, Somalia- .eneral Officer 1956-1950 nited Nations Trust Territory Environment .overnment 2talians Health Asmara, Eritrea- Consular Officer 1958-1960 Environment Political status Kagnew Station Sal7burg, Austria- Consular Officer 1960-1962 9elfare and protection cases 1orthwestern niversity- African Studies 1962-1963 Yaoundé, Cameroon- Political Officer 1963-1966 .overnment Environment S interests Society French Relations State Department- Desk Officer- Chad, .abon, Equatorial Africa 1966-1969 French Helping African embassies President Johnson interest State Department- 21R- Acting Chief, North & East Africa 1969 Fort Aamy, Chad- Deputy Chief of ,ission 1969-1902 Population Environment S interests French ,ission de Reform Administratif President Tombalbaye Aibyans State Department- Policy Officer, Africa Bureau 1902-1905 Relations with Kissinger ,engistu Angola Cuba Environmental Protective Agency- Director, Bilateral 1905-1900 Programs Division Border problems .reat Aakes cleanup Joint Research Ventures Environmental Cooperation Agreement with SSR 1airobi, Kenya- Deputy Chief of ,ission 1900-1980 Jomo Kenyatta Coffee prices S Navy and ,assawa ,ilitary relationship Relations Senior Seminar 1980-1981 nited Nations .eneral Assembly- Africa 1981-1982 Jeane Kirkpatrick 1BDjamena, Chad- Chargé dBAffaires 1982 Environment Aibyans .overnment Ambassador to Rwanda 1982-1985 S Economic Reform Program .overnment Relations Environment Visitors Ambassador to Chad 1985-1988 Aibyan army occupation .overnment Aibya-Chad conflict French S military assistance S policy Habré visit to S Economy Oil INTERVIEW Q: Mr. Ambassador, I wonder if you could give me a little of your background. (here did you come from) BAA1EC 9ell, 2 was born in Alabama, grew up there. 9ent to school at the niversity of Tennessee. 9ent in the Army toward the end of the Korean conflict. 2 didnEt go to Korea, 2 went to .ermany rather than Korea. Before that, however, 2 should mention 2 had a Fulbright Scholarship at the niversity of Vienna for a year just prior to going into the Army. And spent my Army career, inglorious though it was, in .ermany. And it was there that 2 first came into contact with the Foreign Service. Because part of my duties involved working with the escapee program, as it was called in those days. The escapee program was managed by one of the A2DEs predecessor organi7ations, a forerunner of A2D. There were Foreign Service officers managing the various activities, and 2 worked with them in helping set up a new camp at Schoenendorf, near NFrnberg. Following my career in the Army, 2 decided that the Foreign Service looked like something that 2 might find rewarding. 2 consequently took the examination and passed it, took the oral, passed it. And in November 1956 2 came into the service. Q: I wonder if you could describe your class of young Foreign Service officers that came in, in 195,. BAA1EC The November A-100 course class was composed of sixteen young men, no minorities. ,ost of them had done some graduate work, but not all. One of our number had not been to college, but had managed to, obviously, pass the Foreign Service examination nevertheless. But it was a very, how shall 2 say, establishmentarian sort of thingC white, male, mostly Eastern, with one Southerner and maybe one 9esterner, but with what one sort of thought of as the typical Foreign Service makeup at that time. Q: (hat was your attitude towards the role of the -nited States in the world at that time) (hen you came into the Foreign Service, what did you see yourself doing) BAA1EC Our role, as you mentioned before we started the interview, was, as it is now, that power that puts things together and tries to keep the world on an even keel. 2 thought that our policy in Europe seemed to me to make a great deal of sense. That is to sayC the containment of the Soviet nion. 2 certainly felt that we were justified in the action in Korea. 2 also felt we were doing some good in the world. That, coming 2 suppose more than anything else from my work with the escapees. ,any of these people had gone through absolute hell to get out from behind the curtain. They had crawled through mine fields. Some of them had had their feet blown off. 9e had two young men who stole an airplane in C7echoslovakia and flew it out. And neither had ever been in an airplane before this, much less had flown one. So 2 thought, basically, and do think still, that we were a force for good in the world. 2 hoped that 2 could continue to contribute toward these worthy ends. Q: .our first assignment was really very, very interesting, because you were thrown in a part of the world, unlike so many of our officers who go to some of the ma/or capitals or places, you went first, what, to Somalia) BAA1EC ,ogadishu. Q: How did that assignment come about and what were you doing there) BAA1EC As far as 2 know, it came about because 2 was one of two members of my class who spoke some 2talian. This was, remember, 1956, long before the unification of former 2talian Somaliland with former British, so the language of the country at that time was 2talian. Our other 2talian-speaker went to 2taly- 2 drew the long straw and went to ,ogadishu. 9hat had happened was that the Department of State suddenly became aware that there was a continent called Africa down there. Just as sure as hell, most of these countries were going to get their independence before too long, and so the decision was made to get in and get some posts opened. 9e were two that went out to ,ogadishu, two of us, and we were one of six teams that went out at the same time to open what at that point were consulates in various parts of Africa in preparation for coming independence. 1ow 2 must say that we didnEt do this very well, at least the ,ogadishu part very well, and 2 hope my colleagues in other posts did better. Because the political people in the department decided we needed a post. They hadnEt exactly coordinated this with the administrative people. So we arrived to open a post with absolutely nothing. Fortunately 2 had a portable typewriter, and we used that for about the first six or seven months we were there. Because it took about that long before we got our first shipment of anything from the department. So we made do with what we had. Our first office was a small room in the Public 9orks Department, which the Somalis made available to us. ltimately we got ourselves an office building put up by an 2talian contractor who, as far as 2 know, had never built a building over one story high. And 2 certainly had never built any kind of building. But we managed to get this thing put up. 2 never saw anybody from FBO during this process. Q: F12 is the Federal Buildings 2perations, which is supposedly to supervise the... BAA1EC ThatEs right, supposedly. Subsequently 2Eve had a lot to do with FBO, but not during that period. Anyway, this building was a rather miserable effort, and 2 felt that if it stood up for five years, we would be extremely lucky. Now, 33 years or 34 years later, whatever, it is still our embassy in ,ogadishu, it is still our chancellery. TheyEre building a new one, and weEre about to get out of that monster, but it has lasted all of that time. Q: (hat was the government) I mean, who did you deal with) BAA1EC At that time Somalia was a nited Nations trust territory, having been created in that form following 9orld 9ar 22, but administered by the 2talians, the former colonial power. And 2 donEt think that arrangement was found anywhere else, where we turned it right back to the former colonial power. But in effect the 2talians did no governing while 2 was there. The governor-general was a gentleman by the name of Anselotti who said that the trusteeship arrangement gave him the authority to veto any law of the Somali legislature. And 2 should have gone back to say that Somali did have a government of sorts. They were running things under the supervision of the 2talians. They had a prime minister, they had a complete ministerial cabinet, and a prom. But anyway, Anselotti said, I2 can veto any law that the Somalis pass. 2 have never vetoed one. 2 donEt intend ever to veto one. 2t is their country, and until they are independent, 2 will sit here and watch them run it.I And he did. The 2talians provided certain technical assistance, but they didnEt get in the Somalis way politically at all. There was one interesting aspect to this whole business. The Somalis hadnEt had their government very long, and they werenEt terribly familiar with running governments. They were just being broken in, so that come independence they would be ready. And 2 didnEt know anything about the Foreign Service, since this was my first post. ,y colleague, the other officer who was there, was a Class V officer. (9e didnEt send out very high-powered people in those days.) He was off is Addis Ababa doing some sort of administrative stuff, and 2 was at the post alone.
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