David M. Satterfield
David Michael Satterfield (born December 18, 1954) is an American diplomat and U.S. Ambassador, who has served extensively in the Middle East, including the Persian Gulf area, Lebanon, and Iraq. He later served as a Senior Advisor on Iraq for Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and is currently Director General of the Multinational Force and Observers.
Biography
Born in Baltimore, Maryland, Satterfield graduated from the University of Maryland, College Park, with a Bachelor of Arts in 1976.
He entered the Foreign Service in 1980, and has served overseas in Jeddah, Tunis, Beirut, and Damascus. Director of the Department of State Executive Secretariat Staff from 1990 to 1993, Satterfield served on the National Security Council Staff from 1993 to 1996 as Director for Near East and South Asian Affairs. He held the position of Director of the Department of State’s Office of Israel and Arab-Israeli Affairs from 1996 to 1998, and was the Ambassador to Lebanon from September 1998 to June 2001.
The United States Senate confirmed Satterfield to succeed Edward William Gnehm, Jr. as Ambassador to Jordan, but shortly thereafter (on June 1, 2004) the Secretary of State designated him Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Near East Affairs (NEA) (having served for the previous three years as NEA Deputy Assistant Secretary), and in May 2005 he was sent to Iraq as Deputy Chief of Mission. As a result, he never assumed his post in Jordan. On 19 May 2006, the U.S. Department of State announced Satterfield’s appointment as Coordinator for Iraq and Senior Adviser to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.
In May 2009, Satterfield retired from his nearly 30 year career in the Foreign Service. Upon nomination by the U.S. government he was then appointed Director General of the Multinational Force and Observers (MFO), an independent international organization, by the Arab Republic of Egypt and State of Israel, and assumed office on July 1, 2009. The MFO, whose mission is the implementation of the security provisions of the Egyptian-Israeli Treaty of Peace, is headquartered in Rome with peacekeeping responsibilities in the Sinai. The Director General is responsible for exercising his authority through his staff at the headquarters based in Rome, the Force Staff Commander and his staff in the Sinai, and the Director General's Representatives and their staffs in Cairo and Tel Aviv.
Ambassador Satterfield is the recipient of the:
- Presidential Distinguished Executive Rank Award;
- Presidential Meritorious Executive Rank Award;
- Secretary of State's Distinguished Service Award (for Iraq service);
- Department of State Distinguished Honor Award;
- Four Department of State Superior Honor Awards, notably for his work on the Middle East peace process;
- Department of the Army Outstanding Civilian Service Award (for Iraq service).
His name came up in the American Israel Public Affairs Committee/Larry Franklin case, which was dismissed upon request by Federal prosecutors May 1, 2009. In the indictment: U.S. v. Lawrence Anthony Franklin, Steven J. Rosen, Keith Weissman, USGO-2 is mentioned, and in a New York Times article: David Satterfield, deputy chief of the United States Mission in Baghdad, is identified as USGO-2. The indictment did not accuse Satterfield of any wrongdoing.
External links
| Diplomatic posts | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Richard Jones |
United States Ambassador to Lebanon August 1998 – September, 2001 |
Succeeded by Vincent M. Battle |