Emil Skodon

Who is Emil Skodon?

Emil Skodon, born November 25, 1953, in Chicago, Illinois, is a former United States diplomat and a career foreign service officer. He was the U.S. ambassador to Brunei until August 1, 2008. He was sworn in as ambassador on September 7, 2005, and presented his credentials to the Sultan of Brunei on November 1. A career diplomat and Minister Counselor in the Senior United States Foreign Service, Skodon had previously been Deputy Chief of Mission at the American Embassy in Rome, Italy, since August 2002. He retired from the Foreign Service following his service in Brunei and is currently an independent consultant living in Washington, DC.

Skodon is one of the few U.S. officials to have personally experienced both the Iraqi attack on Kuwait in 1990 and the Al-Qaeda terrorist attack on Washington in 2001. Prior to his Rome assignment, Skodon was detailed to the U.S. Air Force as Foreign Policy Advisor to the USAF Chief of Staff. He was in the Pentagon during the September 11, 2001 attacks, and afterwards helped coordinate the diplomatic and military response. Skodon was Counselor for Economic Affairs at the American Embassy in Kuwait from 1989 to 1991, and was in Kuwait when Iraq invaded in August 1990. After Iraqi authorities reneged on their promise of safe passage for an evacuation convoy led by Skodon and prevented U.S. diplomats from leaving Iraq, he served as Acting Deputy Chief of Mission at the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad. In his book "The Politics of Truth," Ambassador Joseph Wilson, who was the U.S. Chargé d'Affaires in Baghdad at the time, described Skodon as "the one indispensable person in our operation, the perfect Mr. Inside to my Mr. Outside." Skodon departed Iraq in December 1990 after U.S. hostages were released.