Linda Thomas-Greenfield

the people of South Sudan voted in overwhelming numbers for independence from the Republic of Sudan.

3 years ago today--and it is really important that it was 3 years ago today; this is the anniversary of South Sudan's independence.

I think we do question his commitment to honoring the agreement, and some of the actions that he has taken most recently really give us reason to pause.

It is a huge problem. We do not know where the weapons are coming in from.

I think the most important steps to take are the steps we are taking right now to address the security issues.

We are continuing to put pressure on him to honor the commitments made in the N'Djamena Accord, and he has been told in no uncertain terms both when he had his conversation with Ambassador Power, but also in his conversations with the…

We have publicly condemned Seleka's seizure of power and its campaign of rape, pillage, and killings.

I think to the international community, for committing gross human rights violations, not contributing to the process that will lead to peace.

We are deeply concerned by the horrific violence across Central African Republic, particularly the increasingly sectarian nature of the attacks on civilians.

We are working closely with the United Nations Security Council, the French, other EU countries, and our African partners.

We believe that it is highly unlikely that Boko Haram has any ties to Shia extremist organizations in Nigeria.

We do have information to indicate that they are recruiting child soldiers.

the U.S. is the largest contributor for humanitarian assistance worldwide, not just in the case of Nigeria.

I don't think Boko Haram has the power to make Nigeria into a failed state.

As I said earlier, we do think that they do have links to AQIM.

We do a mix. We have always had contractors who have supported our efforts, but in some places we do have military.

the shutdown has had an enormous impact on our ability to coordinate foreign policy within the interagency framework

we feel responsible for those taxpayer dollars, and in order to ensure that those dollars are going to where they need to go, we need to be able to get out in the field and monitor

the election of President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud was a welcome signal that room for political progress in Somalia was opening.

We do have private contractors assisting us in Somalia, but we are using a mixture of that, as well as direct support to our AMISOM and other strategic partners such as the Ethiopians.

What I would hope for--and it was DDAS Dory who talked about the military-to-military relationship.

One of our primary goals is to build a professional army there that is able to provide security and is professional and has capacity to respond to al-Shabaab.

I do think the AMISOM model is a model that can be used.

Our primary goal is that there will be a strong federal framework that will allow the various components and various groups outside the central government to participate in a process of governing the entire country of Somalia.

We were very supportive of the Jubaland agreement, and we are encouraging further agreements along those lines.