Why are there so few names in my dispatch? Because every American official I spoke to in the past 24 hours has insisted on being referred to as an "American official." I can accept the need not to reveal someone's name, but not mentioning what agency he or she works for seems nonsensical. I learned that Ethiopia "faces chronic food insecurity" from an American official today, but I can't tell you whether s/he works for the U.S. Embassy, U.S. Agency for International Development, U.S. Central Intelligence Agency, or the U.S. Marine Corps Marching Band. How would U.S. policy be harmed if American agencies owned up to the information they are passing on?