On 1 August , before leaving the US to take up his post in Mogadishu , Ambassador Bishop visited United States Central Command — the military command for the Middle East and northeast Africa — where he spent most of the day with its commander , Gen. Norman Schwarzkopf . Ambassador Bishop , aware of the ongoing strife , believed " the odds were better than even that we would have to leave Mogadishu under less than favorable circumstances . " Ambassador Bishop understood from his past experiences in Beirut and Liberia the importance of being prepared to deal with emergencies and spent the afternoon working with military experts to review the embassy 's Emergencies and Evacuation ( E & E ) plan until he was " satisfied ... that [ Central Command ] realized that it might have to conduct an evacuation from Mogadishu and was prepared to do that . " In its analysis of Operation Eastern Exit , the Center for Naval Analyses cited the Ambassador Bishop 's previous experience and " clear understanding of his role " in the operation as one of the reasons Operation Eastern Exit went so well .