Shit.....I thought things were goin', so GREAT, in Iraq (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/31/AR2007103101626.html?hpid=topnews)!!!!!!!!!!!! :confused:

*

"Uneasy U.S. diplomats yesterday challenged senior State Department officials in unusually blunt terms over a decision to order some of them to serve at the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad or risk losing their jobs.

At a town hall meeting in the department's main auditorium attended by hundreds of Foreign Service officers, some of them criticized fundamental aspects of State's personnel policies in Iraq. They took issue with the size of the embassy -- the biggest in U.S. history -- and the inadequate training they received before being sent to serve in a war zone. One woman said she returned from a tour in Basra with post-traumatic stress disorder only to find that the State Department would not authorize medical treatment.

Service in Iraq is "a potential death sentence," said one man who identified himself as a 46-year Foreign Service veteran. "Any other embassy in the world would be closed by now," he said to sustained applause."

*

I thought the NeoCons were such-big-fans of strict, volunteer-participation!!!

Maybe the NeoCons could offer contractor-rates to these CIA....er, Foreign Service officers. :rolleyes:

So much, for "shared-sacrifice"!!!

WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA (http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/10/31/state.department.iraq/index.html)!!!!!!! :rolleyes:

They wanna be on the government's payroll.....as-long-as-it's risk-free!!

Who do they think they are?? Members of the BUSH-family??!!!

Unfortunate because the lack of participation by State in US foreign policy leaves the field to DoD. Which might lead to a greater emphasis on the military in the formulation of foreign policy.
Which begs the questions of whether life at State is soft, what the basis for promotion exists on, are there any bright minds at state?