Posted on 11/06/2007 7:09:47 PM PST by RDTF
A bitter dispute over forced assignments to Iraq has erupted inside the State Department with diplomats taking decidedly undiplomatic potshots at one another.
The latest public salvo came Tuesday with a harshly critical post on the department's official blog in which a foreign service officer in Iraq skewered those who spoke out against the prospect of ordered tours of duty at the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad and outlying provinces.
The message, titled "A Letter From Iraq to My Overwrought Colleagues," accused opponents of being spoiled elitists whose revolt against so-called "directed assignments" is embarrassing.
"To my vexed and overwrought colleagues, I say take a deep breath and calm down," wrote John Matel, a career diplomat working in a provincial reconstruction team in al-Anbar province. "All of us volunteered for this kind of work and we have enjoyed a pretty sweet lifestyle most of our careers."
"This sound and fury at Foggy Bottom truly signifies nothing," he said, referring to the State Department's headquarters. "Get over it! I do not think many Americans feel sorry for us and it is embarrassing for people with our privileges to paint ourselves as victims."
-snip-
"I find the sentiments expressed by some at the town hall meeting deeply offensive," he wrote. "What are they implying about me and my choice? And what do they say to our colleagues in the military, who left friends and family to come here and do their jobs?"
"Calling Iraq a death sentence is just way over the top," he added. "I volunteered to come here aware of the risks but confident that I will come safely home, as do the vast majority of soldiers and Marines, who have a lot riskier jobs than we FSOs (foreign service officers) do.
-snip-
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
Matel for the next Secretary of State!
Well, too many of the State Department weinies have outted themselves.
By showing they repudiate this sentiment:
“Ask not what your country can do for you;
ask what you can do for your country.”
—John Kennedy
this guy gets it
“A Letter From Iraq to My Overwrought Colleagues,”
SB
“A Letter From Iraq to My OverWEIGHT Colleagues,”
Dear Foggy Bottom: I volunteer to go where the State Department's selfish liberal wimps won't. (Please FReepmail me.)
Great letter!!
Duke it out all they want on the pavement. If they wont go where they are assigned, they are less than worthless and should all be fired immediately.
These leftists and cowards are what have rotted our foreign service since the Carter years, and have worked on undermining Reagan and both Bushes. Too many Clintonistas still remain embedded like termites in the State Dept. and have brought with them their ‘surrender” mentality in a world in which “surrender” is tantamount to death.
Time to thin the herd, starting with this crybaby Croddy.
PS: A member of my synagogue served both in Iraq and Afghanistan, while HER son served in Iraq. She is a Lt. Col. and one brave woman. A great family of American heroes, not like those State Dept. wimps.
I wouldn’t have used that statement in context with these weenies since JFKs writers pretty much lifted the statement from Martin Van Buren’s inaugral in 1837. It is true that these weasels have no honor or dedication to the service of their country.
They are just the tip of the iceberg of spoiled-elitist-brats-who’ve-never-known-a-hardship-they-couldn’t-turn-their-backs-on-kinda-people this ‘Administration’ should have FIRED en-masse in January 2001 but didn’t, for ‘feel-good’, “can’t we all just get along?!” reasons. Naive.
We definitely need a new one NOW! Condi is "nice", and her intelligence is unquestioned, but I do not believe that she possesses the requisite leadership attitude for a Secretary of State. I would say that we need a John Bolton or a Don Rumsfeld. Her control of her own employees (lack thereof) in this current scandal is particularly damning.
Me, too!
I'd love to see, first hand, the job our troops have done. Imagine being present at the birth of a new democracy. I would be honored to be chosen to go.
If only it could be done sooner than later.....
Ping
LOL! Matel sure hit it the nail on the head with that one.
A person’s true colors comes out when the rubber meets the road. This people have in most cases lived lives of luxuary in safe conditions, with all kinds of perks. Now the rubber will meet the road.
Semper Fidelis to Mr. Matel!
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