DIPLOMATIC MUTINY

Rice useless in Foggy Bottom


(Alexandria, VA., Nov. 1, 2007, TBC) Things are going so well for the United States in Iraq that foreign service officers, career State Department personnel, would rather quit their jobs than do a tour of duty in Iraq. That’s right. Those poor, over paid, federal flunkies accustomed to biding their time, building their pensions and having nice duty stations are refusing to go to Iraq. Despite the fact that they would be safely ensconced in what is, arguably, the most secure embassy compound on the planet, well within the ultra-fortified “Green Zone” in central Baghdad, the State Department has had to resort to threatening termination of those refusing to go. The present vacancies and staffing needs for our efforts in Iraq are significant. If those ordered to serve their would rather quit, what possible chance is there that a political -diplomatic apparatus will ever be functional there?

For years the world has known there is no military solution for the nightmare that is Iraq today. Every commission and committee, military and civilian expert has loudly proclaimed that a “political” effort is THE only way to somehow extricate our troops from the mess they are in. That has not happened, nor will it any time soon. No one is willing to go there and do the job.

The initial civilian staff that took over such efforts after our occupation began, under the direction of the loose canon and world class imbecile, Paul Bremmer, were all young, inexperienced Republican political appointees. They were there, on a government salary, because their daddy had given to the big George W political machine or they knew someone that knows someone. It was a nice field trip for well bred, wealthy Christian conservatives. Special training or skills were not requisites. There was nary an Arabic speaker in the lot of them. This went largely unnoticed by the press and public at the time simply because it was just another blunder in an ocean of blunders. Amid the mass of tragic errors and fatal flagrant failures of George W., Dick Cheney, Don Rumsfeld and all their hapless, arrogant minions, the foreign service situation was just another mistake. Oh, but what a mistake it was and now, five years into this morass, it remains an enormous problem.

Condolezza Rice and her State Department have failed as miserably and completely as did George Tenet and his “Slam Dunkin’” CIA, Rumsfeld and his Pentagon, Cheney and his neo-con staffed “Shadow white House”, and the Bush Administration as a whole.

It seems that our foreign service members have grown far too accustomed to the easy duty stations. Probably no one refuses to serve in a Consulate in Tahiti or the US Embassy in Rome. Nope; just imagine all the beautiful cities in the world where they can serve, enjoy life, collect their bloated salaries and basically do nothing. Now, at a critical time for our country, this State department and our present diplomatic / foreign service corps, they are refusing to serve as assigned if that assignment means Baghdad.

Strangely, our military personnel have no such trump card to pull. They serve as assigned or else. That’s it. They are truly the best of us, the bravest of us and the most noble. They are largely young enlisted personnel who do what they are told with valor, dignity, skill, resolve and character. Perhaps the State department should recruit some veteran NCO’s and junior officers to fill the rash of vacancies in the foreign service. At least they would have experience and characteristics that would serve them well. They would have a practical, invaluable knowledge of the reality of the situations throughout that war torn, tumultuous failing nation.

There is not an agency within our federal intelligence, defense, diplomatic, executive, judicial or legislative branches that has not been exposed over the last six years. Their individual and collective incompetence, ineptitude and negligence have been laid bare for all the world to see. This entire travesty has been presided over by the worst president in our history.

So, our diplomats want to walk out instead of serve. Fine. let them all go. Let’s clean house, every inch of ingrained, entrenched idiocy, pettiness and dereliction of duty throughout our federal government. Afterwards, let’s hire some vets; we can use their proven traits, experience, character and allow real brains to be in positions of civilian authority.

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