Many U.S. diplomats refuse to work in Iraq<\/p>\n
While the diplomats and Foreign Service employees of the State Department have always been expected to staff “hardship” postings, those jobs have not usually required that they wear flak jackets with their pinstriped suits.<\/p>\n
But in the last five years, the Foreign Service landscape has shifted.<\/p>\n
Now, thanks to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the White House is calling for more American civilians to head not only to those countries, but also to some of their most hostile regions \u2014 including Iraq’s volatile Anbar Province \u2014 to try to establish democratic institutions and help in reconstruction. That plan is provoking unease and apprehension at the State Department and at other U.S. agencies.<\/p>\n
Many U.S. employees have outright refused repeated requests that they go to Iraq, while others have demanded that they be assigned only to Baghdad and not be sent outside the more secure Green Zone, which includes the American Embassy and Iraqi government ministries. And while Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice maintained Wednesday that State Department employees were “volunteering in large numbers” for difficult posts, including Iraq, several department employees said that those who had signed up tended to be younger, more entry-level types, and not experienced, seasoned diplomats.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
We are seeing a lot more of this thinking of late, whether it is this asinine bill, or the DoD floating their jackass retirement plan to replace what we have with a 401k. The distinctions between military and civil service are there for anyone with the capacity to look for them, and yet we are under a concerted effort to ignore those differences, and treat us all equally. <\/p>\n
As it says in the Book of Job (and Captain Jean Luc Picard in First Contact): \u2018Thus far shall you come, and no farther, and here shall your proud waves be stayed\u2019<\/p>\n
This bill has to go down. It is just one more front in the war to take from us that which we have earned. If the Federal Gov’t or individual families wish to honor those civilian employees killed in the line of duty, then fine. But don’t try to couch it in terms that equates the service with the one we perform. <\/p>\n
It just reminds me of Shinseki and the Black Beret Boondoggle. Everyone can’t be a Ranger, but we can make everyone feel good about themselves by issuing the black berets to every S1 and supply clerk in the military. It also reminds me of idiotic Massachusetts sports where no one keeps score. If having a flag draped over your coffin means as much to you as it does to me, give me a call, and I will help you locate the closest MEPS. But don’t try to take what has been reserved for those who raised their right hand and swore to defend this country, and hand it out to every Bob, Dick and Harry who decides to serve in the IRS. There exists a difference in the services of Bob and Allen, and it takes a Congress with 16 percent approval ratings to not understand this simple concept.<\/p>\n
For those who would make this a partisan issue, think again. Bill is sponsored by a Republican (Hanna from NY) and even my former GOP Congressman (Frank Wolf of VA) is a cosponsor. This is a bipartisan shitsandwich, and it needs to get scuttled.<\/p>\n
So, do two things:
\n1) Call your Member of the US House. The switchboard at the Capitol is 202-224-3121.
\n2) Reach out to other military and political blogs. I have as much chance of getting things up at HotAir, Ace of Spades and simliar blogs of late as I do of becoming an international hand model. So, send them all emails, and get them on this. The vote is today, so we have no time to lose.<\/p>\n
ON EDIT (ADDITION): for those of you claiming this is needed because of the State Dept guy assasinated scenario, persons like that are already authorized to receive this benefit:<\/p>\n
Federal civilian employees who die of injuries in connection with their service with an armed force in a contingency operation are eligible to receive a United States flag. 10 U.S.C. \u00a7 1482a.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
UPDATE: THE BILL HAS BEEN PULLED FROM CONSIDERATION FOR TONIGHT. NO VOTE FOR NOW. WILL GET … UPDATE: Is there an inherent difference between military and civil service?<\/span>Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":148,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-26419","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26419","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/148"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=26419"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26419\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=26419"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=26419"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=26419"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}