LAT: State Dept. Considers Mandatory Iraq Tours

State Dept. Considers Mandatory Iraq Tours

A change to the voluntary assignment system is considered as fewer diplomats step forward to fill the dangerous posts.
By Paul Richter
Times Staff Writer

December 18, 2005

WASHINGTON — Facing growing difficulties staffing its Iraq operations, the State Department is debating whether to begin ordering reluctant diplomats to serve in the foreign service's most dangerous posting.

A change to the traditional voluntary assignment system could hurt morale and undercut the Iraq mission by suggesting to the world that U.S. diplomats are not fully committed to the effort. Yet in the nearly three years since the invasion, U.S. officials have found it increasingly difficult to find qualified personnel to fill jobs in Iraq.

Some senior officials acknowledged privately that they favor adopting such "directed assignments," which have not been put to wide-scale use since the Vietnam War. The department is not likely to make the change for the 2006 rotation, but could turn to it for 2007, some diplomats said.

(snip)

The U.S. Embassy in Baghdad has more than 3,000 employees, of whom fewer than 200 hold diplomatic positions.

David Satterfield, the embassy's second-ranking official, has said that the limited volunteer pool has forced the department to rely too heavily on young and less experienced foreign service officers, according to a Senate Foreign Relations Committee report this month that quoted him. Satterfield told the committee staff that if the decision was his, he would begin mandatory assignments.

(snip)


http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-embassy18dec18,1,2528603.story

That way she can spread her "good news" about our Homeland in the heart of the Middle East as it marches toward freedom ...

and I will help her pack and drive her to the DC airport!

to convert all to Christianity?

One problem, Muslim, like Jews, are circumcised a fact that seems to bother Ann.

Another thought - all those rich cats who raised so much money for Bush to win. Such activities are often get rewarded in ambassadorships..