US to Order Diplomats to Serve in Iraq

[Tsunami]

Oct 27, 3:50 AM (ET)
By MATTHEW LEE
WASHINGTON (AP) - In the largest call-up of U.S. diplomats since the Vietnam War, the State Department is planning to order some of its personnel to serve at the American Embassy in Iraq because of a lack of volunteers.
Those designated "prime candidates" - from 200 to 300 diplomats - will be notified Monday that they have been selected for one-year postings to fill the 40 to 50 vacancies expected next year.
They will have 10 days to accept or reject the position. If not enough say yes, some will be ordered to go to Iraq and face dismissal if they refuse, Harry Thomas, director general of the Foreign Service, said Friday.
"Starting Nov. 12, our assignments panel will assign people to Iraq," Thomas told reporters in a conference call. "Under our system, we have all taken an oath to serve our country, we have all signed (up for) worldwide availability.
"If someone decides ... they do not want to go, we will then consider appropriate action," he said. "We have many options, including dismissal from the Foreign Service."
Only those with compelling reasons, such as a medical condition or extreme personal hardship, will be exempt from disciplinary action, Thomas said. He said the process of deciding who will go to Iraq should be complete by Thanksgiving.
Diplomats who are forced into service in Iraq will receive the same extra hardship pay, vacation time and choice of future assignments as those who have volunteered since Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice this past summer ordered Baghdad positions to be filled before all others around the world.
My Way News - US to Order Diplomats to Serve in Iraq

[Tsunami]

I have some colleagues in this line of work that have volunteered to go to Iraq, and they were sent to France instead!
When I completed law school I thought about this line of work - then I woke up from that nightmare and decided I would rather lead a platoon of M1 Abrams.

[ClutterbusterNY]

Good news...we do have 48 brave souls in the State Department who have VOLUNTEERED for this duty, so this order has been dropped.

Plan dropped to force diplomats to Iraq - Yahoo! News






Plan dropped to force diplomats to Iraq

By MATTHEW LEE, Associated Press Writer 14 minutes ago



WASHINGTON - The State Department is dropping plans to force diplomats to serve in Iraq because volunteers have filled all 48 vacant positions at the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad and in outlying provinces, The Associated Press has learned.
The department will announce it no longer needs to move to "directed assignments" for Iraq once personnel panels give a formal OK to foreign service officers who signed up for the remaining three open jobs, U.S. officials said Thursday. Those three diplomats have won tentative approval, they said.
The announcement could come as early as Friday, the officials said. They spoke on condition of anonymity because the decision has not been announced.
Officials had indicated this week that a forced call-up might not be necessary after volunteers cut the number of vacant posts to 11 by Tuesday. All were filled by Thursday with only the final screening process for the last three spots pending, they said.
The announcement will be major relief for Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and the department's senior management. They had struggled to quell a revolt among diplomats who questioned the ethics of ordering unarmed civilians into a war zone under penalty of dismissal.
But the officials said Rice had intended to go ahead with directed assignments if not enough volunteers had come forward. They also said the department may have to resort to such a measure in the future.
The prospect of the largest diplomatic call-up since Vietnam had caused an uproar among the 11,500-member Foreign Service. At a contentious town hall meeting this month, the strength of their opposition came into public view as some diplomats protested the forced assignments, citing safety and security concerns.
The complaints were a deep embarrassment to the department and led Rice and her deputy, John Negroponte, to remind diplomats of their duty to serve their government anywhere they are needed. Both sent worldwide cables urging foreign service officers to volunteer, but stressed that they would rely directed assignments if needed.
More than 1,500 diplomats have volunteered to work in Iraq since the U.S.-led invasion in 2003. But the resistance to forced assignments generated bitter criticism of the diplomatic corps; some Internet commentators accused the foreign service of cowardice and treason.
Last month, the department told 200 to 300 diplomats that they were "prime candidates" for the 48 vacant positions that will come open in Iraq next summer. They had until Tuesday to accept or to offer a medical or family reason not to go. Those without a compelling reason would have been subject to disciplinary action, including dismissal.
But on Tuesday, citing the rising number of volunteers, the department extended the window for more diplomats to come forward and officials said they would not begin ordering anyone to Iraq until next week, if at all.
At the Oct. 31 town hall meeting, hundreds of diplomats applauded when one likened a forced tour in Iraq to a "potential death sentence." Some at the session questioned the ethics of ordering unarmed civilians into a war zone and expressed concerns about a lack of training and medical care for those who have served.
Others diplomats have reacted angrily to the revolt, noting that foreign service officers take a duty to represent their government worldwide — a point that Rice and Negroponte made in their cables.
The debate, often in nasty exchanges, has surfaced on the State Department's official blog. Last week, the Web log posted a critical message from a career diplomat in Iraq who accused opponents of directed assignments of being spoiled elitists and suggested they are "wimps and weenies."
More than 170 people, including some who identify themselves as foreign service or military officers, had entered the fray on the Dipnote blog as of Thursday, making it one of the most popular posts the two-month old venture has published.
Three foreign service personnel — two diplomatic security agents and one political officer — have been killed in Iraq since the war began in March 2003.
The union that represents diplomats says the situation in Iraq is precarious and the completion of a new embassy compound and living quarters in Baghdad has been beset by logistical and construction problems.
The use of directed assignments is rare but not unprecedented. In 1969, an entire class of entry-level diplomats was sent to Vietnam. On a smaller scale, diplomats were required to work at various embassies in West Africa in the 1970s and 1980s.