A group of Foreign Service Officers screamed, when they were told they might be forced to serve in Iraq. Now, the State Department is using its official blog to scream right back. "To my vexed and overwrought colleagues," writes John Matel, a career FSO currently serving in Iraq's Al Anbar Province, "I say take a deep breath and calm down."
I will not repeat what the Marines say when I bring up this subject. I tell them that most FSOs are not wimps and weenies. I will not share this article with them and I hope they do not see it. How could I explain this wailing and gnashing of teeth?
If these guys at the town hall meeting do not want to come to Iraq , that is okay with [me] I would not want that sort out here with me anyway. We have enough trouble w/o having to baby sit. BUT they are not worldwide available and they might consider the type of job that does not require worldwide availability.
Has anyone else ever heard of a federal agency rebuking employees in public like this?
UPDATE: State is asking for $1.5 billion to protect the Baghdad embassy and reconstruction teams, the AP notes.