Iraq, the Foreign Service, and duty.

• Author: Bullington, J.R.

Many of us older Foreign Service veterans have been dismayed, and, yes, made ashamed of an institution we love, by recent press reports of a "revolt" in the Foreign Service over the prospect of "directed assignments" to Iraq. Calling service in Iraq "a potential death sentence," one FSO at an October 31 "town hall meeting" in the State Department, attended by several hundred of his colleagues, drew "sustained applause" when he asked "Who will take care of our children?" and called for the closure of the Embassy in Baghdad.

As should have been expected, these sentiments do not play well with most Americans, even those who oppose the war. Here are some comments from a blog on the National Public Radio website (not exactly a bastion of right wing opinion):

"A diplomat refusing to perform his duty is worse in my book than a soldier refusing to perform his."

"Poor mistreated diplomats!!!"

"In a time of war FSOs should be prepared just like our military to ship out."

"I have only contempt for those who both refuse to serve and also expect to retain their jobs."

"Professionals need to do what needs to be done."

"They make it sound like their children are more important than the soldiers' children and their lives mean more."

"Like members of the military you took an oath to serve this country, not at your convenience, but when we need you."

At best, this is a public relations disaster for the Foreign Service. I fear it may be worse than that.

While more than 1200 Foreign Service personnel, out of 11,500 total, have already served in Iraq on a voluntary basis, growing requirements for staffing the Baghdad embassy and an increased number of Provincial Reconstruction Teams (PRTs) outside the capital have led to a shortfall of 48 people needed to fill 250 positions in the summer of 2008. The State Department's plan to assign non-volunteer FSOs to fill these slots was the immediate occasion of the town hall meeting and the vehement, widespread opposition to assignment in Iraq that it revealed.

Culmination of Systemic Changes Directed assignments to Iraq are the culmination of a series of systemic changes implemented by the State Department recently that were seen by American Foreign Service Association President John Naland (in an article on "The New Foreign Service" in the February 2007 issue of the Foreign Service Journal: http://www.afsa.org/fsj/feb07/new_foreign_service.pdf) as profoundly altering the conditions of service for career diplomats. "For...