Iraq: U.S. Diplomats Say Hell No! We Don't Want To Go!

[No DUplicitous DUpe]

Iraq: U.S. Diplomats Say Hell No! We Don't Want To Go!
http://saneramblings.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=212&sid=e00f245b6b26cfe772754eca6716d08e

An angry mob of 300 U.S. diplomats on Wednesday confronted the Foreign Service Director General over a new State Department policy forcing them to work in Iraq or be fired.

Even in the heavily secured Green Zone, "Incoming is coming in every day; rockets are hitting the Green Zone," said Jack Croddy, a senior foreign service officer. "I'm sorry but basically that's a potential death sentence and you know it. Who will raise our children if we are dead or seriously wounded?"

No U.S. diplomats have been killed in Iraq but that could change quickly as the U.S. situation there is precarious and the danger is constant.

And what is a diplomat supposed to do there? It is so dangerous, he or she can't go out among the Iraqi people without a heavily armed guard of U.S. soldiers or mercenaries provided by firms like Blackwater U.S.A.

That means it's not a diplomatic mission it's a military one. If an Iraqi looks suspicious, scratches his nose or reaches into his pocket, in a heart beat he could be shot and killed by U.S. security, as could anyone standing nearby.

Even this diplomat's presence puts others in danger. If he or she is among the Iraqi people, the diplomat could be blown-up by a suicide bomber, hit by cross fire from rival sects or gunned-down by a marksman and anyone near this person could be killed as well.

President Bush says this war will be settled by U.S. diplomats but the hearts and minds of the Iraqi people have been lost in the Hell the U.S. invasion and occupation have brought them.

It's so bad, when it might require going to Iraq, even people of good-will and peace, diplomats in Washington, turn into an angry mob. They won't put their lives and the welfare of their families at risk to get directly involved in this horribly bloody fiasco. Iraq has become a place where no-body is safe to live.

But you and I each have a voice. We can speak for those in Iraq who have no voice and receive no mercy, the innocent men, women and children, who suffer in silence. For they have no choice but to try to survive in the cesspool our government has made of their nation.

(posted with permission)

[wake.up.america]

1. Wait until the soldiers hear about this.. What are they going to think?

[eFriendly]

2. Take your chances on getting killed in Iraq or quit/get fired...

It sure would be a spectacle to see 150+ U.S. diplomats simultaneously tender their resignations over the State Department's ultimatum of 'take your chances in Iraq or lose your job.'