So Lead By Example

The State Department said Friday it will begin ordering diplomats to serve in Iraq because of a lack of volunteers to work at the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad, the first such large-scale call-up since the Vietnam War.

Beginning Monday, 200 to 300 diplomats will be notified that they have been identified as “prime candidates” to fill 40 to 50 vacancies that will open next year at the embassy, said Harry Thomas, director general of the Foreign Service.

[link]

The members of the Foreign Service are, understandably IMO, not exactly thrilled at the prospect of a forced vacation at sunny fortress Baghdad, so SoS Condoleezza Rice decided to send them a memo explaining it all to them, which I’m sure will be of great comfort comfort those forced to go to Baghdad as they huddle in their bunkers while rockets rain down upon their offices.

Maybe things would be different if today’s [supposed] paper leaders took a page from the great book of days gone by and led by example instead of hiding in their posh offices, drinking catered specialty coffee, watching TV, and ordering others to do the hard work on their behalf.

As one individual said at their meeting

“It’s one thing if someone believes in what’s going on over there and volunteers, but it’s another thing to send someone over there on a forced assignment,”

So there ya go Dr. Rice, if you really believe in the mission come out from behind your big ‘ole luxurious hardwood desk in sunny DC and set up your office in The Green Zone – I bet your revolt fizzles and dies the day you sit down there.

—–

Trackposted to Outside the Beltway, Stop the ACLU, Perri Nelson’s Website, The Virtuous Republic, The Midnight Sun, The Random Yak, 123beta, Adam’s Blog, Right Truth, The Populist, Grizzly Groundswell, Webloggin, Leaning Straight Up, The Bullwinkle Blog, The Amboy Times, Phastidio.net, Big Dog’s Weblog, Pursuing Holiness, Adeline and Hazel, third world county, The World According to Carl, Pirate’s Cove, The Pink Flamingo, Wolf Pangloss, and Church and State, thanks to Linkfest Haven Deluxe.

This entry was posted by stageleft on Friday, November 2nd, 2007 and is filed under Authoritarianism, US Politics. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.
Recommend this Post @ Progressive Bloggers

3 Responses to “So Lead By Example”

  1. Chimera on November 2nd, 2007 at 7:20 pm

    Seriously LMAO!

    A civilian draft…only in America…

    When I saw this story last week on a British news site, my first thought was of what John Lennon said oh, so many years ago:

    “What if they gave a war and nobody came?”

    I think the people who actually administer the American government are teetering on the edge of mass refusal-to-comply. I mean, really, if everyone refuses, what can the government do?

    [Having a little trouble getting comments pubbed. Still tweaking?]

  2. stageleft on November 2nd, 2007 at 9:00 pm

    Open revolt would, IMO, be a good thing for that administration. Did you see this a few weeks ago?

    Air Force Refused to Fly Weapons to Middle East Theater

    “Lost” B-52 nuke cruise missiles were on way to Middle East for attack on Iran. Was the plan thwarted by Air Force officers?

    Wayne Madsen Reports says they have learned from U.S. and foreign intelligence sources that the B-52 transporting six stealth AGM-129 Advanced Cruise Missiles, each armed with a W-80-1 nuclear warhead, on August 30, were destined for the Middle East via Barksdale Air Force Base in Louisiana.

    However, elements of the Air Force, supported by U.S. intelligence agency personnel, successfully revealed the ultimate destination of the nuclear weapons and the mission was aborted due to internal opposition within the Air Force and U.S. Intelligence Community.

    The Washington Post attempted to explain away the fact that America’s nuclear command and control system broke down in an unprecedented manner by reporting that it was the result of “security failures at multiple levels.” It is now apparent that the command and control breakdown, reported as a BENT SPEAR incident to the Secretary of Defense and White House, was not the result of a command and control chain-of-command “failures” but the result of a revolt and push back by various echelons within the Air Force and intelligence agencies against a planned U.S. attack on Iran using nuclear and conventional weapons.

    The Washington Post story on BENT SPEAR may have actually been an effort in damage control by the Bush administration. WMR has been informed by a knowledgeable source that one of the six nuclear-armed cruise missiles was, and may still be, unaccounted for. In that case, the nuclear reporting incident would have gone far beyond BENT SPEAR to a National Command Authority alert known as EMPTY QUIVER, with the special classification of PINNACLE.

    Be nice to think that there were in fact cooler heads that are prevailing wouldn’t it?

  3. Friday Campout Open Trackbacks « Wolf Pangloss on November 8th, 2007 at 9:23 pm

    [...] Stageleft:. Life on the [lower] left side » Blog Archive » So Lead By Example // Nov 2nd 2007 at 17:34 [...]

Causes & Sponsors

Recent Comments

  • Ti-Guy: Just what in my statement is so offensive? Is it the flippant ‘So What’? There’s been a disturbing...
  • JimBobby: Originally Posted By CanuckguyBad decision makers have to be weeded out. How do we weed out those bad...
  • balbulican: JB, that’s sheer genius. Instead of demonstrating their contempt for Earth Hour by running their...
  • JimBobby: Whooee! Them teabaggers is sure as hell whacko enough to pour buckets of blood. I reckon this...
  • balbulican: It’s a difficult chore they face, claiming simultaneously to be (a) an embattled, oppressed...
  • Shiner: The fascinating thing about the Canadian teabaggers is that their guys are in power. As stupid as it is to...
  • stageleft: What I have a problem with is the state spying on people because it doesn’t like what they say or...
  • Canuckguy: @stageleft - Well jeez, somebody has to do it. The deciders for christ’s sake. There is a legimate...
  • stageleft: @Ti-Guy: I checked the moderation pen when I got home (ah spring… when bikes and BBQ’s reign...
  • stageleft: @Canuckguy: And just who gets to decide what makes people dangerous Canuckguy? Who gets to decide who is...

Recent Trackbacks


Disclaimer: The writings, musing, comments, thoughts, and ideas, put forward within the stageleft.info domain belong solely to their individual authors who hold ultimate responsibility for them. While here be mindful of the words of Buddha: Believe nothing just because a so-called wise person said it. Believe nothing just because a belief is generally held. Believe nothing just because it is said in ancient books. Believe nothing just because it is said to be of divine origin. Believe nothing just because someone else believes it. Believe only what you yourself test and judge to be true.

Designed by Gabfire slightly modified by stageleft