{"id":10114,"date":"2007-11-01T18:22:58","date_gmt":"2007-11-02T00:22:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/proteinwisdom.com\/?p=10114"},"modified":"2007-11-01T18:22:58","modified_gmt":"2007-11-02T00:22:58","slug":"juan-cole-amazing-prick-dan-collins","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/proteinwisdom.com\/?p=10114","title":{"rendered":"Juan Cole, Amazing Prick [Dan Collins]"},"content":{"rendered":"

Juan Cole<\/a>:<\/p>\n

I don’t try to start an internet campaign very often, because the blogosphere has its own priorities and logic that are democratic and should not be forced. But here is a plea for everyone in the blogging world to help force congress to save our diplomats.<\/p>\n

Bush is trying to Shanghai several hundred foreign service officers and force them to go to Iraq. They are protesting.<\/p>\n

Now is that time for all Americans to stand up for the diplomats who serve this country ably and courageously throughout the world, for decades on end. Foreign service officers risk disease and death, and many of them see their marriages destroyed when spouses decline to follow them to a series of remote places. They are the ones who represent America abroad, who know languages and cultures and do their best to convince the world that we’re basically a good people.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Amazing prick.<\/p>\n

You see, it’s Bush who’s trying to Shanghai these people into serving in Iraq. It’s not the country that they’re serving calling on them. It’s Shanghaiing, because they didn’t, as a prerequisite of their employment, take an oath to serve wherever they were posted. It’s not a betrayal of their obligation to their country, but a repudiation of Bush. How can that be wrong?<\/p>\n

They serve the country courageously, putting our best face forward abroad, and unlike those stupid bastards in the military who, if they knew something, wouldn’t be over there, they know languages and cultures.<\/p>\n

Guess what, douchebag? Americans in numerous lines of work risk disease and death with greater frequency than do most State Department employees, and many of them have to follow their work from place to place, and suffer from financial and other difficulties that place strains on their marriages.<\/p>\n

Undoubtedly, there are dedicated people in the Foreign Service, some of whom take dangerous assignments and assignments that are inconvenient for them and their families. They are to be commended. But doing what they are employed to do is no more heroic, as a general rule, than what many of us do every day.<\/p>\n

Bush should not be allowed by Congress to commit this immoral act against the civilians who serve us so faithfully.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

You don’t know what moral is, Juan. My apologies if that wasn’t diplomatic enough for you, you degenerate.<\/p>\n

US observers keep expressing puzzlement as to why the killing of hundreds or thousands of insurgents has not had an impact in repressing the guerrillas. They don’t seem to get it<\/a> that Iraqi clans still matter and that when they kill an Iraqi, they anger the man’s brothers, uncles, and first and second cousins, some of whom step forward to take his place. In the US a lot of people don’t even know their cousins and certainly would not sacrifice their lives to avenge one. Iraq is not like that. So, it isn’t really even a matter of ideologies, necessarily. The US military has incurred enough clan feuds to keep the insurgencies going. And, of course, Iraqi and Arab nationalisms are powerful enough that people hate seeing Western troops in their country. The line between being angry about it and being angry enough to pick up a gun is a thin one.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Well, you know what, Juan? The worm has turned, and while people in this country may not know their cousins well enough to take up arms to defend them for the sake of consanguinity, Americans will take up arms to defend their countrymen, with the understanding that their countrymen–the people who share their values–would do the same for them. Of course, nepotists such as yourself can’t really understand that.<\/p>\n

UPDATE: And while I’m in this mood, I’d be remiss not to mention this<\/a>. So, all of you who argued that voter fraud was an issue ginned up by Rethugs to suppress minority voting can grab a number and line up to kiss my ass. Puckers.<\/p>\n

UPDATE2:<\/p>\n

Comment by happyfeet on 11\/1 @ 7:02 pm # |Edit This<\/p>\n

But he got quickly to the point. \u00c3\u00a2\u00e2\u201a\u00ac\u00c5\u201cWe have 250 jobs to fill in the summer of \u00c3\u00a2\u00e2\u201a\u00ac\u00cb\u015308 in Iraq,\u00c3\u00a2\u00e2\u201a\u00ac\u00c2\u009d he said. \u00c3\u00a2\u00e2\u201a\u00ac\u00c5\u201cWe have filled a little
\nover 200.\u00c3\u00a2\u00e2\u201a\u00ac\u00c2\u009d<\/p>\n

So we\u00c3\u00a2\u00e2\u201a\u00ac\u00e2\u201e\u00a2re talking about less than 50 people. Meaning, of the full complement in 2008, less than 20% will have been \u00c3\u00a2\u00e2\u201a\u00ac\u00c5\u201cshanghaied.\u00c3\u00a2\u00e2\u201a\u00ac\u00c2\u009d<\/p>\n

There are 11,500 eligible employees. 200 volunteered. So something over 98% of State Department employees are in the game for something other than to serve their country. This explains much.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

UPDATE3: James Joyner has a reasonable assessment<\/a> (of the situation, not Cole), if you’re into the whole even-handedness thing. Drew M at Ace’s<\/a>.<\/p>\n

UPDATE4: One of Andrew’s readers<\/a> points out a falsehood in Cole’s PoS.<\/p>\n

UPDATE5: Mr. Bingley at Coalition of the Swilling <\/a>has some choice ruminations.<\/p>\n

UPDATE6: Ex-Dip speaks whereof he knows<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Comment by Ex-Dip on 11\/2 @ 7:27 am #<\/a> |Edit This<\/a>I\u00c3\u00a2\u00e2\u201a\u00ac\u00e2\u201e\u00a2m an ex-diplomat and I served in hardship posts with some courageous, dedicated FSOs. Some points to consider while you are trashing the motivations of 11,500 officers. First, not all officers are cleared for postings in hardship areas for health or other reasons (but I\u00c3\u00a2\u00e2\u201a\u00ac\u00e2\u201e\u00a2m not sure of the percentage, but I know State doesn\u00c3\u00a2\u00e2\u201a\u00ac\u00e2\u201e\u00a2t want to medevac sick people), so scratch them from the list. Some officers are coming off hardship postings where they\u00c3\u00a2\u00e2\u201a\u00ac\u00e2\u201e\u00a2ve been separated from their families for years at time, where their spouses are at risk of dying everyday, or where they\u00c3\u00a2\u00e2\u201a\u00ac\u00e2\u201e\u00a2ve watched their children get sick on tropical diseases or wilt in pollution. Naturally, they don\u00c3\u00a2\u00e2\u201a\u00ac\u00e2\u201e\u00a2t want to be separated again for years or send the kids to boarding school. Many FSOs in the 11,500 have already done a tour (or two) in Baghdad or Afganistan and are waiting for others to step up and contribute. We\u00c3\u00a2\u00e2\u201a\u00ac\u00e2\u201e\u00a2re seeing the cost of bleeding the foreign service for many years, too. State hiring for many years was not nearly adequate to maintain a pipeline of qualified, trained individuals. Rumor has it that Colin Powell was shocked at how training was sacrificed at State to get people out to post, seeing as he spent a good portion of his Army career at staff colleges and universities. Personally, I served in jobs two pay grades above my personal rank and without the training I needed to do the job, so stripped was the cabinent. Young, single and healthy officers are making the sacrifices and are probably tired of it.\n

    Yes, there are FSOs who want their glamorous posting in Paris and London. Yes, there are offifcers who don\u00c3\u00a2\u00e2\u201a\u00ac\u00e2\u201e\u00a2t like the Bush administration and it\u00c3\u00a2\u00e2\u201a\u00ac\u00e2\u201e\u00a2s policies. But there are other factors to consider.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Juan Cole: I don’t try to start an internet campaign very often, because the blogosphere has its own priorities and logic that are democratic and should not be forced. But here is a plea for everyone in the blogging world to help force congress to save our diplomats. Bush is trying to Shanghai several hundred foreign service officers and force them to go to Iraq. They are protesting. Now is<\/p>\n

    Read More<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":587,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10114","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/proteinwisdom.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10114","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/proteinwisdom.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/proteinwisdom.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/proteinwisdom.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/587"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/proteinwisdom.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=10114"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/proteinwisdom.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10114\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/proteinwisdom.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=10114"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/proteinwisdom.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=10114"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/proteinwisdom.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=10114"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}