“Whither Thou Goest”

Ladies and gents…I give you the latest from the political classes:

Hundreds of US diplomats have protested against a government move to force them to accept postings in war-torn Iraq.
About 300 angry diplomats attended a meeting at the state department, at which one labelled the decision a “potential death sentence”.

If too few volunteer, some will be forced to go to Iraq - or risk dismissal, except those exempted for medical or personal hardship reasons. Iraq postings have previously been filled on a voluntary basis.
The meeting was called to explain the “forced assignments” order made by state department human resources director Harry Thomas.

Last Friday, he notified about 250 “prime candidates” that they had been selected for one of 48 one-year postings at the embassy in Baghdad or in a Provincial Reconstruction Team elsewhere in the country.

They were given 10 days to reply

Hmmm….I was always under the impression that when you entered government service, you did what you were told to do and went where you were told to go. Golly, I wonder if the Marines that freed Fallujah were given the opportunity to discuss the issue before crossing the ‘line of departure’? Certainly not. They are trained warriors who have pledged their loyalty to the United States and have promised to defend the nation and the Constitution upon which she is founded.

UPDATE:Paul, over at Power Line, has these thoughts to add to the developing story:

….., State Department personnel have a moral imperative to live up to their worldwide availability obligation. And it should not be too much to hope that they would share the view of the woman detailed to Basra who wanted to go where her country thought it needed her, rather than the man who said, to applause, that “any other embassy in the world [facing similar circumstances] would have been closed by now.”

If Rice sticks to her guns, we likely will see a large number of resignations. That sounds like a good thing.

H/T Lex