Comments on: Foreign Service Whiners and So-called Success http://www.noquarterusa.net/blog/1022/foreign-service-whiners-and-so-called-success/ Thu, 24 May 2012 03:34:00 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.4 By: Neil http://www.noquarterusa.net/blog/1022/foreign-service-whiners-and-so-called-success/#comment-43194 Neil Thu, 08 Nov 2007 00:27:18 +0000 http://noquarterusa.net/blog/2007/11/03/foreign-service-whiners-and-so-called-success/#comment-43194 Thank you for your comment Larry. Do Foriegn Service officers receive the kind of training that would prepare them and give them some confidence they could defend themselves? Say like the trainnig CIA agents receive on the farm? I have no firsthand knowledge, I just heard Valerie Plame answer a question about CIA agent training in coverage of her book release. Anyway, maybe it's whining if they've been given the tools, training and resources to defend themsleves (or even if they've overestimated the level of threat) but anything less than that, I think they have a case. What can State do to mitigate their biggest concerns? Thank you for your comment Larry.

Do Foriegn Service officers receive the kind of training that would prepare them and give them some confidence they could defend themselves? Say like the trainnig CIA agents receive on the farm? I have no firsthand knowledge, I just heard Valerie Plame answer a question about CIA agent training in coverage of her book release.

Anyway, maybe it’s whining if they’ve been given the tools, training and resources to defend themsleves (or even if they’ve overestimated the level of threat) but anything less than that, I think they have a case.

What can State do to mitigate their biggest concerns?

]]> By: Fred C. Dobbs http://www.noquarterusa.net/blog/1022/foreign-service-whiners-and-so-called-success/#comment-42424 Fred C. Dobbs Wed, 07 Nov 2007 00:45:35 +0000 http://noquarterusa.net/blog/2007/11/03/foreign-service-whiners-and-so-called-success/#comment-42424 Military Assitance Command, Vietnam Military Assitance Command, Vietnam

]]> By: Shirin http://www.noquarterusa.net/blog/1022/foreign-service-whiners-and-so-called-success/#comment-41582 Shirin Mon, 05 Nov 2007 22:50:15 +0000 http://noquarterusa.net/blog/2007/11/03/foreign-service-whiners-and-so-called-success/#comment-41582 You know, when I first heard that I dismissed it as Chicken Little hysteria, but more and more it begins to look like a very real possibility, and these days I am only hoping I can have myself prepared to exit before it is too late. I am trying to arrange things so that nothing I do is irrevocable, but the situation here looks scarier and scarier by the day. The most frightening thing is that the majority of the people here seem to continue to go along believing whatever they are told no matter how many times they find out they have been lied to. You know, when I first heard that I dismissed it as Chicken Little hysteria, but more and more it begins to look like a very real possibility, and these days I am only hoping I can have myself prepared to exit before it is too late. I am trying to arrange things so that nothing I do is irrevocable, but the situation here looks scarier and scarier by the day. The most frightening thing is that the majority of the people here seem to continue to go along believing whatever they are told no matter how many times they find out they have been lied to.

]]> By: Delia http://www.noquarterusa.net/blog/1022/foreign-service-whiners-and-so-called-success/#comment-41571 Delia Mon, 05 Nov 2007 22:23:29 +0000 http://noquarterusa.net/blog/2007/11/03/foreign-service-whiners-and-so-called-success/#comment-41571 Well, I have to say I think you're wise to have a back-up plan. It's this latest poll on Iran that has me most discouraged. That, and the refusal of Congressional Dems to stand up. I've done serious historical research on the national socialist era in Germany. The majority of the German people did not support Hitler when he first seized power. It was the steady drumbeat of propaganda and terror over many years, and the slow erosion of civil liberties that did in the Germans and increased their levels of fear and prejudice. And that's what I see happening here, at a somewhat slower rate. Well, I have to say I think you’re wise to have a back-up plan. It’s this latest poll on Iran that has me most discouraged. That, and the refusal of Congressional Dems to stand up. I’ve done serious historical research on the national socialist era in Germany. The majority of the German people did not support Hitler when he first seized power. It was the steady drumbeat of propaganda and terror over many years, and the slow erosion of civil liberties that did in the Germans and increased their levels of fear and prejudice. And that’s what I see happening here, at a somewhat slower rate.

]]> By: Claire Hanley http://www.noquarterusa.net/blog/1022/foreign-service-whiners-and-so-called-success/#comment-41386 Claire Hanley Mon, 05 Nov 2007 17:23:14 +0000 http://noquarterusa.net/blog/2007/11/03/foreign-service-whiners-and-so-called-success/#comment-41386 Back in the day, when occupation by a white colonial power was still considered the inevitable fate of any "brown" or "yellow" or "red" culture, the Green Zone/Embassy complex would have been named for its true function: Fort (here insert the name of a Western General, whose deeds in subduing "native" populations we wish to immortalize.) Back in the day, when occupation by a white colonial power was still considered the inevitable fate of any “brown” or “yellow” or “red” culture, the Green Zone/Embassy complex would have been named for its true function: Fort (here insert the name of a Western General, whose deeds in subduing “native” populations we wish to immortalize.)

]]> By: Teaeopy http://www.noquarterusa.net/blog/1022/foreign-service-whiners-and-so-called-success/#comment-41013 Teaeopy Mon, 05 Nov 2007 03:37:04 +0000 http://noquarterusa.net/blog/2007/11/03/foreign-service-whiners-and-so-called-success/#comment-41013 After a browser crash (I again should have been using a text editor)— To clarify what I meant, the Zogby summary's phrase “to prevent Iran from building a nuclear weapon” can be taken to apply to strikes pre-empting any possibility of developing nuclear weapons; that's what a number of blog and news commentators interpreted the 52% of poll respondents to mean, but I doubt that 52% of respondents meant that. “If Iran is developing nuclear weapons” suggests that there would be credible evidence of a nuclear weapons development program; 52% might, it seems to me, approve of strikes against Iran were there such evidence. After a browser crash (I again should have been using a text editor)—

To clarify what I meant, the Zogby summary’s phrase “to prevent Iran from building a nuclear weapon” can be taken to apply to strikes pre-empting any possibility of developing nuclear weapons; that’s what a number of blog and news commentators interpreted the 52% of poll respondents to mean, but I doubt that 52% of respondents meant that. “If Iran is developing nuclear weapons” suggests that there would be credible evidence of a nuclear weapons development program; 52% might, it seems to me, approve of strikes against Iran were there such evidence.

]]> By: Teaeopy http://www.noquarterusa.net/blog/1022/foreign-service-whiners-and-so-called-success/#comment-41003 Teaeopy Mon, 05 Nov 2007 02:49:56 +0000 http://noquarterusa.net/blog/2007/11/03/foreign-service-whiners-and-so-called-success/#comment-41003 Nearly every time I don't edit with a text editor I mess up something. Nearly every time I don’t edit with a text editor I mess up something.

]]> By: Teaeopy http://www.noquarterusa.net/blog/1022/foreign-service-whiners-and-so-called-success/#comment-41001 Teaeopy Mon, 05 Nov 2007 02:46:04 +0000 http://noquarterusa.net/blog/2007/11/03/foreign-service-whiners-and-so-called-success/#comment-41001 Pollster John Zogby should, when summarizing poll results, state what the poll questions were verbatim. According to one of his audio clips, #1 at http://interactive.zogby.com/mediaclips/, the “will strike” and “should strike” questions are “always prefaced with, if Iran is developing nuclear weapons.” That qualification was not included in Zogby's widely-referenced text summary found at http://www.zogby.com/news/ReadNews.dbm?ID=1379 . Pollster John Zogby should, when summarizing poll results, state what the
poll questions were verbatim. According to one of his audio clips, #1 at
http://interactive.zogby.com/mediaclips/, the “will strike” and “should strike” questions are “always prefaced with, if Iran is developing nuclear weapons.” That qualification was not included in Zogby’s widely-referenced text summary
found at http://www.zogby.com/news/ReadNews.dbm?ID=1379 .

]]> By: The Oracle http://www.noquarterusa.net/blog/1022/foreign-service-whiners-and-so-called-success/#comment-40998 The Oracle Mon, 05 Nov 2007 02:42:42 +0000 http://noquarterusa.net/blog/2007/11/03/foreign-service-whiners-and-so-called-success/#comment-40998 Everything the Bush administration does is political, so my first thought upon hearing about this "pool of U.S. diplomats" from which Green Zone assignments will be drawn involved the question of how many of these people in this forced conscription pool are "loyal Bushies"? I doubt if many, if any, of the career people "selected" for this State Department pool are "loyal Bushies," which means that the schemers in the Bush administration are just using this as a means of weeding out any "malcontents," who will then be replaced with properly-vetted "loyal Bushies." The Bush legacy, the legacy of the most corrupt, devious and vile administration in American history, will be a packed State Department, a packed Supreme Court, a packed federal judiciary, a packed Justice Department, and every other federal agency that they can pack with their corrupt crony pals, thus wrecking our government for years to come. So, I look at this latest State Department action as part of this overall scheme. "Selected" State Department employees are given a choice: "volunteer" for duty over in the Green Zone, which is being shelled daily and faces the threat of infiltration by suicide bombers...or resign, or be fired. And if the corrupt Bush administration doesn't get at least 50 "volunteers" from this diplomatic pool, then they will fire the several hundred career diplomats in the pool, thus opening up several hundred career State Department positions for "loyal Bushies," packing the State Department with ideological neo-con perverts for decades to come. In Bush World, in their corrupted neo-con bubble, this makes perfect sense, even though it involves wrecking the State Department over the short-term and the long-term. Everything the Bush administration does is political, so my first thought upon hearing about this “pool of U.S. diplomats” from which Green Zone assignments will be drawn involved the question of how many of these people in this forced conscription pool are “loyal Bushies”?

I doubt if many, if any, of the career people “selected” for this State Department pool are “loyal Bushies,” which means that the schemers in the Bush administration are just using this as a means of weeding out any “malcontents,” who will then be replaced with properly-vetted “loyal Bushies.”

The Bush legacy, the legacy of the most corrupt, devious and vile administration in American history, will be a packed State Department, a packed Supreme Court, a packed federal judiciary, a packed Justice Department, and every other federal agency that they can pack with their corrupt crony pals, thus wrecking our government for years to come.

So, I look at this latest State Department action as part of this overall scheme.

“Selected” State Department employees are given a choice: “volunteer” for duty over in the Green Zone, which is being shelled daily and faces the threat of infiltration by suicide bombers…or resign, or be fired.

And if the corrupt Bush administration doesn’t get at least 50 “volunteers” from this diplomatic pool, then they will fire the several hundred career diplomats in the pool, thus opening up several hundred career State Department positions for “loyal Bushies,” packing the State Department with ideological neo-con perverts for decades to come.

In Bush World, in their corrupted neo-con bubble, this makes perfect sense, even though it involves wrecking the State Department over the short-term and the long-term.

]]> By: Shirin http://www.noquarterusa.net/blog/1022/foreign-service-whiners-and-so-called-success/#comment-40920 Shirin Mon, 05 Nov 2007 00:19:48 +0000 http://noquarterusa.net/blog/2007/11/03/foreign-service-whiners-and-so-called-success/#comment-40920 To be honest, Delia, the willingness of Americans to be fooled in the same terribly dangerous ways over and over and over and over and over and over again is one of the reasons I decided after the 2004 election that I needed to get ready to leave this country. It was not as much that Bush was president again as it was that the American people were - I don't know the word - enough to elect him again. I felt at that time that there was little hope that the situation in the U.S. would not get steadily worse over time, and I began to prepare my exit plan. To be honest, Delia, the willingness of Americans to be fooled in the same terribly dangerous ways over and over and over and over and over and over again is one of the reasons I decided after the 2004 election that I needed to get ready to leave this country. It was not as much that Bush was president again as it was that the American people were – I don’t know the word – enough to elect him again. I felt at that time that there was little hope that the situation in the U.S. would not get steadily worse over time, and I began to prepare my exit plan.

]]> By: Delia http://www.noquarterusa.net/blog/1022/foreign-service-whiners-and-so-called-success/#comment-40867 Delia Sun, 04 Nov 2007 23:12:13 +0000 http://noquarterusa.net/blog/2007/11/03/foreign-service-whiners-and-so-called-success/#comment-40867 No. It's not like a draft. For a foreign officer's first two postings, the entire class receives a list of about 200 jobs all over the world. Each person bids on 50 jobs of their choosing in the order of their preference. They will be offered any job on their list, even if it's number 50. There's always an element of individual choice. And there are consequences. If you only choose cushy assignments, say in Western Europe, your career will probably be stuck on the low level functionary level. After the first two postings, the officers are on their own for negotiating assignments. The assumption is that by then they'll have enough contacts to take care of themselves. This is NOT the military. This is a career path that depends on people who can be independent actors within the sphere of government service. And that's what the Bushies are trying to change, apparently. They want more drones. And no, Fred. They didn't all vote for Bush. I don't know about today's entering class, but there's never been any political litmus test. The fact that the majority of Middle East expert DON'T support the war then or now should be an important clue for you here. No. It’s not like a draft. For a foreign officer’s first two postings, the entire class receives a list of about 200 jobs all over the world. Each person bids on 50 jobs of their choosing in the order of their preference. They will be offered any job on their list, even if it’s number 50. There’s always an element of individual choice. And there are consequences. If you only choose cushy assignments, say in Western Europe, your career will probably be stuck on the low level functionary level. After the first two postings, the officers are on their own for negotiating assignments. The assumption is that by then they’ll have enough contacts to take care of themselves.

This is NOT the military. This is a career path that depends on people who can be independent actors within the sphere of government service. And that’s what the Bushies are trying to change, apparently. They want more drones.

And no, Fred. They didn’t all vote for Bush. I don’t know about today’s entering class, but there’s never been any political litmus test. The fact that the majority of Middle East expert DON’T support the war then or now should be an important clue for you here.

]]> By: Delia http://www.noquarterusa.net/blog/1022/foreign-service-whiners-and-so-called-success/#comment-40860 Delia Sun, 04 Nov 2007 22:54:15 +0000 http://noquarterusa.net/blog/2007/11/03/foreign-service-whiners-and-so-called-success/#comment-40860 Well . . . they seem to be fooling about 52% of the American public, which is about all they want to fool with this crap. Well . . . they seem to be fooling about 52% of the American public, which is about all they want to fool with this crap.

]]> By: Delia http://www.noquarterusa.net/blog/1022/foreign-service-whiners-and-so-called-success/#comment-40858 Delia Sun, 04 Nov 2007 22:51:09 +0000 http://noquarterusa.net/blog/2007/11/03/foreign-service-whiners-and-so-called-success/#comment-40858 Exactly, Shirin. That's why the real diplomats don't want to do it. Might as well just outsource the job to Blackwater. Exactly, Shirin. That’s why the real diplomats don’t want to do it. Might as well just outsource the job to Blackwater.

]]> By: Fred C. Dobbs http://www.noquarterusa.net/blog/1022/foreign-service-whiners-and-so-called-success/#comment-40797 Fred C. Dobbs Sun, 04 Nov 2007 21:20:46 +0000 http://noquarterusa.net/blog/2007/11/03/foreign-service-whiners-and-so-called-success/#comment-40797 Good point. If you don't want to do your assigned work at the assigned workplace, feel free to pick up your check and go convince some other check-issuing entity that your MALD from Tufts justifies compensation at a level which keeps you in Black Forest-mobiles and ski weekends. Because, at the end of the day, all the jobs skills you have can subsumed under the heading, "Suckling at the Public Teat." Maybe a gig teaching American History at a public high school? We all see the vast array of BMW's parked in the faculty spaces at public high schools, don't we? And, wait until you pay REAL taxes on ALL your earnings (not just the amount over 65K), as you discover that few US businesses pay all the spiffs and differentials appurtenant to a DoS foreign posting. I hear that the Postal Service is hiring... :::::::::::::: So, boo-fucking-hoo. Poor babies. They don't wanna go. News Flash, spoiled pissants: I didn't wanna go to a dangerous place (Vietnam) to support an idiotic policy (Stop them dominoes from fallin'!) promulgated by a nest of vipers, fools, and Liars (LBJ, Dean Rusk, McNamara, Westmoreland: then Nixon and his crew of "Rat F*****s", real estate hustlers and crooks), requiring me to kill individuals by knife, gunfire and explosive ordnance with whom I had no absolutely no quarrel for SUBSTANTIALLY less than Minimum Wage, while my wife and 5 month-old child had to live in her parents' basement because my Career Path was interrupted. My choice was: Go to Vietnam or Go to Prison. What I wanted, or thought just or equitable were not factors in the equation. So, in my view, either Suck it Up and do your jobs, or go find another job to do. Either way, STFU. You probably voted for Shit-For-Brains, anyway. Good point. If you don’t want to do your assigned work at the assigned workplace, feel free to pick up your check and go convince some other check-issuing entity that your MALD from Tufts justifies compensation at a level which keeps you in Black Forest-mobiles and ski weekends.

Because, at the end of the day, all the jobs skills you have can subsumed under the heading, “Suckling at the Public Teat.”

Maybe a gig teaching American History at a public high school?

We all see the vast array of BMW’s parked in the faculty spaces at public high schools, don’t we?

And, wait until you pay REAL taxes on ALL your earnings (not just the amount over 65K), as you discover that few US businesses pay all the spiffs and differentials appurtenant to a DoS foreign posting.

I hear that the Postal Service is hiring…

::::::::::::::

So, boo-fucking-hoo. Poor babies. They don’t wanna go.

News Flash, spoiled pissants: I didn’t wanna go to a dangerous place (Vietnam) to support an idiotic policy (Stop them dominoes from fallin’!) promulgated by a nest of vipers, fools, and Liars (LBJ, Dean Rusk, McNamara, Westmoreland: then Nixon and his crew of “Rat F*****s”, real estate hustlers and crooks), requiring me to kill individuals by knife, gunfire and explosive ordnance with whom I had no absolutely no quarrel for SUBSTANTIALLY less than Minimum Wage, while my wife and 5 month-old child had to live in her parents’ basement because my Career Path was interrupted.

My choice was: Go to Vietnam or Go to Prison.

What I wanted, or thought just or equitable were not factors in the equation.

So, in my view, either Suck it Up and do your jobs, or go find another job to do.

Either way, STFU. You probably voted for Shit-For-Brains, anyway.

]]> By: Shirin http://www.noquarterusa.net/blog/1022/foreign-service-whiners-and-so-called-success/#comment-40780 Shirin Sun, 04 Nov 2007 20:58:04 +0000 http://noquarterusa.net/blog/2007/11/03/foreign-service-whiners-and-so-called-success/#comment-40780 MACV? MACV?

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