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Diplomats to Be Ordered to Serve in Iraq

Lack of volunteers spurs biggest call-up since Vietnam War

By Jane Yager,  Newser Staff

Posted Oct 27, 2007 7:33 AM CDT

(Newser) – Lacking volunteers for dozens of vacancies at the US Embassy in Baghdad, the State Department is set to order its diplomats to serve one-year postings in Iraq. Those selected for the postings will be notified Monday; if not enough take the bait, assignments will be made mandatory, on pain of  dismissal, AP reports.

The move is sure to be unpopular with Foreign Service officers, who balk at the danger of the assignment, with near daily insurgent attacks on the embassy's fortified Green Zone and lingering questions about the private security forces who guard US diplomats. The last large-scale use of "directed assignments" was during the Vietnam War.

A portion of the new U.S. embassy under construction is seen from across the Tigris river in Baghdad, in this May 19, 2007 file photo.The opening of a mammoth, $600 million U.S. Embassy, which had been planned for last month, has now been delayed well into next...
A portion of the new U.S. embassy under construction is seen from across the Tigris river in Baghdad, in this May 19, 2007 file photo.The opening of a mammoth, $600 million U.S. Embassy, which had been...   (Associated Press)
A portion of the new U.S. embassy under construction is seen from across the Tigris river in Baghdad in their May 19, 2007 file photo.  The Kuwait company building the U.S. embassy in Baghdad has been accused of agreeing to pay $200,000 in kickbacks in exchange for...
A portion of the new U.S. embassy under construction is seen from across the Tigris river in Baghdad in their May 19, 2007 file photo. The Kuwait company building the U.S. embassy in Baghdad has been...   (Associated Press)
A private security guard stands at the front entrance of the American Embassy building in Baghdad, in this Tuesday, June 29, 2004 file photo. The State Department said Friday, Oct. 26, 2007 it will begin ordering diplomats to serve in Iraq because of a lack of volunteers to work at...
A private security guard stands at the front entrance of the American Embassy building in Baghdad, in this Tuesday, June 29, 2004 file photo. The State Department said Friday, Oct. 26, 2007 it will begin...   (Associated Press)
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