“Si vis pacem, para bellum,” If you want peace, prepare for war.
This is ancient wisdom that some state department employees don’t understand and would dispute, with tears if they have to. No wonder our government is so disfunctionally lame.
Envoys Resist Forced Iraq Duty
Top State Dept. Officials Face Angry Questions
Some quotes from the WashingtonPost article:
…Service in Iraq is “a potential death sentence,” said one man who identified himself as a 46-year Foreign Service veteran. “Any other embassy in the world would be closed by now,” he said to sustained applause.
…Thomas reminded them, according to an audiotape of the session, that “every member of the Foreign Service, there can be no doubt, has agreed to worldwide availability. Every member . . . has taken an oath to the flag and the country.” If volunteers come forward for the unfilled posts, he said, “we will cease this operation. But if not, we will continue. . . . If we have to, we will redirect assignments.” ~washingtonpost.com
My guess is that the dissenters here are really saying that diplomacy doesn’t and cannot work in Iraq. It apparently only works in peaceful countries where peace already reigns. But then that would make their cushy paper-pushing jobs kind of superfluous, wouldn’t it?
I don’t see the logical connection between your quote and the rest of your argument. “If you want peace, prepare for war.” So what does that have to do with diplomats in Iraq…? By prepare for war, that means to create a deterrant effect to anyone who would attack your country by building up the military. Not that diplomats should go to a war torn nation.