Comments on: Are they diplomats or duds? http://hillbillypolitics.com/2007/11/01/are-they-diplomats-or-duds/ Just Down to Earth Politcal Discussions in Plain English for the "Rest of Us." Wed, 28 Jul 2010 01:21:13 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 hourly 1 By: hillbilly http://hillbillypolitics.com/2007/11/01/are-they-diplomats-or-duds/comment-page-1/#comment-2226 hillbilly Sun, 04 Nov 2007 14:25:15 +0000 http://hillbillypolitics.com/?p=264#comment-2226 "Yeah but your capacity as a military wife did not include sending you in the middle of a war zone either." No, it only included having to do a bomb check of my car every morning before leaving for the office. It wasn't a war zone, just a small community where a lot of American Soldiers were known to live and provide easy targets for terrorists coming into the country at will. It only included dealing with frequent bomb alerts in areas where we were known to shop. It only included being responsible for whole classrooms of small people during those alerts. But no, I wasn't in a war zone. It wasn't called that because we weren't at war with the country in which we were living. “Yeah but your capacity as a military wife did not include sending you in the middle of a war zone either.”

No, it only included having to do a bomb check of my car every morning before leaving for the office. It wasn’t a war zone, just a small community where a lot of American Soldiers were known to live and provide easy targets for terrorists coming into the country at will. It only included dealing with frequent bomb alerts in areas where we were known to shop. It only included being responsible for whole classrooms of small people during those alerts. But no, I wasn’t in a war zone. It wasn’t called that because we weren’t at war with the country in which we were living.

]]> By: AnonymousCoward http://hillbillypolitics.com/2007/11/01/are-they-diplomats-or-duds/comment-page-1/#comment-2211 AnonymousCoward Fri, 02 Nov 2007 19:58:59 +0000 http://hillbillypolitics.com/?p=264#comment-2211 Yeah but your capacity as a military wife did not include sending you in the middle of a war zone either. I definitely understand why a diplomat would not want to be sent in a dangerous zone like Iraq. When I become a lawyer, if the company that hires me suddenly decide that I should have to work out of the Bagdad office, trust me I will be the first to refuse, and imposing that on me would be really unfair. Yeah but your capacity as a military wife did not include sending you in the middle of a war zone either. I definitely understand why a diplomat would not want to be sent in a dangerous zone like Iraq. When I become a lawyer, if the company that hires me suddenly decide that I should have to work out of the Bagdad office, trust me I will be the first to refuse, and imposing that on me would be really unfair.

]]> By: BB-Idaho http://hillbillypolitics.com/2007/11/01/are-they-diplomats-or-duds/comment-page-1/#comment-2200 BB-Idaho Fri, 02 Nov 2007 02:19:57 +0000 http://hillbillypolitics.com/?p=264#comment-2200 Military wives play an important role as ambassadors, no doubt. Many places are curious about Americans and people there want to learn what we are really about. The issue in Iraq, IMHO is that it is considered counterinsurgency and the military needs civil ops assistance as emphasized in FM 3-24, the army manual recently issued under Petreaus' guidance. Under current conditions, I doubt many military wives are in theatre, but there is a significant need for civilian assistance (well, beyond the Blackwater type)..helping the Iraqis with local government, schooling, infrastructure, understanding a democratic way of doing things, etc. Such is the nature of insurgencies, operation out and among those needing help is very dangerous. So, it is a bit of a unique problem and I can understand the need as well as the reluctance vis a vis the State Department. Military wives play an important role as ambassadors, no doubt. Many places are curious about Americans and people there want to learn what we are really about. The issue in Iraq, IMHO is that it is considered counterinsurgency and the military needs civil ops assistance as emphasized in FM 3-24, the army manual recently issued under Petreaus’
guidance. Under current conditions, I doubt many military wives are in theatre, but there
is a significant need for civilian assistance (well, beyond the Blackwater type)..helping the Iraqis with local government, schooling, infrastructure, understanding a democratic way of doing things, etc. Such is the nature of insurgencies, operation out and among those needing help is very dangerous. So, it is a bit of a unique problem and I can understand
the need as well as the reluctance vis a vis the State Department.

]]> By: hillbilly http://hillbillypolitics.com/2007/11/01/are-they-diplomats-or-duds/comment-page-1/#comment-2199 hillbilly Thu, 01 Nov 2007 23:42:39 +0000 http://hillbillypolitics.com/?p=264#comment-2199 Perhaps they should, BB. I do recall many lectures telling us we are diplomats for the United States when serving overseas. I hope I served my country well in that capacity while being a military wife. Perhaps they should, BB. I do recall many lectures telling us we are diplomats for the United States when serving overseas. I hope I served my country well in that capacity while being a military wife.

]]> By: BB-Idaho http://hillbillypolitics.com/2007/11/01/are-they-diplomats-or-duds/comment-page-1/#comment-2198 BB-Idaho Thu, 01 Nov 2007 23:30:30 +0000 http://hillbillypolitics.com/?p=264#comment-2198 Odd. diplomats refusing combat duty. Next thing you know, the troops will be refusing diplomatic duty. Odd. diplomats refusing combat duty. Next thing you know, the troops will be refusing
diplomatic duty.

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