US:A decision to order United States diplomats to serve in Baghdad has sparked a revolt among foreign service staff, with one diplomat describing such a posting as "a death sentence".
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice wrote to all US diplomatic personnel overseas yesterday after a meeting attended by hundreds of state department staff this week exposed the depth and intensity of opposition to the move.
The US embassy in Baghdad's Green Zone has expanded every year since the start of the war and the state department needs 48 foreign service officers to fill new vacancies next year.
The department has written to 250 eligible staff members, giving them 10 days to accept or reject the offer of a posting to Baghdad. If too few volunteer, some will be ordered to go on "directed assignments".
Foreign service officers agree at the start of their employment to serve anywhere in the world, but Jack Croddy, a senior foreign service officer, said it was unreasonable to order people to work in what was still effectively a war zone.
"It's one thing if someone believes in what's going on over there and volunteers, but it's another thing to send someone over there on a forced assignment. I'm sorry, but basically that's a potential death sentence and you know it . . . Who will raise our children if we are dead or seriously wounded?" he said.
The state department has seldom used "directed assignments", but in 1969 an entire class of entry-level diplomats was sent to Vietnam. Harry Thomas, the director-general of the foreign service, said that, despite this week's revolt, the decision would not be rescinded. "This is an obligation we must do. We cannot shrink from that duty," he said.