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<channel>
	<title>We Meant Well - Peter Van Buren</title>
	<atom:link href="http://wemeantwell.com/blog/index.php/feed/" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml" />
	<link>http://wemeantwell.com/blog</link>
	<description>How I Helped Lose the Battle for the Hearts and Minds of the Iraqi People</description>
	<lastBuildDate>Sun, 20 May 2012 18:29:30 +0000</lastBuildDate>
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		<title>How It Works</title>
		<link>http://wemeantwell.com/blog/2012/05/20/how-it-works/</link>
		<comments>http://wemeantwell.com/blog/2012/05/20/how-it-works/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sun, 20 May 2012 15:18:54 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>wemeantwell</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Democracy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Embassy/State]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Chen]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Chicago]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://wemeantwell.com/blog/?p=6611</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Protesters in the US arrested. No propaganda value for the US Government. Protesters in China imported to US for propaganda value for the US Government. Note to Mr. Chen: Welcome to the New World! Feel free to criticize any government you wish to here, except the US government. Even our version of free speech has [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://wemeantwell.com/blog/2012/05/20/how-it-works/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>2</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Should I Join the Foreign Service?</title>
		<link>http://wemeantwell.com/blog/2012/05/19/should-i-join-the-foreign-service-2/</link>
		<comments>http://wemeantwell.com/blog/2012/05/19/should-i-join-the-foreign-service-2/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sat, 19 May 2012 15:47:28 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>wemeantwell</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[* Most Popular]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Democracy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Embassy/State]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Careers]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Foreign Service]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[FSO]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[FSOA]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[FSOT]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://wemeantwell.com/blog/?p=6446</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[(A version of this article appeared recently on the Huffington Post, May 10, 2012) Final tuition bills, spring in the air &#8212; it is commencement season, and soon-to-be graduates across the United States are poised to transition into unemployment. Many will seek jobs in America&#8217;s lone growth sector, government, and specifically with the Department of [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://wemeantwell.com/blog/2012/05/20/how-it-works/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>2</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>State Department Won the Vietnam War</title>
		<link>http://wemeantwell.com/blog/2012/05/18/state-department-won-the-vietnam-war/</link>
		<comments>http://wemeantwell.com/blog/2012/05/18/state-department-won-the-vietnam-war/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 18 May 2012 10:23:57 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>wemeantwell</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Afghanistan]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Democracy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Embassy/State]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Iraq]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Military]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[COIN]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[CORDS]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Rambo]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Vietnam]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://wemeantwell.com/blog/?p=6577</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Remember the Vietnam War? You know, the one from Rambo, the war that was supposed to stop Communism from rolling Asia like dominoes? Fight them over there so we don&#8217;t have to fight them over here? Kennedy? Johnson? Nixon? Bueller? The US fought in Vietnam in one form or another from the late 1950&#8242;s until [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://wemeantwell.com/blog/2012/05/20/how-it-works/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>2</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Nipple Question to the State Department</title>
		<link>http://wemeantwell.com/blog/2012/05/17/nipple-question-to-the-state-department/</link>
		<comments>http://wemeantwell.com/blog/2012/05/17/nipple-question-to-the-state-department/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 17 May 2012 19:36:46 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>wemeantwell</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Democracy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Embassy/State]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[blog]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Breast Cancer]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Free Speech]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Nipples]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Toner]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://wemeantwell.com/blog/?p=6570</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[In a statement to the Washington Post, State Department spokesman Mark C. Toner said the censored Foreign Service blog that addressed one breast cancer survivor&#8217;s story “has been restored” on the State Department’s recruitment page. “It had been taken down as part of a periodic effort by a contractor to review and freshen the blog [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://wemeantwell.com/blog/2012/05/20/how-it-works/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>2</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Mrs. Clinton, you have a problem.</title>
		<link>http://wemeantwell.com/blog/2012/05/17/mrs-clinton-you-have-a-problem/</link>
		<comments>http://wemeantwell.com/blog/2012/05/17/mrs-clinton-you-have-a-problem/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 17 May 2012 13:46:49 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>wemeantwell</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Democracy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Embassy/State]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[ACLU]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Breast Cancer]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Clinton]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[First Amendment]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Free Speech]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Jen]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://wemeantwell.com/blog/?p=6552</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[It was with great pleasure that I saw my friend at the Washington Post, Lisa Rein, bring more daylight on the latest anti-free speech action by the State Department, State&#8217;s censoring of a blog because it mentioned the writer&#8217;s battle with breast cancer. Lisa Rein has written about my own efforts to reform State&#8217;s unconstitutional [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://wemeantwell.com/blog/2012/05/20/how-it-works/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>2</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>State Department Does Not Care for Breast Cancer Talk</title>
		<link>http://wemeantwell.com/blog/2012/05/16/state-department-does-not-care-for-breast-cancer-talk/</link>
		<comments>http://wemeantwell.com/blog/2012/05/16/state-department-does-not-care-for-breast-cancer-talk/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 16 May 2012 20:19:55 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>wemeantwell</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Democracy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Embassy/State]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[blog]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Breast Cancer]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Free Speech]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Nipples]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://wemeantwell.com/blog/?p=6542</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Don&#8217;t bury the lede: The State Department disowned a blog by a Foreign Service officer&#8217;s spouse because it discussed her own struggle with breast cancer instead of the happy traveling tales they seek. I&#8217;m sure by now you&#8217;ve seen the ACLU statement, which basically says the State Department rules on blogs and free speech would [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://wemeantwell.com/blog/2012/05/20/how-it-works/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>2</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>A New Low: State Department Censors Internal Dialogue to Block ACLU Discussion</title>
		<link>http://wemeantwell.com/blog/2012/05/16/a-new-low-state-department-censors-internal-dialogue/</link>
		<comments>http://wemeantwell.com/blog/2012/05/16/a-new-low-state-department-censors-internal-dialogue/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 16 May 2012 14:54:45 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>wemeantwell</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Democracy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Embassy/State]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[blog]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Free Speech]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Sounding Board]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Stasi]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://wemeantwell.com/blog/?p=6522</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[A comment on the story below of the ACLU&#8217;s support of free speech for federal employees humorously remarked The State Department has classified the ACLU letter and issued a warning to its busy workers in the hive not to read the letter: “federal employees and contractors who believe they may have inadvertently accessed or downloaded [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://wemeantwell.com/blog/2012/05/20/how-it-works/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>2</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>ACLU: State Department Violates Van Buren&#8217;s Constitutional Rights</title>
		<link>http://wemeantwell.com/blog/2012/05/16/aclu-state-department-violates-van-burens-constitutional-rights/</link>
		<comments>http://wemeantwell.com/blog/2012/05/16/aclu-state-department-violates-van-burens-constitutional-rights/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 16 May 2012 12:19:01 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>wemeantwell</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Democracy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Other Ideas]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[ACLU]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[blog]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Clinton]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[First Amendment]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Free Speech]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://wemeantwell.com/blog/?p=6493</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[(This article also appeared on the Huffington Post, May 17, 2012) The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), in a letter to the Department of State, said today that the Department&#8217;s actions against my book and this blog are unconstitutional, that State&#8217;s actions &#8220;constitute a violation of Van Buren&#8217;s constitutional rights.&#8221; Straight up, no qualifiers. The [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://wemeantwell.com/blog/2012/05/20/how-it-works/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>2</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>What it All Means: Is America Served Well by Silencing Dissent?</title>
		<link>http://wemeantwell.com/blog/2012/05/15/what-it-all-means-is-america-served-well-by-silencing-dissent/</link>
		<comments>http://wemeantwell.com/blog/2012/05/15/what-it-all-means-is-america-served-well-by-silencing-dissent/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 15 May 2012 12:29:44 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>wemeantwell</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[* Most Popular]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Democracy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Embassy/State]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Iraq]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[blogger]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Diplopundit]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Free Speech]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://wemeantwell.com/blog/?p=5616</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[For those joining our story already in progress, here&#8217;s the Twitter-length summary: I&#8217;ve worked for the State Department as a Foreign Service Office for some 24 years. I spent a year in Iraq, wrote a book critical of the State Department&#8217;s waste and mismanagement in Iraq, blogged about it and now am being fired from [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://wemeantwell.com/blog/2012/05/20/how-it-works/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>2</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Predator Nation</title>
		<link>http://wemeantwell.com/blog/2012/05/14/predator-nation/</link>
		<comments>http://wemeantwell.com/blog/2012/05/14/predator-nation/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 14 May 2012 15:38:20 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>wemeantwell</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Democracy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Military]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[drone]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Engelhardt]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Predator]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[TomDispatch]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://wemeantwell.com/blog/?p=6486</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[From TomDispatch: A devastating account of drone wars as our number one export of the twenty-first century and just how we’ve become a Predator nation, America as a Shining Drone Upon a Hill, On Staring Death in the Face and Not Noticing. It was one of the great self-congratulatory speeches of our era &#8212; Obama [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://wemeantwell.com/blog/2012/05/20/how-it-works/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>2</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Secret Service Prostitution: From Reality to Farce</title>
		<link>http://wemeantwell.com/blog/2012/05/14/secret-service-prostitution-from-reality-to-farce/</link>
		<comments>http://wemeantwell.com/blog/2012/05/14/secret-service-prostitution-from-reality-to-farce/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 14 May 2012 12:09:37 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>wemeantwell</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Embassy/State]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Other Ideas]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Colombia]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Scandel]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Secret Service]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://wemeantwell.com/blog/?p=6370</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[It used to take awhile for an event to morph into farce. I bet when Abraham Lincoln was shot it took weeks before Civil War-era comedians started telling inappropriate assassination jokes. Things just moved slower then. Now of course, with the Internet, reality becomes farce much faster. The Secret Service prostitution scandal from Colombia has [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://wemeantwell.com/blog/2012/05/20/how-it-works/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>2</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Why Peace: Occupying Iraq, State Department-style</title>
		<link>http://wemeantwell.com/blog/2012/05/13/why-peace-occupying-iraq-state-department-style/</link>
		<comments>http://wemeantwell.com/blog/2012/05/13/why-peace-occupying-iraq-state-department-style/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sun, 13 May 2012 12:15:36 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>wemeantwell</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Embassy/State]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Iraq]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Military]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Baghdad]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Guttman]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Why Peace]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://wemeantwell.com/blog/?p=6391</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[I was very happy to contribute an essay, &#8220;Occupying Iraq, State Department-style&#8221; to the new book edited by Marc Guttman, Why Peace. My essay deals with the increasing narrow gap between the actions of the Department of Defense and the Department of State abroad, and the implications for America of a foreign policy devoted only [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://wemeantwell.com/blog/2012/05/20/how-it-works/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>2</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>New Reviews of We Meant Well</title>
		<link>http://wemeantwell.com/blog/2012/05/12/new-reviews-of-we-meant-well/</link>
		<comments>http://wemeantwell.com/blog/2012/05/12/new-reviews-of-we-meant-well/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sat, 12 May 2012 14:05:22 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>wemeantwell</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Embassy/State]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Iraq]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[PRT Life]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Chronciles]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Demokracy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Halberstram]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Review]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://wemeantwell.com/blog/?p=6415</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Two new reviews of We Meant Well you may be interested in. The first is from Demokracy.com. While the book has gathered its share of praise and angst over the core theme of phantasmagorical waste and mismanagement in the State Department-run reconstruction program in Iraq, about half of what I wrote deals with our military. [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://wemeantwell.com/blog/2012/05/20/how-it-works/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>2</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Senate Passes Whistleblower Protection Enhancement Act</title>
		<link>http://wemeantwell.com/blog/2012/05/11/senate-passes-whistleblower-protection-enhancement-act/</link>
		<comments>http://wemeantwell.com/blog/2012/05/11/senate-passes-whistleblower-protection-enhancement-act/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 11 May 2012 12:13:52 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>wemeantwell</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Embassy/State]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Other Ideas]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[POGO]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Whistleblower]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://wemeantwell.com/blog/?p=6452</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[The Project for Government Oversight (POGO) details the Whistleblower Protection Enhancement Act that the Senate passed for the fourth time. It is now up to the House to take a break from worrying about dudes getting married and renaming Post Offices and step up. The bill (S. 743) grants federal workers the protections they need [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://wemeantwell.com/blog/2012/05/20/how-it-works/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>2</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Hillary Goes All Casual Friday Everyday; Bachmann a Well-Dressed Traitor</title>
		<link>http://wemeantwell.com/blog/2012/05/10/hillary-goes-all-casual-friday-everyday-bachmann-a-well-dressed-traitor/</link>
		<comments>http://wemeantwell.com/blog/2012/05/10/hillary-goes-all-casual-friday-everyday-bachmann-a-well-dressed-traitor/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 10 May 2012 12:36:58 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>wemeantwell</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Embassy/State]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Other Ideas]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Bachmann]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Clinton]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Switzerland]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://wemeantwell.com/blog/?p=6439</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Anybody who still is not sure that Hillary Clinton is pretty much done with politics soon should check out her latest photos. Now here&#8217;s a person that pretty much walks the walk and talks the talk that she is way past caring. Check it out, at left. This new spirit of casualness opens the door [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://wemeantwell.com/blog/2012/05/20/how-it-works/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>2</slash:comments>
		</item>
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