Recent Comments

• SDrew said...

  1

  I enjoyed your pithy article on State Dept in Iraq, and agree with most of it. But, why – as an FSO yourself – did you mock others in your organization by called them bow-tied and seersuckered – which you know is not true. The policy may be misguided, and the Dept could be more critical of its new and probably disastrous role there. But they are not pansies, and shouldn’t be portrayed as such. Regards, SDrew

  06/9/11 9:19 PM | Comment Link

• Administrator said...

  2

  First of all, I think State should get a sense of humor and chill a bit about public criticism. Second, my boss in Iraq often wore bow ties and occasionally seersucker. I saw it on other gents as well, a minority for certain, but a minority that was indicative of a larger group that was oblivious to the realities of Iraq. In the eyes of the military, and the Iraqis whose hearts and minds we were after, people dressed like that in a war zone looked stupid and did not get much respect. If those FSOs got out of the Green Zone, they would realize they could not dress like that, and might also realize some other things about Iraq that would inform their actions. Instead, State spends its time trying to quiet voices who speak out. That, in my opinion, is who the pansies are.

  06/9/11 9:27 PM | Comment Link