DON'T FORCE STATE DEPARTMENT EMPLOYEES TO GO TO IRAQ

The State Department professionals who object being assigned to the embassy in Baghdad are putting the lie to the Bush/Petraeus spin that things are going swimmingly in Iraq. As one employee said, assignment to Iraq is like a death sentence.

Ambassador Ryan Crocker says it is the duty of State Department foreign service employees to put the nation's interest over their own personal safety. This sounds nice to say, but let's not forget, Ryan Crocker, qua ambassador, is accompanied wherever he goes by those Blackwater thugs. And he probably sleeps in a triply fortified bedroom in the embassy. Whereas the ordinary foreign service chump is subject to mortars and suicide bombers at every turn.

If the State Department insists on forcing unwilling employees to Iraq, then Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice should also do a turn of duty there. No trips alllowed back to the U.S. or to destinations outside Iraq for at least the first six months.

HYPOCRISY OF PAUL WOLFOWITZ AT THE WORLD BANK

Here's Paul Wolfowitz, former neo-con-in-chief and chief engine for the war in Iraq, pushing for the World Bank to punish countries by denying World Bank aid where he suspected corruption. This is the very same Paul Wolfowitz who set up his girl friend in the State Department at a salary and benefits higher than that of Condoleeza Rice. This case should set the defining standards for hypocrisy. The American diplomat punishes poor African nations on the verge of starvation with cessation of World Bank aid, but helps his girl friend obtain a cushy deal from the State Department by using his political insider clout.