NYT story about how the military wants other gummint departments (i.e. State) to pick up the slack on work in Iraq that the military is just not suited for: " like engineers, lawyers, veterinarians and accountants" etc.
The entire Foreign Service, besides being short on veterinarians I am gonna guess, constitutes 6000 people, all of whom currently have, like, jobs they're doing. But the real problem is....well...I know you'll be shocked and think I'm making this up, but they say:
State Department officials say they are using both incentives and subtler pressures to induce employees to go to Iraq.
But from the standpoint of personal security, taking those jobs — many of them, by definition, outside the relative safety of the Green Zone — is widely seen as an unattractive career option.
Shakes head in sorrow and disappointment. I'd go read the second page of the story but I keep collapsing in laughter at this line and my mouse-clicking coordination goes all to hell.
Hey, maybe Halliburton has an engineering--and veterinary!--division. I'm pretty sure they have lawers on staff too but I think they may be just a leeetle bit busy at the moment. Heh.
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I don’t get it. You give
I don't get it. You give it a couple of months and Baghdad is almost certainly going to be safe and stable outside the green zone. Certainly, people at State don't doubt Rice, do they? That can't be much of a career mover.
Besides, I bet you can live like an effing generalissimo on the established per diem rates for civilians for Iraq from the DoD Per Diem, Travel and Transportation Allownce Committee:
4/ The per diem rates listed for Iraq in the main body of this supplement apply to travelers obtaining lodging on USG civilian compounds or residing with the US military in Iraq. The maximum per diem rates that apply to travelers using local hotels and/or restaurants are: Baghdad: Lodging $100, M&IE $54; Other, Iraq: Lodging $73, M&IE $48.
It's a lot higher than the rates for Antarctica. And if it is a little rough at first, guns are, I understand, very cheap over there.