US diplomats critical of Bush Iraq policy-survey

When your own diplomats do not support what is being done, a government must be concerned. Well, that is what the Bush Administration faces from diplomats who are not political appointments are saying, as Reuters reports:

"Nearly half of U.S. diplomats who do not want to serve in Iraq say a key reason is because they do not support the Bush administration's policies there, according to a union survey released on Tuesday.

The survey by the American Foreign Service Association, which represents the rank-and-file diplomatic corps, not political appointees, also found that most U.S. diplomats were frustrated by what they saw as a lack of resources. Four out of 10 think Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is doing a bad job supporting them.

The survey canvassed the opinions of 4,311 foreign service members out of a total of about 11,500. It was unclear how representative the survey was but it indicated what many diplomats say is growing discontent among the rank and file.

The Iraq war has strained the U.S. diplomatic corps and become unpopular among Americans in general. In the survey, 48 percent of the diplomats surveyed who said they would not volunteer to go to Iraq cited opposition to U.S. policy on Iraq."

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Mahler's Prodigal Son

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