The Foreign Service Journal, June 2006

Strength of Character Two letters in the April FSJ lead me to violate my rule against publicly commenting on Foreign Service issues. Mary Lee Garrison’s comment that “It is past time for the depart- ment’s Freedom of Information Act managers to give their troops clear instructions that drafting and clearing information should always be redact- ed from documents released to the public,” is on the mark. I am, in fact, appalled to learn that this is apparent- ly not now the case. It is so obviously a necessary protection against irresponsible — and often politically motivated — attempts to smear FSOs simply because their names appear on a document that someone finds offensive, that it should have been in place years ago. The second letter, a long explana- tion of why Peggy Zabriskie has decid- ed to resign from the Foreign Service, is equally noteworthy. While I dis- agree with virtually every reason Ms. Zabriskie lists as responsible for her decision to resign, I greatly admire her courage and intellectual honesty. She has taken a step that, after so many years in the Foreign Service, must have been painful in the extreme. I applaud her strength of character, and regret that the Foreign Service is losing someone who clearly was, and would have remained, a truly valuable member of the Service. Lawrence S. Eagleburger Former Secretary of State Charlottesville, Va. Iraq Is Our Priority Unfortunately, I did not see the Iraq service survey that was refer- enced in the March FSJ , but I would support directed assignments — and not just for Baghdad, but for any hard-to-fill posts. Iraq probably will not be the last wartorn country where we are required to serve, so a policy needs to be put in place now. Many of the survey responses focused on Iraq service “not being what I signed up for,” “too hard on my family,” etc. What saddens me is that when I joined the Foreign Service in 1986, it was to serve my country. I took the oath and the worldwide avail- ability requirement seriously. With the exception of my current post, all of my overseas assignments have been at 15-percent differential or above. What I often see now is officers look- ing for a chance to serve at a few interesting places; and what I hear is that if they don’t get the post of choice or their spouse does not get a job, they’ll just quit and move on to some- thing else. There is not the commit- ment to service that I saw in the past. I totally agree that if we do go to directed assignments, everyone has to be treated the same, starting with fair- share bidders. I don’t consider 5-per- cent posts a hardship; fair share should be based on having served at 15-percent posts or above. Anyone who has not served at one of these posts should be directed to Baghdad or any of the other tough spots. Then work down to those who have already done a 15-percent post. Yes, that will cause hardships for our families, but this is a consideration that should be made before joining the Foreign Service and having the U.S. govern- ment invest so much in our training. Being married to a (now) retired Marine, I am well aware of the sacri- fices that military families make. Worldwide availability should be just that. Another gripe I saw in the March issue was that people disagree with the policy in Iraq. Having served under several presidents and Secre- taries of State, I can attest that policy changes often. None of us always agree with all of the policies, but part of our job is to publicly support the incumbent’s decisions, even if we dis- agree privately. Right now, Iraq is our priority and we are failing in our efforts to support the administration. I think it is imperative that we be there to assist the Iraqis’ struggle to become an independent democracy. I hope that the department will have the courage to do what it takes to have officers, all officers, pull their weight and serve wherever they are needed. Gayle C. Hamilton FSO Guadalajara Keep Development Independent In her recent announcements, Secretary Rice coined the “transfor- mational diplomacy” concept. At the same time, she laid out plans both for broader representation of Foreign Service officers and integration of for- eign assistance, to include both devel- L ETTERS 6 F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L / J U N E 2 0 0 6