State Department Offers New Perk to Lure U.S. Diplomats to Iraq

[Barrett808]

Source: Bloomberg

State Department Offers New Perk to Lure U.S. Diplomats to Iraq
Mark Drajem
Wed Aug 29, 3:39 PM ET

Aug. 29 (Bloomberg) -- The State Department is offering U.S. diplomats the chance to lock in a three-year tour in a coveted capital such as Rome or Paris if they will first sign up for a year in far-flung outposts in war-torn Iraq.

The new incentive, advertised in an internal cable last month, is the latest in a series of bonuses, extra vacation and career perks used to lure foreign-service officers to serve in the country. Even with those rewards, the demand for staff in Iraq is overtaxing resources, analysts say.

``Iraq is putting a strain on our foreign service, and on American foreign policy more generally,'' said Casimir Yost, director of the Institute for the Study of Diplomacy at Georgetown University in Washington. ``This is a tough period in the State Department.''

The Bush administration is building its largest overseas embassy complex on 104 acres in Baghdad, and about 200 people -- one of its biggest diplomatic contingents -- now serve there, most of them confined within the protected ``Green Zone.''

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/bloomberg/20070829/pl_bloomberg/aooxk_rr3xq

[Olney Blue]

1. And a free turkey at Thanksgiving!

[Xipe Totec]

2. Which one?

That could be a deal breaker.

[Olney Blue]

3. LOL. Separated at birth?