The State Department announced Monday that it had filled its vacancies at the Iraq Embassy, so, ugh, *fine*, there'll be no mandatory service -- for now. This comes in the wake of massive bitching from members of our prestigious diplomatic corps, who were worried they'd be forced to serve somewhere that could actually use them.
State Department spokesman Sean McCormack noted yesterday that the vacancies were filled by volunteers. Whosawhatsit now?? Because, um, didn't you guys lack volunteers by the hundreds last month? Like it was so bad that you were compelled to force waves of diplomatic officers to a war zone for the first time since Vietnam? McCormack answers the obvious conclusion with a negative, however: "We in no way lowered the standards in order to get these volunteers."
Expect to see Ben Johnson fly to Baghdad with beef jerky, toiletries and peace by the new year.
