31 October 2007

Don't We Have Contractors for This?

The BBC reports that U.S. diplomats are in danger of being effectively conscripted to serve in Iraq. Apparently, they can only get out of it if they can prove medical or personal hardship, and lacking that, they might lose their jobs if they refuse to go. Sounds like another vote of confidence in our mission, but I bet some entrepreneur's ears pricked up at this news. If you're going to privatize everything, why not diplomacy? You're not going to want Blackwater for this kind of work ... but then again, given the Bushite idea of diplomacy, those guys might have ideal qualifications. I could see them being sent to Iran as an *ahem* negotiating team within the next year or so, and from there to North Korea, Syria, Venezuela, wherever the demand exists.

Another option, of course, would be undocumented immigrants. Here, apparently, are jobs that Americans (at least a few hundred) are unwilling to do. Here, also, is a line of work that some describe as a death sentence. Even Lou Dobbs could not object to giving people with at least some international expertise an opportunity to serve their adopted country, especially as long as they do so far away. Better yet, if things really fall apart, they can be depended on to escape across the border without expensive military assistance. It seems to me that everybody benefits, except perhaps for the Iraqis, but when have their interests counted for anything?

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Heheheh. Brilliantly summarized.