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November 06, 2007

Sack Jack Croddy; Send Jeff Gannon

Fire a coward; hire a patriot

A recent “town hall” meeting called to allow foreign service employees an opportunity to discuss so-called “forced” assignments to the embassy in Iraq confirmed what I long suspected about the State Department. Jack Croddy, an undistinguished career officer opposed to the “must fill” order for postings to Baghdad whined, “It's one thing if someone believes in what is going on over there and volunteers. I am sorry, but, basically, that is a potential death sentence, and you know it.”

He continued to wail, “And then another thought—who will take care of our children? Who will raise our children if we are dead or seriously wounded?”

Croddy’s stunning display of cowardice, disloyalty and selfishness revealed the weakest link in American foreign policy. When Democrats rail about a “failure of diplomacy” in Iraq, they errantly point to the White House instead of their fellow travelers among the striped-pants crowd.

Democrats all agree that the war in Iraq cannot be won militarily. The McGovernites and their spawn from MoveOn.org, Code Pink and DailyKos have already declared defeat. A few Democrats with a smattering of testosterone like Hillary Clinton and Joe Biden give themselves some cover in the event of “accidental victory” by adding that the conflict must be settled politically and diplomatically.

The men and women of America’s brave, loyal and selfless military have already won on the battlefield. Al Qaeda is on the run and the insurgency has ebbed. Security is growing in Iraq from the bottom up as the citizenry chooses self-determination over terror and tyranny. All that remains is for their elected officials to decide how oil profits will be divided. The role of the State Department is to facilitate the political process that will bring about reconciliation. The reason this has not yet happened is evident. If the Croddys of the Foreign Service do not believe in the mission, how are they going to convince the Iraqis to buy into the program?

For those who might choose to believe that Croddy is a rogue element that doesn’t reflect the attitude of most of the careerists and appointees at the State Department, I point to some recent alumni:

Ambassador Joe Wilson, the liar and provocateur who opposed Bush administration policy yet accepted a mission on behalf of his wife’s employer to find evidence that might justify it. Wilson returned to give a report so useless that his CIA debriefers did not even bother to ask for it in writing.

Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage, another opponent of the invasion of Iraq, who gossiped about Joe Wilson’s CIA analyst wife Valerie Plame being responsible for getting him the assignment to Niger. When conservative columnist Robert Novak published the allegedly classified information, Armitage refused to come forward to confess being the source of the “leak.”

Former Secretary of State Colin Powell’s chief of staff Lawrence Wilkerson, who complained that the White House “hijacked” foreign policy. Wilkerson’s arrogant claim demonstrated his failure to understand that the White House makes foreign policy and the State Department’s job is to implement it.

Anne Wright, who waited at the State Department long enough to qualify for a pension before dramatically resigning in protest and later joined Cindy Sheehan in ditch outside President Bush’s ranch. Wright now stages demonstration as a member of the radical pro-terrorist group Code Pink, well known for disrupting Capitol Hill hearings. One of its members recently threatened Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice with “bloody” hands prior to her testimony before the House Foreign Relations committee.

Many Americans are understandably sickened by Croddy’s remarks. The men and women who risk their lives every day in Iraq might have the same concerns about their family but they do their duty anyway. It is clear that Croddy does not believe in the mission and is therefore unwilling to serve. His outspokenness against the policies he is bound to implement makes him unfit to serve.

Republican Congressman and presidential candidate Duncan Hunter suggested that State Department personnel who refuse deployment to Baghdad be replaced with wounded veterans at Walter Reed and Bethesda hospitals. He said, “Let’s replace these reluctant Nellies with America’s finest citizens…Our wounded warriors will serve our country efficiently, effectively and with undying patriotism.”

While I would not put myself in the same class as those who have already sacrificed for the mission in Iraq, I would be proud to serve my country and the cause of liberty to help democracy take root in the Middle East. To that end I have sent a letter to Sec. Rice making this simple offer: “Sack Jack Croddy and send Jeff Gannon; fire a coward and hire a patriot.”

Posted by jeffgannon at November 6, 2007 09:46 AM

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