The War on Diplomacy

Dutch lawmakers offended by US lawmaker - 27 Oct 2007 at 11:54am - WASHINGTON -- Dutch lawmakers who recently visited the Guantanamo Bay military prison said they were offended by a testy exchange in Washington with a senior congressional Democrat. The lawmakers said that Rep. Tom Lantos, D-Calif., chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, told them that "Europe was not as outraged by Auschwitz as by Guantanamo Bay."... Before the Guantanamo exchange, the lawmakers had discussed a debate in the Netherlands about whether the country should maintain its 1,600 troops serving in NATO's Afghanistan operations. "You have to help us, because if it was not for us you would now be a province of Nazi Germany," Lantos said, according to the Dutch lawmakers. "The comments killed the debate," said Harry van Bommel, a member of the Socialist Party. "It was insulting and counterproductive."

Turk-Iraq Conflict Could End With PKK Ceasefire - 27 Oct 2007 at 11:36am - Turkey has massed as many as 100,000 troops along Iraq's northern border, preparing for ground action against the Kurdish Workers Party, or PKK. Avoiding conflict would require the PKK to issue an unconditional ceasefire, which would calm the rhetoric.

US to order diplomats to serve in Iraq - 27 Oct 2007 at 11:31am - WASHINGTON -- In the largest call-up of U.S. diplomats since the Vietnam War, the State Department is planning to order some of its personnel to serve at the American Embassy in Iraq because of a lack of volunteers.

Who exactly did they expect to volunteer for a job like that?