"Diplomats Will Be Shifted to Hot Spots." Condoleeza Rice, 2006

ranks unless they accept assignments in dangerous posts, gain expertise in at least two regions and are fluent in two foreign languages, citing Chinese, Urdu and Arabic as a few preferred examples."

"Under the plan outlined yesterday, Rice will expand the U.S. presence by encouraging the spread of new one-person diplomatic outposts, now located in a few cities such as Alexandria, Egypt, and Medan, Indonesia. "There are nearly 200 cities worldwide with over 1 million people in which the United States has no formal diplomatic presence," Rice said. "This is where the action is today."

The move is intended to bring U.S. diplomats -- now often barricaded in fortified embassies -- closer to the mood in the streets."

The entire 2006 Washington Post article at the link below. Anyone who thinks the same White House administration that left Saddam Hussein's military weapon storage depots completely unguarded around Iraq until terrorists finally poured into US-held Iraq and "liberated" them also took the care we would want them to of our brave foreign service officers is delusional.

Not saying Rice's embassy restructuring back then was wrong, not saying Congress's cutting spending by refusing to fund adequate protection is okay. Just saying...  A dem