Apparently some Yemeni locals got froggy and attempted to storm the U.S. Embassy in Sana'a, Yemen this morning. The usual number of AK rounds got sprayed around and some IEDs, both vehicle-borne and of the Semtex Underoo style, were detonated. According to current reports, the toll was something like ten civilians and somewhere between six and all of the attackers.
Boy, the embassy in Yemen... Who do you have to piss off to get stationed there?
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Who do you have to piss off to get stationed there?
That would be the Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs (PDASS-NEA).
if you are a marine embassy guard, that's half your duty: one shitty station and one good one--usually the shitty one first. maybe these guys will get Paris or London next.
" Boy, the embassy in Yemen... Who do you have to piss off to get stationed there? " I donno but it sounds a bit more interesting than a round of skeet and far more fun than golf .
I suspect the Marines inside the embassy fence are some of the best. May they have nerves of steel and be spared from politicians handicapping them.
Jason,
So, is Yemen supposed to be the good station, or the shitty one?
Tam,
Doesn't Kipling mention this type of thing, sans the AKs and semtex obviously?
Ok, maybe not Yemen per se...
Since the response of every single person I told about my new assignment was "What did YOU do to piss off your boss", I feel qualified to answer.
One of the great things about "bad assignments" is that since no one wants them, no one is angling to get one's place and no one there is trying to prove anything. London or Paris assignments include 60% of one's time spent being fiddled with or having to account to zero defect obsessed superiors.
An attack on the Rome embassy might have found the guards trying desperately to find the Second Secretary, who has the telephone number of the A.S.S. in Washington with authority to release ammunition.
On the bad assignment, there's room to do your best according to your own outlook.
Working in Yemen probably has those three little words we all love to hear-
"No direct supervision".
Spent time there doing Embassy fixes. Yemen was actually a pretty fun place when I was there. Worst thing that could happen to a westerner was to be kidnapped by one of the local tribes that was trying to pressure the local gov to pave a road or some such thing. They were usually feted by the tribe for a few days and then released with gifts and such.
Of course there were the usual AK-47 gunfights over who owned the vacant lot next to the tent, but those were usually settled pretty quickly.
Last time I was there the 8' open wall around the place was now a closed wall 12' high and 24" wide of built of re-enforced concrete.
emdfl
What's the difference between a US Sailor getting busted for a sham green card marriage, and that Lackawanna, NY girl killed in the Yemen US Embassy bombing getting her ARRANGED MARRIAGE husband a visa to live in the US?
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