Which Hellhole Should I Volunteer For?

[DinoDoc]

Americans are wildly looked up to as they assisted in stopping the ethnic cleansing.

Stopping it or letting the Albanian population cleanse the Serbs themselves instead of vice versa?

[Dinner]

Originally posted by Bosh
Try Iraq, I hear its pretty s****y inside the Green Zone

Naw, the Green Zone isn't half bad.

[Guynemer]

Kosovo or Lebanon.

In no way on God's green Earth would I ever, ever, EVER consider Haiti. EVER.

[DinoDoc]

Originally posted by Guynemer
Kosovo or Lebanon.

In no way on God's green Earth would I ever, ever, EVER consider Haiti. EVER.

Afraid of Voodoo?

[Guynemer]

Not exactly.

[Kuciwalker]

Guy hates black people, duh.

[Dinner]

In Africa Ethiopia would be a killer assignment. History, archiology, friendly population, and good food. I admite that the only cuisines in Africa I am familiar with (excluding South African which I expect is similiar to British/American food) is Arabic and Ethiopian. Ethiopian food is awesome; very unlike western food but still very pleasant.

[Guynemer]

Originally posted by Kuciwalker
Guy hates black people, duh.

****ing darkies. [/Cali]

[Dinner]

Originally posted by VetLegion
Kosovo is perhaps safe (I have no idea)

It is. Though a single young man has to look out because the fathers are all hot to marry their nubile young daughters off to rich foreigners. I sware I got four firm serious marriage offers while there.

[Dinner]

Originally posted by DinoDoc
Would you be in the Green Zone in Iraq or someplace equally defended? I'd probably consider that then. It'd probably be a good career boost.

Mostly the state deparment weenies had their own buildings on the US military bases.

[Pekka]

Oerdin, tell me something... if a country is poor, say 3rd world rate. Why is it, that they can't shoot straight? Also, is there a connection with them being poor and not able to fight very well?

I mean, to aim and have the skill of proper shooting shouldn't have much to do with money. Before you try to suggest that they have mostly AKs, well, AKs are pretty accurate, you just need to know how to shoot, so I won't accept that as an answer.

Why can't poor people shoot? I'd think they'd be good at it, since it's like a power tool for them, so yeah, I'll be the best at this thing, maybe it gets me somewhere, thsi whole shooting accurately to kill thing.

Also, it seems to me that most of these poor places have 'armies' and even small groups, who just can't be organized enough to get in a line to get food even. It's like they all suffer from ADHD and strong sense of the illogical behaviour when it comes to fighting.

Also, what is the tendency to shoot crazy? I'm yet to see controlled single shots, or short bursts, from any of these soldiers and or rebels who can't afford a uniform.

[Dinner]

Originally posted by Elok
If it's about building a career for the future, shouldn't that be all the more reason to avoid having his name associated in any way with Iraq or Afghanistan (or any other such predestinate failure)? I'm sure Rufus knows better than I do what the odds are of service in such areas counting for rather than against him, but you'd think that, in years to come, people involved in our Muslim-taming expeditions are more likely to be seen as an embarrassing reminder of a shameful era than as gutsy folk who volunteered for tough duty. Like a civilian Vietnam veteran.

This is leaving out the whole likelihood-of-embassy-bombings factor, which everyone else seems to be ignoring...I doubt any Green Zone will protect him. There's no wall too high for a mortar round to go over, and they've got a lot of mortar rounds over there, I hear.

Meh, mortar rounds aren't that big a deal. I got mortared half the nights for 9-10 months and nothing bad happened. Also I suspect the State Department most highly values suckers who will volunteer for the worst assignments at the drop of a hat so an Iraq or Afghanistan assignment would likely be looked upon very favorably.

[DaShi]

Re: Any African country with a Chinese presence is starting to look

Originally posted by PuddlewatchHQ
like an interesting place to be. I assume the Chinese government will have a very long term presence in most of those countries. In terms of export markets certainly China would benefit from but perhaps for general trade some day. Though maybe that presence will only last till needed natural resources are depleted. But it looks like things might finally be looking up for some countries there.

Except that the Chinese are only interested in making money out of those countries. There's a lot of complaints that they are just the next Europeans. However, the strong anti-Chinese sentiment building there may make you look better. People are weird like that.

[Dinner]

Originally posted by Pekka
Oerdin, tell me something... if a country is poor, say 3rd world rate. Why is it, that they can't shoot straight?

I suspect it has a lot to do with training. Rich countries can afford to train professional full time armies while poor countries just grab which ever peasant they can get and then put a gun in his hand.

[DanS]

I would consider Iraq or Afghanistan, if there was a career boost attached. I'm guessing that hazard duty would be looked upon favorably, no matter the ultimate outcome in either place or the changing political winds.

Of course, your wife is a special consideration. But I bet she knew what she was getting into when she married a diplomat, if she's not a diplomat herself.

Good luck!