Marching Orders

(Fox News) - A career diplomat working in Iraq is firing back at State Department colleagues who raised a furor last week at the prospect of being ordered to serve in the war zone.

John Matel leads a provincial reconstruction team in Anbar province.

He writes on DipNote — the State Department's official blog — "All of us volunteered for this kind of work and we have enjoyed a pretty sweet lifestyle most of our careers. This sound and fury at Foggy Bottom truly signifies nothing. Get over it! I do not think many Americans feel sorry for us and it is embarrassing for people with our privileges to paint ourselves as victims."

Matel says one colleague's assertion that an assignment to Iraq was "a death sentence" is — in his words — "way over the top."