State Department Republican Underground

The Diplomad is a blog run anonymously by some subversive conservatives in the State Department, where (in the words of the bloggers) "being a Republican can be bad for your career -- even with a Republican President!"

These folks have been having a field day with the way the United Nations has been 'handling' the tsunami crisis. For example:

Well, dear friends, we're now into the tenth day of the tsunami crisis and in this battered corner of Asia, the UN is nowhere to be seen -- unless you count at meetings, in five-star hotels, and holding press conferences.

Aussies and Yanks continue to carry the overwhelming bulk of the burden, but some other fine folks also have jumped in: e.g., the New Zealanders have provided C-130 lift and an excellent and much-needed potable water distribution system; the Singaporeans have provided great helo support; the Indians have a hospital ship taking position off Sumatra. Spain and Netherlands have sent aircraft with supplies.

The UN continues to send its best product, bureaucrats. Just today the city's Embassies got a letter from the local UN representative requesting a meeting for "Ms. Margareeta Wahlstrom, United Nations Deputy Emergency Relief Coordinator and the Secretary-General's Special Coordinator for Humanitarian Assistance in Tsunami-afected countries." Wow! Put that on a business card! And she must be really, really special because she has the word "coordinator" twice in her title!

The Diplomad gives us a most undiplomatic peek into the absurd, tangled mess that is the State Department (as well as its sister foreign-service bureaucracies around the world). Looks like a worthwhile read for a perspective that you won't find anywhere in the MSM.