State's Bureau of Diplomatic Security not only handles security for embassies and other civilian outposts around the globe but also protects foreign officials visiting the United States. With only 1,600 highly trained special agents in the bureau, the Iraq mandate has severely stretched the service. "You'd need the entire [Diplomatic Security] workforce just to do Iraq," a senior State Department official said, "leaving nothing for Afghanistan, nothing for anywhere else in the world."
U.S. Moves to Replace Contractors in Iraq
Blackwater Losing Security Role; Other Jobs Being Converted to Public Sector
Karen DeYoung │Washington Post
Tuesday, March 17, 2009; Page A07
