F said:

“Having been assigned to 9 different embassies over the 27-year course of a US diplomatic career, I’ll have to take exception to your example of the US Marines in embassies. They are not there to fight the locals,. . . They’re there to hold the defensive lines at the front door while the rest of us burn our secrets.”

Twenty-seven years with State and F thinks “hold[ing] defensive lines at the front door” will not involve “fighting the locals.”

That’s State for you.