BEIJING, Nov. 2 -- Faced with the largest diplomatic call-up since Vietnam, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is trying to put down an uprising among U.S. diplomats angry about an attempt to force foreign service officers to work in Iraq or face dismissal.

       Rice plans to send a cable to all U.S. embassies and missions abroad explaining the decision following a confrontational town hall meeting on Wednesday where livid diplomats voiced deep concern about the "potential death sentence" of being ordered to work in Iraq, the State Department said.

       "The secretary is going to send out a cable worldwide to people talking about this decision as well as encouraging people to serve in Iraq," spokesman Sean McCormack told reporters, saying the message would be distributed Thursday.

       He stressed the cable was not a "direct response" to Wednesday's unusually hostile session, but that "it speaks to some of the concerns that were aired in that town hall meeting."

       Rice, who did not attend the meeting, was also making clear in the cable that foreign service officers have an obligation to uphold the oaths they took to carry out the policies of the government and be available to serve anywhere in the world, McCormack said.

       Despite the resistance to mandatory Iraq duty displayed at the meeting, McCormack noted that since 2002, more than 1,500 U.S. diplomats have served at the Baghdad embassy and in Provincial Reconstruction Teams in outlying areas and that 94 percent of the positions there are currently filled.

       White House press secretary Dana Perino told reporters that President Bush understood the diplomats’ concerns but believed that both Rice and the foreign service would be able to handle the challenge in Iraq.

       "The president understands that at a time of war it is distressing for some individuals to serve in those areas," she said. "The president is concerned, but he also has confidence that Secretary Rice will handle this matter in a way that is caring for the people at the foreign service, but also ensures that the mission that the United States is on is supplemented by the foreign service officers who took an oath in order to serve their country."