>Subject: Fw: U.S. diplomat's letter of resignation
>
>
> >
> > EDITOR'S NOTE: What follows is a letter of resignation
> > written by John Brady Kiesling, a member of Bush's
> > Foreign Service Corps and Political Counselor to the
> > American embassy in Greece. Kiesling has been a
> > diplomat for twenty years, a civil servant to four
> > Presidents. The letter below, delivered to Secretary
> > of State Colin Powell, is quite possibly the most
> > eloquent statement of dissent thus far put forth
> > regarding the issue of Iraq. The New York Times story
> > which reports on this remarkable event can be found
> > after Kiesling's letter.
> >
> > U.S. Diplomat John Brady Kiesling
> > Letter of Resignation, to:
> > Secretary of State Colin L. Powell
> >
> > ATHENS | Thursday 27 February 2003
> >
> > Dear Mr. Secretary:
> >
> > I am writing you to submit my resignation from
> > the Foreign Service of the United States and from my
> > position as Political Counselor in U.S. Embassy
> > Athens, effective March 7. I do so with a heavy heart.
> > The baggage of my upbringing included a felt
> > obligation to give something back to my country.
> > Service as a U.S. diplomat was a dream job. I was paid
> > to understand foreign languages and cultures, to seek
> > out diplomats, politicians, scholars and journalists,
> > and to persuade them that U.S. interests and theirs
> > fundamentally coincided. My faith in my country and
> > its values was the most powerful weapon in my
> > diplomatic arsenal.
> >
> > It is inevitable that during twenty years with
> > the State Department I would become more sophisticated
> > and cynical about the narrow and selfish bureaucratic
> > motives that sometimes shaped our policies. Human
> > nature is what it is, and I was rewarded and promoted
> > for understanding human nature. But until this
> > Administration it had been possible to believe that by
> > upholding the policies of my president I was also
> > upholding the interests of the American people and the
> > world. I believe it no longer.
> >
> > The policies we are now asked to advance are
> > incompatible not only with American values but also
> > with American interests. Our fervent pursuit of war
> > with Iraq is driving us to squander the international
> > legitimacy that has been America's most potent weapon
> > of both offense and defense since the days of Woodrow
> > Wilson. We have begun to dismantle the largest and
> > most effective web of international relationships the
> > world has ever known. Our current course will bring
> > instability and danger, not security.
> >
> > The sacrifice of global interests to domestic
> > politics and to bureaucratic self-interest is nothing
> > new, and it is certainly not a uniquely American
> > problem. Still, we have not seen such systematic
> > distortion of intelligence, such systematic
> > manipulation of American opinion, since the war in
> > Vietnam. The September 11 tragedy left us stronger
> > than before, rallying around us a vast international
> > coalition to cooperate for the first time in a
> > systematic way against the threat of terrorism. But
> > rather than take credit for those successes and build
> > on them, this Administration has chosen to make
> > terrorism a domestic political tool, enlisting a
> > scattered and largely defeated Al Qaeda as its
> > bureaucratic ally. We spread disproportionate terror
> > and confusion in the public mind, arbitrarily linking
> > the unrelated problems of terrorism and Iraq. The
> > result, and perhaps the motive, is to justify a vast
> > misallocation of shrinking public wealth to the
> > military and to weaken the safeguards that protect
> > American citizens from the heavy hand of government.
> > September 11 did not do as much damage to the fabric
> > of American society as we seem determined to so to
> > ourselves. Is the Russia of the late Romanovs really
> > our model, a selfish, superstitious empire thrashing
> > toward self-destruction in the name of a doomed status
> > quo?
> >
> > We should ask ourselves why we have failed to
> > persuade more of the world that a war with Iraq is
> > necessary. We have over the past two years done too
> > much to assert to our world partners that narrow and
> > mercenary U.S. interests override the cherished values
> > of our partners. Even where our aims were not in
> > question, our consistency is at issue. The model of
> > Afghanistan is little comfort to allies wondering on
> > what basis we plan to rebuild the Middle East, and in
> > whose image and interests. Have we indeed become
> > blind, as Russia is blind in Chechnya, as Israel is
> > blind in the Occupied Territories, to our own advice,
> > that overwhelming military power is not the answer to
> > terrorism? After the shambles of post-war Iraq joins
> > the shambles in Grozny and Ramallah, it will be a
> > brave foreigner who forms ranks with Micronesia to
> > follow where we lead.
> >
> > We have a coalition still, a good one. The
> > loyalty of many of our friends is impressive, a
> > tribute to American moral capital built up over a
> > century. But our closest allies are persuaded less
> > that war is justified than that it would be perilous
> > to allow the U.S. to drift into complete solipsism.
> > Loyalty should be reciprocal. Why does our President
> > condone the swaggering and contemptuous approach to
> > our friends and allies this Administration is
> > fostering, including among its most senior officials.
> > Has "oderint dum metuant" really become our motto?
> >
> > I urge you to listen to America's friends around
> > the world. Even here in Greece, purported hotbed of
> > European anti-Americanism, we have more and closer
> > friends than the American newspaper reader can
> > possibly imagine. Even when they complain about
> > American arrogance, Greeks know that the world is a
> > difficult and dangerous place, and they want a strong
> > international system, with the U.S. and EU in close
> > partnership. When our friends are afraid of us rather
> > than for us, it is time to worry. And now they are
> > afraid. Who will tell them convincingly that the
> > United States is as it was, a beacon of liberty,
> > security, and justice for the planet?
> >
> > Mr. Secretary, I have enormous respect for your
> > character and ability. You have preserved more
> > international credibility for us than our policy
> > deserves, and salvaged something positive from the
> > excesses of an ideological and self-serving
> > Administration. But your loyalty to the President goes
> > too far. We are straining beyond its limits an
> > international system we built with such toil and
> > treasure, a web of laws, treaties, organizations, and
> > shared values that sets limits on our foes far more
> > effectively than it ever constrained America's ability
> > to defend its interests.
> >
> > I am resigning because I have tried and failed to
> > reconcile my conscience with my ability to represent
> > the current U.S. Administration. I have confidence
> > that our democratic process is ultimately
> > self-correcting, and hope that in a small way I can
> > contribute from outside to shaping policies that
> > better serve the security and prosperity of the
> > American people and the world we share.
> >
> >
> >
> > John Brady Kiesling
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