ivehadit Posted March 7 Report Share Posted March 7 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. - wrp Go to Original t r u t h o u t | 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 Go to Original U.S. Diplomat Resigns, Protesting 'Our Fervent Pursuit of War' By Felicity Barringer New York Times Thursday 27 February 2003 UNITED NATIONS ¯ A career diplomat who has served in United States embassies from Tel Aviv to Casablanca to Yerevan resigned this week in protest against the country's policies on Iraq. The diplomat, John Brady Kiesling, the political counselor at the United States Embassy in Athens, said in his resignation letter, "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." Mr. Kiesling, 45, who has been a diplomat for about 20 years, said in a telephone interview tonight that he faxed the letter to Secretary of State Colin L, Powell on Monday after informing Thomas Miller, the ambassador in Athens, of his decision. He said he had acted alone, but "I've been comforted by the expressions of support I've gotten afterward" from colleagues. "No one has any illusions that the policy will be changed," he said. "Too much has been invested in the war." Louis Fintor, a State Department spokesman, said he had no information on Mr. Kiesling's decision and it was department policy not to comment on personnel matters. In his letter, a copy of which was provided to The New York Times by a friend of Mr. Kiesling's, the diplomat wrote Mr. Powell: "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." His letter continued: "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." It is rare but not unheard-of for a diplomat, immersed in the State Department's culture of public support for policy, regardless of private feelings, to resign with this kind of public blast. From 1992 to 1994, five State Department officials quit out of frustration with the Clinton administration's Balkans policy. Asked if his views were widely shared among his diplomatic colleagues, Mr. Kiesling said: "No one of my colleagues is comfortable with our policy. Everyone is moving ahead with it as good and loyal. The State Department is loaded with people who want to play the team game ¯ we have a very strong premium on loyalty." (In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes.) © Copyright 2002 by TruthOut.orgI H I Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
georgym Posted March 7 Report Share Posted March 7 nice letter, but:A) there's no need to be obnoxious Dialectics graced us with this a week ago, so you're 1) slow , and 2) dumb Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tunnelbandit Posted March 7 Report Share Posted March 7 I didn't read that... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ghhhhhost Posted March 7 Report Share Posted March 7 on the other hand i a) respect him for posting it agree with his thread titlec) could read this over and over and over... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
djqwest Posted March 7 Report Share Posted March 7 this shits boring.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crackorn Posted March 7 Report Share Posted March 7 1. Who are you?2. Who cares? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maximman Posted March 7 Report Share Posted March 7 Originally posted by Crackorn 1. Who are you?2. Who cares? 1. What does it matter who he is? It shouldn't take away from the message.2. It's not exactly YOUR PSA now is it? You just copy and pasted something. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crackorn Posted March 7 Report Share Posted March 7 Oh, it takes away from the message BIG TIME. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maximman Posted March 7 Report Share Posted March 7 Originally posted by Crackorn Oh, it takes away from the message BIG TIME. Please read my 2nd point. He didn't state anything. He just copy and pasted a direct source, followed by an article from a VERY well respected publication. So, what does it matter who he is? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cubbie78 Posted March 7 Report Share Posted March 7 Great for Kiesling...although this resignation is such garbage. If you want to resign because you don't agree with the policy, that fine. But don't hide behind the american public. Where was his resignation during the Kosovo? The american majority did not want their boys to die fighting in the Balkans. But he didn't resign then because he agreed with the actions. Our government leaders should not be swayed by public opinion considering 50% of american's can't even pick out their state on a map, let alone the less than 20 percent that know their state senators. The best leader, would put the public's best interest above all. Kiesling is a coward for hiding behind the public opinion, not stating the truth which is that he does not agree with the current foreign policy.I'm not saying that I agree with the policy either. In fact I think Iraq is a bad idea right now. All I am saying is that I try to stay as up-to-date as possible, however I know that all the information I receive is through politically influenced mediums. (TV, newspaper...etc.) I just hope that our leaders are making the best decisions possible with the information they have (that we might not) and that they get our boys back home safely as soon as possible. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ivehadit Posted March 7 Author Report Share Posted March 7 Originally posted by gmccookny nice letter, but:A) there's no need to be obnoxious Dialectics graced us with this a week ago, so you're 1) slow , and 2) dumb a--there's every need in the world.b--i dont read the boad every minute of every day so 1) I didn't know 2) dont give a fuck 3) stfu 4) i shit out more intelligent crap than the whole of a grown man likening himself to a smurf.to Crackornplease stfu already. those two lines are tired as hell. stay ignorant, my man.to ghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhost and maximman: thank youand to cubbie - good pointI H I Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
georgym Posted March 7 Report Share Posted March 7 Originally posted by ivehadit a--there's every need in the world.b--i dont read the boad every minute of every day so 1) I didn't know 2) dont give a fuck 3) stfu 4) i shit out more intelligent crap than the whole of a grown man likening himself to a smurf.to Crackornplease stfu already. those two lines are tired as hell. stay ignorant, my man.to ghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhost and maximman: thank youand to cubbie - good pointI H I Hi cool guy So you go by the initials IHI, huh? more like P.U.S.S.Y. to me Just realize that if you're gonna act like a fool, you're gonna be treated like one. So why don't you stfu and leave the intelligent discourse to us Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ferris2 Posted March 7 Report Share Posted March 7 fuckin diplomats..they park wherever they want and nothing gets done about it.i know its OT but it gets me so mad when im in the city and i see a diplomat parked in a fire zone or right in front of a hydrant and know nothing will be done about it.also, i heard that they just caught a couple of diplomats from iraq taking photos of possible spots for terrorist attacks. they were not arrested but were sent out of the country. is this true? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crackorn Posted March 7 Report Share Posted March 7 AN angry, angry man. (who should use his original screen name) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ivehadit Posted March 10 Author Report Share Posted March 10 Originally posted by gmccookny Hi cool guy So you go by the initials IHI, huh? more like P.U.S.S.Y. to me Just realize that if you're gonna act like a fool, you're gonna be treated like one. So why don't you stfu and leave the intelligent discourse to us Sorry to interrupt the extremely important 'smurf rhetoric' that passes as conversations at your local MENSA chapter, which I'm SURE that you are a member of.I pass gas that is more welcome that your idtiot ramblings. Please felch my smurfy ass and bash yourself in the smurfy face.I H I Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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