From: Cyrus Bina (binac@mrs.umn.edu)
Date: Mon Mar 03 2003 - 14:06:28 EST
Dear Jerry, I am forwarding this letter of resignation from a member of our State Department with the hope that one is able to read what is written between the lines. Thanks. Warm regards, Cyrus ----- Original Message ----- From: "Ahmed Jebari" <jebari@fas.harvard.edu> To: <jebari@hotmail.com> Cc: <jstewart@fas.harvard.edu> Sent: Monday, March 03, 2003 9:57 AM Subject: Fwd: U.S. Diplomat's Letter of Resignation; Athens > >From: "Sukru ILICAK" <ilicak@fas.harvard.edu> > >To: <ilicak@fas.harvard.edu> > >Subject: U.S. Diplomat's Letter of Resignation; Athens > >Date: Sat, 1 Mar 2003 12:55:12 -0500 > >X-Priority: 3 (Normal) > >Importance: Normal > > > >http://www.nytimes.com/2003/02/27/international/27WEB-TNAT.html?ex=10474 > >39965&ei=1&en=9319e53a4fe65357 > > > >February 27, 2003 > >U.S. Diplomat's Letter of Resignation > > > >he following is the text of John Brady Kiesling's letter of resignation > >to Secretary of State Colin L. Powell. Mr. Kiesling is a career diplomat > >who has served in United States embassies from Tel Aviv to Casablanca to > >Yerevan. > > > >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. >
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