Last week in this space I asked where were the former US diplomats speaking out against George Bush’s dangerous foreign-policy as fifty-two of their British counterparts did recently in an eloquent Open Letter to Tony Blair.
Well, yesterday, fifty-three former US diplomats criticized the White House for pursuing a foreign-policy which is sacrificing America’s credibility in the Arab world and endangering the safety of its diplomats and soldiers in the Middle East. The letter’s central charge is that the Bush Administration is providing uncritical support for the Israeli prime minister, Ariel Sharonat a time when Washington’s strategy in the Middle East is in tatters. The retired diplomats, including John Brady Kiesling and Ray Close who are both featured in The Nation‘s forthcoming forum on Iraq, urge the Bush Administration to change course.
This public rebuke was a rare display of dissent for state department personnel. The last broadside from American diplomats came during the Vietnam War. Click here to read this Open Letter to George W. Bush.
