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allan
Senior Member
since 2000-04-09
Posts 620
On the road

0 posted 2003-03-05 07:46 AM


An honourable American
speaks his mind
Against the jingoism of his time
He loves his country
And its brave people
He sees the truth
between the lies
He sees the hypocrisy
His leaders cannot hide
He can no more avert his eyes
Looking in the same old way
Though he loves his work
And he knows his fate
He must speak now
Though it's much too late
As US bombs begin to fall

A few arrogant
and ambitious men
Will destroy a country
and even then
Take it back
To a barbaric past
And breed a nameless fear

John Brady sees it clear
She will be destroyed
And gives all he has ever loved
To protect America

-o-

The 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.

http://www.commondreams.org/views03/0227-13.htm


[This message has been edited by allan (03-05-2003 07:47 AM).]

© Copyright 2003 Allan Tierney - All Rights Reserved
Joyce Johnson
Deputy Moderator 1 TourDeputy Moderator 1 Tour
Member Rara Avis
since 2001-03-10
Posts 9912
Washington State
1 posted 2003-03-05 03:22 PM


Thanks Allan for finding this letter for us.  I hope more intelligent and reasonable people follow his lead.  I cannot bear to have things said against my county but against the policies being followed by an administration is another thing.  It makes no sense to me.  Why can't the investigators stay in there for fifty years if necessary.  He couldn't do much in the way of mass distruction weapons if he were constantly watched.  Joyce
allan
Senior Member
since 2000-04-09
Posts 620
On the road
2 posted 2003-03-05 08:03 PM


Yes, Joyce, on the whole I agree although even my patience on Saddam would have limits. I certainly DO advocate the peaceful path to disarming him that you suggest through the ongoing use of the inspectors. And I agree that with inspectors there and perhaps another 200 plus several thousand UN troops there too Iraq would be made safe. If there was then a time of connection and communication between the Iraqi people and the west there could also be an improvement in their lives. He CAN be contained, it just doesn't suit U.S. interests in the region that this be the end result. The present U.S. administration want regime change and are determined to get it. For ALL sorts of reasons, political, military and economic. The administration has SO MUCH to prove and is clearly willing to shed blood in the proving of these things. We are not stupid here in Europe, we have excellent BS antenne. Thankfully the American people are rising above their understandable and persisting fear and shock after all that has happened. They are showing their old strength of spirit and desire for straight-talking. seeing some signs of anti-war, pro-peace and BS-aversion in America recently has been wonderful. There has almost been a collective sigh of relief here although we fear that Bush and co will go ahead and start this war. It is a sad fact that he will be hurting more than Iraq, he will be hurting the reputation of America, perhaps for all time. This could be the truly lasting effect of any new Desert Storm. At this point in the world's history we really have had MORE than enough of political BS. What we feel we are getting from this administration has just sent our exasperation at the levels of barbarism in the world right off the meter. We don't want to loathe America as a whole. Most of us know how decent Americans can be. I really do hope SO much that America will see through Bush sometime even if it is not soon enough to stop the looming butchery of Baghdad...
Wesley the Blue
Member
since 1999-09-02
Posts 426
Forest Lake, MN, USA
3 posted 2003-03-06 03:00 AM


The administration needs to realize that the US is not THE voice of the coalition nations, but merely A voice in the coalition.  The power and influence of the United States is great, but certainly it is not limitless.  Our arrogance may well destroy the relative peace and unity that has prevailed for the last 30 years.  I would hate to see the NATO alliance dissolve because the administration of this country cannot see the danger in ignoring the protests of their allies.  As it stands, I could not in good concience support a war and would refuse to give my life for the close minded goals of currently presented by the United States.

P.S. I liked the poem.

allan
Senior Member
since 2000-04-09
Posts 620
On the road
4 posted 2003-03-06 08:24 AM


Thank you Wesley.

On the subject of how Europeans are responding to the actions of Bush and his administration I found the following article earlier today which graphically describes the feelings which are extremely strong here just now. Unfortunately these feelings sometimes spill over onto Americans who may not even support Bush and his policies:

Ugly sentiments sting American tourists
By Marco R. della Cava, USA TODAY

As an A-list celebrity, actor Vince Vaughn employs an array of weapons to cope with hecklers, from a Saharan wit to a waiting limo.

But during a movie shoot recently in England, Vaughn found himself repeatedly reaching for the same comeback. Three totemic words from the attic of history: the Marshall Plan.

"I'd say one in three conversations wound up the same way, basically that 'America is the devil.' So I'd ask folks to think about the Marshall Plan a bit and get back to me," says Vaughn, 32, referring to the Allied blueprint for the reconstruction of Europe after World War II. "In the end, though, I just had to tell people, 'I'm not having this discussion anymore.' "

But if you're heading overseas, be prepared to have it. Again and again. If the past 100 years were widely considered the American Century, this new one is fast shaping up as the Anti-American Century.

Just ask tourist Colleen Frost, 33, who hopped into a cab recently on her first day in Berlin. An English-speaking driver demanded an explanation for what he called "America's megalomania."

"He wanted to know what I would think of my country if my brother or boyfriend was killed in a war," says Frost, a dental hygienist from Santa Fe. She says the ride was over before she could provide an answer for the disgruntled cabby.

How times have changed.

A mother lode of goodwill fostered in the decades after the defeat of Nazi Germany has been reduced to dust in recent years. A growing number of foreigners see some of the United States' political decisions (pulling out of the Kyoto Treaty on global emissions) and personal choices (Americans' penchant for gas-loving SUVs) as at best unilateral and at worst selfish. The confrontation over Iraq is just more fuel on a bonfire.

From Spanish plazas to Parisian metros, American tourists are being quizzed, grilled and even spat on by people who do not approve of the Bush administration's drive for a war against Saddam Hussein.

As a result, a declining number of Americans (54% today vs. 79% a year ago) believes that the USA enjoys a favorable image abroad, according to a recent Gallup poll. And a majority of Americans (64%) cite a fear of unfriendliness as the top concern of traveling abroad during wartime, according to a survey in the February issue of Conde Nast Traveler.

Anecdotal evidence from across Europe indicates those fears are not unfounded.

"I've spent 100 days a year for the past 30 years in Europe, and, generally, people always managed to differentiate a government's action from its citizens," says Rick Steves, a Seattle-based tour operator who specializes in Europe.

"But I have never seen this level of frustration in my lifetime. They just can't understand our push for war, especially the younger generation."

Steves says the current climate is in stark contrast to the "breathtaking" we-are-all-Americans sentiment that gripped Europe on Sept. 11, 2001. He is not discouraging his clients from traveling abroad now, and cancellations have been few. That said, his Web site features a flurry of concerned exchanges about overseas travel. Steves urges would-be tourists to pack the right attitude.

"Being defensive does no good. You have to keep things in perspective and listen," he says. "At its best, travel remains a vital force in promoting understanding."

And is it ever needed. If European criticism of the United States was previously limited to newspaper headlines and kaffeeklatsch debates, the tug of war over Iraq has unleashed a torrent of frustrated invective on the streets.

Much of such vitriol is aimed at the Bush administration. That has never been more in evidence than during the weekend of Feb. 15, when more than 6 million people in roughly 60 countries hit the streets in some of the largest anti-war protests since the Vietnam War.

But sometimes this antagonism filters down directly to the American tourist.

Laurel Scapicchio and her 13-year-old daughter were waiting for a train in the Paris metro a few weeks ago when their conversation was interrupted. Two men in their 20s overheard their American accents and shouted, "Pigs!"

"It brought us back to reality," says Scapicchio, 42, a freight forwarder from Saugus, Mass., who was on her first trip to the French capital. "It was a little spooky. But we shrugged it off. It wasn't personal. It was just because we were Americans."

European tourism officials, who are battling a 19% drop-off in U.S. travel since a record 13.1 million visited in 2000, discount such incidents as aberrations.

"I am certain that a number of American visitors will be asked about the U.S. administration's policy on Iraq. But if indeed there have been some unpleasant encounters, I strongly believe that they are few and far between," says Patrick Goyet, vice chairman of the European Travel Commission in New York. "Furthermore, speaking as a European and for the vast majority of my fellow Europeans, I consider any such behavior idiotic and embarrassing."

Be ready for harsh words

Nonetheless, many Americans abroad have stories to tell. Their warning? Expect the unexpected. While living in Spain recently, Jane Kelly, 20, recalls a friend being spat on for being American.

"In any country you're going to get people who do this," says Kelly, who was studying at the Madrid campus of Boston's Suffolk University.

However, fellow student Kate Perlis, 20, says the atmosphere was charged. "It seems that the only English a lot of people there know are the words, 'We hate Bush.' "

Joshua Eckblad, 28, an American high-tech manager living in Madrid, has had similar experiences. Daily he faces the comments of Spaniards who "feel free to say anything against America, who think Bush and his people know nothing about the world."

His sister, Vanina, 27, an architect living in Paris, has fared no better. She says that the other day a man on the street "told me to go back to where I came from."

Such run-ins can cause some visitors to contemplate retreat. When Linda Severson, an American who has lived in Brussels for two years, was visiting Amsterdam recently with her mother, the pair found themselves at the Hard Rock Cafe, surrounded by anti-American protesters.

"We were looking down at all the demonstrations and signs that said 'Kill Bush, not Iraqis,' and we just sat there stunned," she says. "We felt a little homesick."

But other Americans abroad prefer to tack right into the storm.

Louis Nebelsick, 45, is an archaeologist from Louisville who organizes exhibits for the Dresden museum of archaeology. He says he hasn't seen this level of anti-Americanism in Germany since the days of Ronald Reagan, when in 1983 masses protested the installation of medium-range missiles in Europe.

But despite the rancor, Nebelsick proudly wears an American flag on his baseball cap. It might as well be a lightning rod in a thunderstorm.

"One guy saw that I was American and said he just had to tell me what he thought of my country," he says. "His opinion was that America is being run by a rabid cowboy."

Nebelsick also carries a cigarette lighter emblazoned with an American flag. Several times of late, folks have turned down his offer of a light as soon as they caught a glimpse of the Stars and Stripes.

"The era of Americans as heroes is over," he says.

But that isn't to say that positive connections can't be made between nationalities on a one-to-one basis. Some tourists interviewed spoke of not only pleasant exchanges but also an appreciation for those Americans who would travel overseas despite the current climate.

When Tony Vitanza, 42, of Fort Worth unleashed his Texas accent on a shopkeeper in Belgium, she immediately asked what state he was from.

"I made sure to tell her I didn't vote for Bush," says Vitanza, a flight attendant who was careful to pluck all the pins off his jacket before heading outdoors. "But the woman said she was interested in my accent, not my politics."

Similarly, when Jay Rooney, 57, and Bruce Plank, 35, were in Europe a few weeks ago while on business for Armstrong Flooring, the only run-ins they had were with vendors haggling over prices at flea markets.

"We've had no problems at all," says Rooney while touring London's famed Portobello Road market. "Some of our hosts even seemed apologetic. I haven't felt criticism. Haven't felt rudeness, haven't felt pressure. Quite the contrary, I feel some people have gone out of their way to be nice."

One veteran Europe-watcher thinks the average American is still very much appreciated by the average European. It's when the policies of a nation are pinned on an individual that the sniping begins.

"I've found that most Europeans are generally fond of Americans," says Pieter Ockers, European analyst for iJet Travel Intelligence, an American company that provides travel risk management advice for corporate and leisure travelers.

"But the (European) media often stoke the fires," he says. "Their media portray Americans as culturally inferior, ignorant of world politics, arrogant in our interaction with the rest of the world and, worst of all, the bully of the neighborhood."

During Vaughn's stay in England, he found himself criticized on all those levels. Like a boxer countering each blow, he shot back with the best responses he could.

Sometimes the complaints left him speechless, like the time he was told " 'America had no culture' by a kid wearing a Kobe Bryant T-shirt and listening to rapper DMX."

But one incident really stung.

"Man, it was bad," says the Rat Pack-y star of Swingers. "These girls saw us and were kind of flirting, and they kept asking us if we were American. Finally we said, 'Yes,' and they just took off.

"One girl turns and says, 'We were hoping you were Canadian.' Canadian? Since when was it cooler to be Canadian?"

Contributing: Ellen Hale in London, Noelle Knox in Brussels, Vivienne Walt in Paris, Jody K. Biehl in Berlin and Laura Bly
http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2003-03-03-anti-american-usat_x.htm

[This message has been edited by allan (03-06-2003 09:16 AM).]

allan
Senior Member
since 2000-04-09
Posts 620
On the road
5 posted 2003-03-06 09:11 AM


~ edited out duplicate post ~

[This message has been edited by allan (03-06-2003 09:13 AM).]

CHILI
Member
since 2002-09-08
Posts 244

6 posted 2003-03-06 09:26 AM


Allan, this was well written and so very true. Thanks for finding that letter and sharing it.  
allan
Senior Member
since 2000-04-09
Posts 620
On the road
7 posted 2003-03-06 07:00 PM


Thank you. You're welcome!

“The Gulf War was one big lie from beginning to inconclusive end.”

— Col. David Hackworth
LIBERTY
November, 1998

American/British Terrorism and Genocide of the Iraqi People, 1991–Present Day http://free.freespeech.org/americanstateterrorism/iraqgenocide/AmericanBritishTerrorism.html

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