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[casi] Dissident [US] Diplomats



Hi All,

FYI

1) Dissident Diplomats Speak on San Francisco Public Radio
2) Letter of Resignation by John H. Brown, Foreign Service Officer


Best

andreas

------------------------------------


1)  Dissident Diplomats Speak on San Francisco Public Radio

http://commondreams.org/news2003/0313-01.htm

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
MARCH 13, 2003
8:28 AM
CONTACT: Working Assets Radio
Matt Martin at 415. 595-0069


Dissident Diplomats Speak on San Francisco Public Radio
Thursday, March 13, 10am

John Brady Kiesling and John H. Brown Speak Together for the First Time on
Working Assets Radio KALW 91.7 FM 10-11 AM PT

SAN FRANCISCO - March 13 - After 20 years of service to diplomacy and civil
debate, John Brady Kiesling, a senior U.S. diplomat based in Athens,
Greece, resigned from his post in protest over the Bush administration's
policy on Iraq. In an impassioned letter (
http://www.commondreams.org/views03/0227-13.htm )to his boss, Secretary of
State Colin Powell, Kiesling said the Bush administration was involved in
"a systematic distortion of intelligence" and "a systematic manipulation of
public opinion" not seen since the days of Vietnam.

Just a week later, a second career diplomat, John H. Brown, followed suit.
He too wrote ( http://www.commondreams.org/views03/0312-11.htm to Secretary
of State Powell: "I a joining my colleague John Brady Kiesling in
submitting my resignation from the Foreign Service (effective immediately)
because I cannot in good conscience support President Bush's war plans
against Iraq."

The two men will meet for the first time, live, on Thursday, March 13, on
Working Assets Radio on KALW (91.7 fm) and answer listener questions.

"Working Assets Radio with Laura Flanders" is produced by the Working
Assets company of San Francisco and broadcasts live, Monday-Friday, 10-11
am, on KALW (91.7fm) and on the internet. For more information, call Senior
Producer Matt Martin at 415. 595-0069, or visit www.workingassetsradio.com.
"Working Assets Radio" - PUTTING THE PUBLIC BACK IN PUBLIC RADIO.

---------------------------

2) Letter of Resignation by John H. Brown, Foreign Service Officer

http://www.commondreams.org/views03/0312-11.htm



To: Secretary of State Colin Powell

March 10, 2003

Dear Mr. Secretary:

I am joining my colleague John Brady Kiesling in submitting my resignation
from the Foreign Service (effective immediately) because I cannot in good
conscience support President Bush's war plans against Iraq.

The president has failed:

--To explain clearly why our brave men and women in uniform should be ready
to sacrifice their lives in a war on Iraq at this time;

--To lay out the full ramifications of this war, including the extent of
innocent civilian casualties;

--To specify the economic costs of the war for ordinary Americans;

--To clarify how the war would help rid the world of terror;

--To take international public opinion against the war into serious
consideration.

Throughout the globe the United States is becoming associated with the
unjustified use of force. The president's disregard for views in other
nations, borne out by his neglect of public diplomacy, is giving birth to
an anti-American century.

I joined the Foreign Service because I love our country. Respectfully, Mr.
Secretary, I am now bringing this calling to a close, with a heavy heart
but for the same reason that I embraced it.

Sincerely,

John H. Brown
Foreign Service Officer

---------------------------------------
John H. Brown, a Princeton PhD, joined the Foreign Service in 1981 and has
served in London, Prague, Krakow, Kiev, Belgrade and, most recently,
Moscow.

A senior member of the Foreign Service since 1997, he has focused his
diplomatic work on press and cultural affairs. Under a State Department
program, he has, up to now, been an Associate at the Institute for the
Study of Diplomacy at Georgetown University, where he was assigned in
August 2001.






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