GREECE: 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 New York Times reported yesterday.
The diplomat, Mr John Brady Kiesling, the political counsellor at the US 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 offence and defence since the days of Woodrow Wilson."
Mr Kiesling (45), who has been a diplomat for about 20 years, 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."
In his letter of resignation, a copy of which was provided to the Times, the diplomat told Secretary of State Mr Colin 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 US interests override the cherished values of our partners."
Asked if his views were widely shared among his diplomatic colleagues, Mr Kiesling said: "No one of my colleagues is comfortable with our policy ... The State Department is loaded with people who want to play the team game - we have a very strong premium on loyalty."