U.S. diplomats resign in protest at President Bush's preparations to attack Iraq

[Klaus]

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -- A U.S. diplomat resigned from government service Monday in protest at President Bush's preparations to attack Iraq, the second to do so in less than a month.

John H. Brown, who joined the U.S. diplomatic corps in 1981 and served in London, Prague, Krakow, Kiev, Belgrade and Moscow, said in a letter to Secretary of State Colin Powell made available to the media: "I cannot in good conscience support President Bush's war plans against Iraq.

"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," the diplomat added.

Brown has recently been attached to the Institute for the Study of Diplomacy at Georgetown University in Washington. Immediately before that, he was cultural attache at the U.S. Embassy in Moscow.

A senior U.S. diplomat based in Athens, political counselor John Brady Kiesling, 45, resigned in protest at the Bush administration's policy on Iraq last month.

 

[sulawesigirl4]

At this moment, I wouldn't mind resigning from America till it recovers its sanity.

 

[U2ME3]

good for him. i don't really agree with him but it is a wonderful thing to live in a country where a person has the right to speak freely against his or her country's leadership decisions without worrying about the ramifications that might occur.

god bless the united states of america.

 

[Screaming Flower]

well said me3.

 

[kobayashi]

sometimes i feel like acquiring my US citizenship so i can vote.
but even that doesnt work right...

 

[Lilly]

then do it sula, give up your american citizenship

i'm not saying "you're either with us or against us," more along the lines of being in america versus outside of it, things are different. i'm not saying it's different here as in we all want to bomb the hell out of the rest of the world, but things are changing quickly.

there are a lot of domestic issues that are correlating to this war that make americans against it. things like the patriot act and extra liberties the government is taking to control the american public. it's not working and it's outraging the americans it was trying to control. presently i think more americans are far more concerned with what bush is trying to do here to control what happens in the next few days compared to what's going to happen in iraq. why? well, the main two reasons are 1. civil rights are never to be repealed. and 2. the government isn't telling us anything. all we've gotten is that iraq is bad, we are good. wrong as that simple message may be, that's what we're acting on here. and it is a moral conflict - do we deserve the right to impose a regime change? no, probably not. should we just secretly fund a revolutionary group? or would that be vietnam all over - so then should we just go in for 90 days maximum like we did in kosovo? or should we sit back as saddam kills more of his own people?

i agree that we shouldn't be going in like this without anyone's support. there's something going on here that we obviously don't know about and they're trying to protect it with patriot acts.

watching my friends and professors go off to fight in a war like this is rather upsetting. i've said it a hundred times before, that this is starting out just like the vietnam war, but hopefully the gears will stop before they're put too far into motion.

 

[Scarletwine]

Great thoughts Lilly. I couldn't agree more.

But there is no way Bush will back down. He is much too much the swaggering Macho crap type to do so.

 

[verte76]

I'm against the war too but I don't plan on "resigning" my citizenship. I'm going to use it to express my belief that my government is making a huge mistake. Hey, I have a vote and 2004 is going to happen whether those politicians like it or not. No matter who wins the election, I'll have used the ballot box and my right to peaceful protest to express my viiews. This is important to me. Rather than giving up your vote or whatever, use it! That's why the Founding Fathers, the suffragettes, and other people --themselves protesters against a status quo--gave me a vote.

 

[BVS]

I think this a very scary yet exciting time in America. You can actually smell a hint of revolution in the air. I think there will be a fairly large portion of America that starts to speak up. That will march, that will vote, and take action to get Bush out of office. He's gone too far, and I think slowly people will come to realize that. As soon as the "if you are not with me you are against me" propaganda wears off.

 

[Lilly]

But there is no way Bush will back down. He is much too much the swaggering Macho crap type to do so.

you'd think that individual personality wouldn't interfere with whether or not a war would come about.

that is, after all, why congress is there.

 

[Scarletwine]

That's true but Congress gave him unlimited discretion on a preemptive war.

An interesting theory about the Macho Men

http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=15328

 

[meegannie]

I haven't decided whether to change citizenship or not.

 

[Lilly]

you have to take the ups with the downs.


protest in more constructive ways besides abdicating your citizenship.

 

[oktobergirl]

Even with all the bullshit about a possibility of us attacking IRAQ, I am still proud of my citizenship. Proof is that diplomat that resigned.

I'm scared about the direction our country is heading , but I'm more scared of the complacency that I see in people every day.

 

[pax]

Even with all the bullshit about a possibility of us attacking IRAQ, I am still proud of my citizenship. Proof is that diplomat that resigned.

I'm scared about the direction our country is heading , but I'm more scared of the complacency that I see in people every day.

Yeah, I'm with oktobergirl--I don't plan on heading for the border...yet.

 

[BAW]

Even with all the bullshit about a possibility of us attacking IRAQ, I am still proud of my citizenship. Proof is that diplomat that resigned.

I'm scared about the direction our country is heading , but I'm more scared of the complacency that I see in people every day.

Bravo

Running away or being ashamed of your country is no way to solve its problems.

 

[verte76]

Even with all the bullshit about a possibility of us attacking IRAQ, I am still proud of my citizenship. Proof is that diplomat that resigned.

I'm scared about the direction our country is heading , but I'm more scared of the complacency that I see in people every day.

I agree. Complacency is the most dangerous thing on the planet.

 

[follower]

I'm against the war too but I don't plan on "resigning" my citizenship. I'm going to use it to express my belief that my government is making a huge mistake. Hey, I have a vote and 2004 is going to happen whether those politicians like it or not. No matter who wins the election, I'll have used the ballot box and my right to peaceful protest to express my viiews. This is important to me. Rather than giving up your vote or whatever, use it! That's why the Founding Fathers, the suffragettes, and other people --themselves protesters against a status quo--gave me a vote.

Very good, verte76. That is the right thing to do. That?s what citizenship is all about. Exercising your citizenship and making better choices is always worth.

 

[meegannie]

I don't really have any reason to keep mine since I never plan on coming back and I'll be marrying a British citizen and be elligible for citizenship in three years.

 

[hiphop]

On a personal note: Keep it anyway, meegannie. It can?t really hurt.

Bono?s American Wife:

"Running away or being ashamed of your country is no way to solve its problems."

I do think a diplomat carefully thinks of his actions, especially considering his job.

U2ME3: "the right to speak freely against his or her country's leadership decisions without worrying about the ramifications that might occur"

Never let the current goverment take this right from you. Without having proof or doing a research on it, I think many Americans are worried about that issue excatly. The ramifications that might occur for the diplomat... if we look at his future job, we will see.

 

[BAW]

Bono?s American Wife:

"Running away or being ashamed of your country is no way to solve its problems."

I do think a diplomat carefully thinks of his actions, especially considering his job.

I know hiphop...I was mainly referring to the people who say they want to resign their citizenship or are ashamed to be American right now. We have our problems in the US but giving up doesn't help. I think verte summed it up very well.

 

[anitram]

Yeah, I'm with oktobergirl--I don't plan on heading for the border...yet.

That would be foolish until all our snow up here melts. See ya in the summer!

 

[hiphop]

I know hiphop...I was mainly referring to the people who say they want to resign their citizenship or are ashamed to be American right now. We have our problems in the US but giving up doesn't help. I think verte summed it up very well.

Yeah I can understand.

If I was American I wouldn?t be ashamed to be American, but I would be ashamed of the current administration. On the other hand I would probably say "Hey, the people voted for it - if my fellowmen are that stupid, you can?t help them, can you"... its just about the same I think of my country with its current government, but I am not ashamed to be from here.

I guess I will keep my identity though, because I do think once I relocate I can have a double ID too, and my country is a secure "first world" nation, so why give it up.

 

[DebbieSG]

sometimes i feel like acquiring my US citizenship so i can vote.
but even that doesnt work right...

become irish ...then you can wait in a "lottery" and receive a Green Card to work for a living and pay Uncle Sam his allotment of taxes...it's a hard route, but if you have a lawyer or know of a decent irish newspaper, you can find a good strategy and wait it out in one of our many fine pubs dotting the San Francisco bay, or possibly in Boston, i don't know if the same system exists in Massachusettes (that is hard to spell!) did i spell it right?? i don't know, California has such an easier spelling...and Nevada, too! can't wait to see the sign for NEVADA on about March 16th....yipee!!!! gonna make some chips and cash, (*thinks positively, i will win, i will win *clasps hands in prayer ) go big snake eyes, or is it 21, i'm little confused on the lingo...

writes down: go buy book on games in casinos in other states that allow casino betting and wagering

 

[Klaus]

From my perspetive it's verry strange to be pride or ashamed of things you are not responsible for.
Most of us did nothing to get our citizenship - so why being ashamed/proud of?

Klaus

 

[sulawesigirl4]

some of us didn't grow up in the country of our "citizenship" and therefore have a somewhat different take on the idea of "running away."

that said, I will continue to participate and to vote when possible and to make my voice heard. However, I would always reserve the right to opt out if the situation became one I could not in any way shape or form affirm or identify with. But then again, I am not a "good American" or so I have been told.

 

[melon]

Eh...I would never give up my U.S. citizenship. I couldn't do it, nor would I want to. I've contemplated becoming a dual citizen with Canada or the UK, because I'm highly interested in working / living in both, but I would never renounce my U.S. citizenship. Ever.

Melon

 

[meegannie]

How do you get dual citizenship? Everything I've looked at says you have to be offered dual citizenship; if you apply for citizenship in the UK, you lose your US citizenship.

 

[Lilly]

yes anitram - canada has too much snow for a mass migration now

On the other hand I would probably say "Hey, the people voted for it - if my fellowmen are that stupid, you can?t help them, can you"... its just about the same I think of my country with its current government, but I am not ashamed to be from here.

the electoral college voted him in. without that we'd have *collective gasp* gore *collective shudder*


and melon: once again, very well said. i couldn't even imagine giving it up willingly, i'm an american citizen wherever i am, and am content to be just that. if people started throwing out their citizenship every time our country had a crises there wouldn't be too many left.

 

[Screaming Flower]

i agree with lillyshannon and melon. completely.