We were not pacifists. We were professional, non-partisan diplomats bound by our oath of loyalty to the US Constitution. Our job was to build effective relationships with key figures outside the United States. We used our language skills, respectful curiosity, and understanding of local politics to promote US national interests as our president and secretary of state directed.

We did not know each other. Ann, who was also a reserve colonel in the US Army, had helped reopen US Embassy Kabul after the fall of the Taliban. Brady was a 20-year political officer who had learned something about tribal politics and the limits of US power. John was a practitioner of public diplomacy with over twenty years’ experience, mostly in Eastern Europe. We shared one key professional judgment, that this war we were ordered to promote would be a disastrous mistake.

Love of country and professional self-respect compelled each of us to speak out, in the only honorable way open to us, by resigning. In our letters to Secretary of State Colin Powell, we opposed invading a country that posed no genuine threat to the United States. We underscored that our invasion would not be understood by our allies, that our occupation would be resisted, and that the consequences of the war would be dire for both Americans and Iraqis.

The war happened, with tragic but predictable consequences. Mistakes by ambitious, ignorant political appointees worsened the fiasco. For domestic political reasons, the Bush Administration could not adapt its policies to the reality that its “war on terrorism” was actually an intricate maze of local conflicts into which it had blundered without a guide.

The invasion of Iraq had a terrible impact on America’s relationship with the world. The tricks of totalitarian manipulation of public opinion the White House used to “sell” the war at home — simplification of the issues, repetition of empty phrases, demonization of foreigners, and falsification of history — simply did not work abroad.

By counting on such methods, Bush appointees tainted the US informational, educational, and cultural programs that once were the beating heart of America’s public diplomacy efforts. The desperate PR campaign by Mr. Bush’s Texas confidante, former Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs Karen Hughes, failed utterly to repair the damage.

Five years later, we are convinced that the Bush administration is still on the wrong path for regional stability. Key officials lack the empathy and local knowledge needed to wield the tools of US diplomacy effectively in the Middle East. America’s outsized military presence is the principle around which local fanaticism organizes itself, to the detriment of the ordinary Arabs and Kurds America aspired to help. A rapid withdrawal from Iraq, coordinated with Iraqi factions and neighboring states, is the least destructive option remaining.

Our gesture earned us a brief moment in the media and the cautious respect of our colleagues. Five years later, we do not regret our decision to leave the profession we loved. Faced with a flawed policy we had no power to change, the three of us embraced the hope Brady expressed in his resignation letter, that “our democratic process is ultimately self-correcting; [we] hope in a small way to contribute from outside to shaping policies that better serve the security and prosperity of the American people and the world we share.”

Between now and next January 20 the stakes for our former profession are high. The stakes for the American people and the planet are even higher.

Ann Wright, an anti-war activist based in Hawaii, is touring with her new book Dissent: Voices of Conscience (Koa Books 2008). John Brady Kiesling is a writer in Greece, the author of Diplomacy Lessons: Realism for an Unloved Superpower (Potomac Books 2006). John Brown until recently compiled The Public Diplomacy Press and Blog Review. He teaches on public diplomacy at Georgetown University.

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10 Comments so far
jlocke123 March 20th, 2008 12:25 pm
When you are young, you see the world in black and white. This shows that you have heart. As you grow older, you start to see shades of gray. Those that grow old and don’t learn life’s lessons are fools. Such foolishness in the young is charming; in older people it is pathetic.

You begin to untangle the strands, which form your own, true self, separating the voices of courage, wisdom and love from fear, stupidity and hate. It is not an easy task. To show courage, you must feel fear. To show wisdom takes courage, and wisdom is destroyed by fear. Hate is ultimately self-destructive. Being self-destructive is stupid and cowardly.

Most of the peers of these three must have had similar struggles over what their best nature was telling them, and they chose to not listen. I admire these diplomats for their actions of principle. They reaffirm in me my belief in the invincible strand of good found in each of us, if we look.

crowbone66 March 20th, 2008 12:38 pm
call bush at 202.456.1111

Doom n Gloom March 20th, 2008 1:00 pm
When evil prevails and fires burn brightly, and destruction and the smell of death hang heavily over the cities and the countryside, the bloodied voices of reason and hope can at last be heard over the thunder of war. Wisdom and courage are again given birth in the quiet voices of peace. The dogs of war are again caged and the hope for humanities survival can again be addressed. It’s time to get it right. Imperialism must end and be replaced by a less competitive and more cooperative Spirit. Justice must be applied to those who violated human rights as a central part of the healing process. Economic justice must be restored as well. A reverence for all life must become our lifeway. People must become the center of economic thought. Profit maximization must be given a disrespectful and permanent burial. Philosophy must be elevated above technology and scientists and technologists must learn the meaning of no. The new paradigm of cooperation, green living, and respect must be secure in our minds and hearts and it must be nurtured to grow. The patient care of the new paradigm will lead America on a good path to happiness and sustainability, one person at a time.

Poet March 20th, 2008 1:55 pm
Thanks to Ann, JOhn, and Brady for showing that diplomats don’t all have to be amoral cynics who see their job as “doing deals” no matter how unseemly. As I read this article, I wondered why more military officers didn’t do the same thing.

Samski March 20th, 2008 3:17 pm
In war, soldiers are most loyal to fellow soldiers, Poet.

old goat March 20th, 2008 3:33 pm
Moratoria on support of the aspects a system that has become overwhelmingly self destructive. From the 1830 Supreme Court Johnson v M’Intosh (doctrine of discovery) that undergirded genocide and treaty abrogations of native peoples and an insidious conflation of church and state, to taxation without representation, profit and hypocricy define a criminality far exceeding shredding of the constitution. Momentum that has been defining reality according to distortions through economic theories based on distorted rationalizations of religion is unsustainable and ultimately proving to be anthropophagic (cannibalistic). Cease and desist.

To the diplomats - Thank you for speaking truth to power.

lizard March 20th, 2008 8:27 pm
The authors are a wonderful example of proper behavior and worthy of the utmost respect. I am very impressed and thankful.

Earthian March 20th, 2008 8:31 pm
These great three diplomats join Lt. Watada and others in the military who chose to walk the high road of justice. How? They kept their oaths to the Constitution to uphold the supreme law of the land, our “treaties made” such as the UN Charter. These three give me hope for America and for Humanity. Thank you Ann, John and Brady for your moral and legal leadership.

Unknown_Unknownable March 20th, 2008 8:41 pm
Three diplomats’ refusal to carryout orders of the American government shows neither patriotism nor treasonous mindset on their behalf.

Truth be told: American voters twice elected President Bush II to carryout America’s age-old imperial objectives. President Bush II did not do anything that American voters did not want; otherwise, he would not have been elected twice.

However, 3 diplomats think they know more than what American voters know.

Three diplomats think their knowledge is far superior to that of the president, vice-president, cabinet members, and the legislators of the United States of America.

Three diplomats simply failed to recognize that American voters might choose Sen. John McCain to continue America’s imperial mission at every corner of the globe for another 8 years.

boy howdy March 20th, 2008 11:17 pm
If in your diplomacy you were “promot[ing] U.S. National Interests,” then you were essentially tasked with smoothing over imperialist policies. It is commendable that you would not serve after the Iraq invasion, but Iraq is only a symptom of a deeper disease. Nearly every administration in the history of the country pursued imperialist policies. Imperialism is like gravity. Competition among nations for supremacy. Why? Because our species includes character types. Some of us are especially aggressive and ambitious, driven to maximize power. Takers, marauders. Historians and journalists can vilify individuals, but that won’t stop such people from popping up. If not for them, we could live in peace and harmony, and manage to muddle though our problems quite satisfactorily. But again, the growing size of the human population, together with its requirements for survival (and comfort), create an atmosphere in which elite control of society and resources through mass economy naturally arises. And their determination to maintain and expand that control leads to Iraq, Equador, Nigeria, Sudan, etc. A decline in the population might reverse this phenomenon.

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