A group of former U.S. diplomats wrote a letter to President George W. Bush denouncing his policy for dealing with the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians, saying it is harming American credibility abroad.
The letter, posted on the American Educational Trust Web site with 16 signatures, applauds a similar letter former British diplomats sent to Prime Minister Tony Blair last week criticizing his Middle East policy. The Web site solicits more support, and Reuters said more than 50 ex-diplomats have now signed.
The former U.S. diplomats' concern focuses on Bush's support for Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's unilateral plan to evacuate Jewish settlements in the Gaza Strip while retaining major West Bank enclaves. Bush and Sharon's talks on the plan last month excluded the Palestinians. Bush's stance "reverses longstanding American policy,'' the group said.
"By closing the door to negotiations with Palestinians and the possibility of a Palestinian state, you have proved that the United States is not an even-handed peace partner,'' the former diplomats, led by Andrew Kilgore, ambassador to Qatar from 1977 to 1980, said in the letter.
"You have placed U.S. diplomats, civilians and military doing their jobs overseas in an untenable and even dangerous position,'' the group said. "Your unqualified support of Sharon's extra-judicial assassinations, Israel's Berlin Wall-like barrier, its harsh military measures in occupied territories, and now your endorsement of Sharon's unilateral plan, are costing our country its credibility, prestige and friends.''
... "This letter represents the tip of the iceberg in terms of those who have served extensively overseas and have a good feel for the consequences of this action and a feel for the way that foreign policy should be made and the importance of following through on national commitments in a consistent and predictable way."
Bloomberg article
The letter, posted on the American Educational Trust Web site with 16 signatures, applauds a similar letter former British diplomats sent to Prime Minister Tony Blair last week criticizing his Middle East policy. The Web site solicits more support, and Reuters said more than 50 ex-diplomats have now signed.
The former U.S. diplomats' concern focuses on Bush's support for Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's unilateral plan to evacuate Jewish settlements in the Gaza Strip while retaining major West Bank enclaves. Bush and Sharon's talks on the plan last month excluded the Palestinians. Bush's stance "reverses longstanding American policy,'' the group said.
"By closing the door to negotiations with Palestinians and the possibility of a Palestinian state, you have proved that the United States is not an even-handed peace partner,'' the former diplomats, led by Andrew Kilgore, ambassador to Qatar from 1977 to 1980, said in the letter.
"You have placed U.S. diplomats, civilians and military doing their jobs overseas in an untenable and even dangerous position,'' the group said. "Your unqualified support of Sharon's extra-judicial assassinations, Israel's Berlin Wall-like barrier, its harsh military measures in occupied territories, and now your endorsement of Sharon's unilateral plan, are costing our country its credibility, prestige and friends.''
... "This letter represents the tip of the iceberg in terms of those who have served extensively overseas and have a good feel for the consequences of this action and a feel for the way that foreign policy should be made and the importance of following through on national commitments in a consistent and predictable way."
And not only that, but even the Israelis didn't buy it. So he backed a terrible plan, which failed, but unites the Arab world against us like never before.
Nice going, Dufus.
....but hey, do what you want....God knows you will anyway.
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