Former Diplomats Attack Bush

By Suzanne Goldenberg

White House accused of sacrificing credibility with
Arab world in US protest that mirrors assault on Blair

Fifty-three former US diplomats today accuse the White
House of sacrificing America’s credibility in the Arab
world - and the safety of its diplomats and soldiers -
because of the Bush administration’s support for the
Israeli prime minister, Ariel Sharon.

The strongly worded rebuke, which paid tribute to last
week’s broadside from more than 50 former British
diplomats against the government’s policy in Iraq,
marked a rare public display of dissent for state
department personnel.

Its central charge that the Bush administration is
unfairly tilted towards Mr Sharon arrives at a time
when Washington’s strategy in the Middle East is in
tatters. George Bush has invested heavily in Mr
Sharon’s proposal for an Israeli withdrawal from the
Gaza Strip, and gone a step further by endorsing a
continued Jewish settlement in the occupied West Bank.

The overwhelming rejection of the proposal by Likud
voters on Sunday was seen in Washington yesterday as a
direct snub to Mr Bush. But the White House reaffirmed
its support for Mr Sharon.

Yesterday he said he would modify his disengagement
plan but gave no details, while earlier members of his
government said the setback was temporary, and the
withdrawal from Gaza would go ahead. "There is no doubt
disengagement is inevitable and unstoppable," the
deputy prime minister, Ehud Olmert, said. "The
alternative is more murder, terrorism and attacks
without any wise answer for what 7,500 Jewish
[settlers] are doing among 1.2 million Palestinians [in
Gaza]."

Mr Sharon’s troubles are due for further scrutiny at a
meeting in New York today of the sponsors of the peace
road map - the US, the EU, Russia and the United
Nations. But there is no doubt the rebuff from Likud
will be seen as an embarrassment to Washington, one
that is further deepened by the critique from an
assembly of US government personnel with decades of
experience.

The last broadside from American diplomats was
delivered during the Vietnam war era. It is
particularly unusual for US government personnel to
criticise policy on Israel.

Unlike the British version, which was scathing of Mr
Blair’s alliance with Washington in Iraq as well as
Israel and the Palestinians, the American diplomats’
critique was wholly focused on Middle East policy.

It said Washington had overthrown decades of US
diplomatic tradition last month when Mr Bush endorsed a
plan for Gaza with no Palestinian involvement. "By
closing the door to negotiations with Palestinians and
the possibility of a Palestinian state, you have proved
that the US is not an even-handed peace partner. You
have placed US diplomats, civilians and military doing
their jobs overseas in an untenable and even dangerous
position," the letter says.

It goes on to accuse the Bush administration of
"unabashed support" for Israel’s strategy of
assassinating Palestinian leaders and military
operatives, and urges Washington to change course. "A
return to the time-honoured American tradition of
fairness will turn the present tide of ill will in
Europe and the Middle East - even in Iraq," it adds.

The letter, which was initiated by a former ambassador
to Qatar, Andrew Killgore, was endorsed mainly by those
who had served for years in Arab countries. Supporters
include the former ambassadors to India, Saudi Arabia,
Syria and Egypt. The petition was also endorsed by two
recent rebels against the Bush administration policy:
John Brady Kiesling, who resigned last year in protest
against the war, and Greg Thielmann, an intelligence
analyst who accused Washington of distorting
information on Iraqi weapons programmes.

But their numbers do not include former administration
officials who have been most closely associated with
peacemaking efforts.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/israel/Story/0,2763,1208914,00.html