When insiders want to become outsiders...

[ClubMed]

John Brady Kiesling's letter of resignation to Secretary of State Colin L. Powell.

"One swallow does not a summer make."

[ClubMed]

That's not the point.

Then what is the point?

One dude is unhappy. He leaves. So?

Do you know how many diplomats there are in the US State Department?

This guy may have been unhappy for a number of reasons not necessarily the reasons he gave.

[ClubMed]

I am one of those who are interested in opposing opinions and points of view, I guess not everyone is like this.

[Theophylact]

A letter to today's New York Times:

A Diplomat's Stand

To the Editor:

Re "U.S. Diplomat Resigns, Protesting 'Our Fervent Pursuit of War' " (news article, Feb. 27):

John Brady Kiesling, the career diplomat who resigned, had it right in his letter of resignation: "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 offense and defense since the days of Woodrow Wilson."

We have active involvement in United States foreign affairs worldwide over the last 40 years. Among our colleagues, the more they know about the cultures and politics of the Middle East, the more convinced they are that the administration's policy will not work.

The United States will surely win the war but cannot thereby gain the peace in the region or make Americans safer here at home.

Mr. Kiesling, in putting himself on the line, has demonstrated the ultimate loyalty of telling the truth to authority.

DANIEL SULLIVAN
MARGARET SULLIVAN

Alexandria, Va., Feb. 27, 2003

(The writers are a retired Foreign Service couple. The letter was also signed by three other former Foreign Service couples.)