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Following
is the text of the letter as reported by AFP and the names of 28 of
its 50 signatories.
Dear
Mr. President:
We former US diplomats applaud our 52 British counterparts who
recently sent a letter to Prime Minister Tony Blair criticizing his
Middle East policy and calling on Britain to exert more influence over
the United States. As retired foreign service officers we care deeply
about our nation's foreign policy and U.S. credibility in the world.
At the request of our government and military colleagues, we have
added their names as well.
We also are deeply concerned by your April 14 endorsement of Israeli
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's unilateral plan to reject the rights of
three million Palestinians, to deny the right of refugees to return to
their homeland, and to retain five large illegal settlement blocs in
the occupied West Bank.
This plan defies UN Security Council resolutions calling for Israel's
return of occupied territories. It ignores international laws
declaring Israeli settlements illegal. It flouts UN Resolution 194,
passed in 1948, which affirms the right of refugees to return to their
homes or receive compensation for the loss of their property and
assistance in resettling in a host country should they choose to do
so. And it undermines the Road Map for peace drawn up by the Quartet,
including the US.
Finally, it reverses longstanding American policy in the Middle East.
Your meeting with Sharon followed a series of intensive negotiating
sessions between Israelis and Americans, but which left out
Palestinians.
In fact, you and Prime Minister Sharon consistently have excluded
Palestinians from peace negotiations. Former Palestinian Information
Minister Yasser Abed Rabbo voiced the overwhelming reaction of people
around the world when he said, "I believe President Bush declared
the death of the peace process today."
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. You have placed US
diplomats, civilians and military doing their jobs overseas in an
untenable and even dangerous position.
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 endorsement is not even in the best interests of the State of
Israel.
It is not too late to reassert American principles of justice and
fairness in our relations with all the peoples of the Middle East.
Support negotiations between Palestinians and Israelis, with the
United States serving as a truly honest broker.
A return to the time-honored American tradition of fairness will
reverse the present tide of ill will in Europe and the Middle
East-even in Iraq. Because the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is at the
core of the problems in the Middle East, the entire region-and the
world-will rejoice along with Israelis and Palestinians when the
killing stops and peace is attained.
Sincerely,
Signatories include
Andrew
Killgore, ambassador to Qatar, 1977-1980
Richard
Curtiss, chief inspector, U.S. Information Agency
Thomas
Carolan, consul general, Turkey, 1988-1992
C.
Edward Bernier, counselor of embassy for Information and Culture,
Pakistan 1995-1996
Donald
Kruse, American consul in Jerusalem
Edward
Peck, former chief of mission in Iraq and Mauritania
John
Gunther Dean, ambassador to India
James
Akins, ambassador to Saudi Arabia
Talcott
Seelye, ambassador to Syria
Eugene
Bird, counselor of embassy in Saudi Arabia
Richard
Nolte, ambassador to Egypt
Ray
Close, chief of station Jeddah, Saudi Arabia 1971-1979
Shirl
McArthur, commercial attache, Thailand
Bill
Rugh, ambassador to UAE and Yemen
Robert
Nevitt, minister for press affairs for the UN
Arthur
Lowrie, political advisor to commander-in-chief US Central Command
Carleton
Coon, ambassador to Nepal 1981-1984
Jane
Coon, ambassador to Bangladesh, 1981-1984
George
Roberts, ambassador to Guyana, 1979-1981
Robert
Keeley, ambassador to Greece
Harland
Eastman, consul general, Tangier, Morocco, and Tel Aviv, Israel
Ronald
Spiers, undersecretary of state for management
Thomas
Hirschfeld, deputy US representative MBFR Negotiations
Edward
Kane, deputy chief of station, CIA, Iraq
Greg
Thielmann, director office for strategic proliferation military
Affairs, bureau of intelligence and research
Owen
Roberts, ambassador to Togo
Chas
Freeman, ambassador to Saudi Arabia, assistant defence secretary
1993-1994
Thomas
Scotes, ambassador to Yemen 1975-1978
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