John Brown, who joined the State Department in 1981, said he resigned because he could not support Washington's Iraq policy, which he said was fomenting a massive rise in anti-U.S. sentiment around the world, reported Agence France-Presse (AFP) Tuesday, March 11.

In a resignation letter to Secretary of State Colin Powell, Brown said he agreed with J. Brady Kiesling, a diplomat at the U.S. embassy in Athens who quit in February over President George W. Bush's apparent intent on invading Iraq even without U.N. mandate.

"I am joining my colleague John Brady Kiesling in submitting my resignation from the Foreign Service, effective immediately, because I cannot in good conscience support President Bush's war plans against Iraq," he said.

"Throughout the globe the United States is becoming associated with the unjustified use of force," Brown said in the letter.

"The president's disregard for views in other nations, borne out by his neglect of public diplomacy, is giving birth to an anti-American century," charged the resigned diplomat.

"I joined the Foreign Service because I love our country," Brown recalled.

"Respectfully, Mr. Secretary, I am now bringing this calling to a close, with a heavy heart but for the same reason that I embraced it."

Two senior State Department officials confirmed that Powell had received the letter from Brown, who had served at the U.S. embassies in London, Prague, Krakow, Kiev, Belgrade and Moscow before being assigned to be a diplomat-in-residence at Georgetown University in Washington.

Majority of American For More Inspections

In a fresh slap in the face to Bush's war schemes, the majority of Americans questioned in a new CBS poll published Tuesday still favor giving U.N. inspectors more time to do their work in Iraq.

According to the survey, 52 percent polled believe the United States should give the United Nations and weapons inspectors more time, while 44 percent say the United States should take military action soon.

A week earlier, 35 percent supported taking action soon and 60 percent said weapons inspectors should have more time.

The survey also showed there was relatively scant support for the United States acting alone in a military strike against Iraq.

Sixty percent said they believe the United States needs to take into account allies' views before taking military action.

Thirty-six percent said the United States should do what it thinks is right no matter what allies think.

The poll consulted 1010 adults by telephone on March 7-9 and had a margin of error of plus or minus three percent.

But the latest Zogby America poll also showed that despite the increase in overall backing for the war, President Bush's job performance approval rating had slipped from 57 percent to 54 percent since February.

Iraq WMD Disjointed, Limited

In another show of discontent with war-mongers, a senior Australian intelligence official announced his resignation to protest his government's hard line stance on Iraq.

Andrew Wilkie, a senior analyst at the Office of National Assessments (ONA), the agency responsible for briefing Prime Minister John Howard on foreign affairs, told Nine Network television that Australia's policy on Iraq was "dumb and not worth the risk".

Wilkie, who wrote a classified briefing on the humanitarian consequences of war in Iraq late last year, described the country's weapons of mass destruction program as disjointed and limited.

"Iraq does not pose a serious enough security threat to the U.S. or the UK or Australia or any other country," he averred.

The first senior Australian public servant to resign over the Iraq issue, Wilkie said a war could goad Iraqi President Saddam Hussein into creating a humanitarian disaster to tie up invading forces.

"Going to war against Iraq, invading Iraq, is exactly the course of action that's likely to cause Saddam to do the things we're trying to prevent, to lash out recklessly, to use weapons of mass destruction and maybe play the terrorism card," he said.

War Fans Terrorism

Another veteran diplomat threatened that the country's involvement in Iraq war will fuel terrorism.

Richard Woolcott, who served as a diplomat for 50 years and advised seven prime ministers on foreign policy, predicted Australia would join a U.S.-led invasion of Iraq with or without U.N. authorization.

The U.S. presented a draft resolution on Friday, March 7, setting Iraq a deadline of March 17 to disarm or face military aggression.

"Despite what the government says, we are committed to join in hostilities against Iraq, regardless of what the U.N. decides," Woolcott said during the launch of his memoirs titled "The Hot Seat".

Howard’s government has deployed some 2,000 soldiers to the Middle East as part of a massive U.S.-led buildup in preparation for war on Iraq.

But he insists no final decision on whether to join a war has been taken.

Woolcott dismissed this out of hand.

"I know the government speaks of pre-deployment but the former chief of the defense forces ... said the other day it was inconceivable that we could withdraw (the troops)," he said.

"I don't think there is a need for Australia to be involved in a war in the Middle East, in the northern hemisphere, with or without U.N. backing," he stressed.

"Embarrassing"

Also fed up with it’s the government's pro-war stance, an Australian city sent an official delegation to France's consulate here Tuesday to ask for Paris' help in preventing the conflict.

Leaders from Wollongong, an industrial city of 180,000 south of Sydney, met with Consul-General Marc Finaud in a symbolic show of support for France's opposition to U.S.-led plans to invade Iraq.

The nine-member delegation presented Finaud with a motion unanimously adopted by the Wollongong City Council calling on Howard to "pull back from the brink of war", a consulate spokesman said.

"If the Australian government won't represent the interests of Australians, how embarrassing will it be if we go to another government and say 'Our government won't represent us, will you?'," delegation leader Arthur Rorris said prior to the meeting.

Not "Morally Just"

In the Philippines, influential Roman Catholic bishops on Tuesday appealed on the government not to support a U.S.-led war and urged Washington and Baghdad to take steps to avoid hostilities.

In a statement, the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) urged the government "not to be led by the might of superpowers but by right prudential judgment based on fundamental moral principles."

An "imminent war against Iraq is not morally just," warning that even a swift war would radicalize moderates, heighten animosities and lead to an increase of terrorist attacks.

Philippine President Gloria Arroyo, a devout Catholic, has been one of the most vocal Asian supporters of Bush.

About 64 million of the 80 million Filipinos are Catholics, making the Philippines Asia's bastion of Catholicism.