Just Like in Bowling the Pins are Falling

by Jim Moore

03/31/2003

I'm not sure whether I am happy or sad to bring you this tidbit of foreign news, actually, I'm a bit of both, and you'll see why soon enough.

It was just reported in the BBC News---the American news outlets will gloss this one over too---that another U.S. representative of the United States Government has resigned, stating that Washington policies towards Iraq and North Korea are making the world more dangerous .

You may wonder why North Korea surfaced in this equation along with Iraq. 

Ask this lady.

Ann Wright, the U.S. diplomat who resigned is deputy chief of mission at the U.S. Embassy in the Mongolian capital of Ulan Bator. I realize that Mongolia is not exactly at the center of the current action, but it's a lot closer to North Korea in Wright's mind (if not in miles) than Iraq. And I hardly need remind you that anyone capable of rational thought knows why North Korea is dangerous. 

Wright resigned from the U.S. diplomatic service for two reasons.

She wrote that the policy of pre-emptive attack on Iraq will provide justification for individuals and groups to pre-emptively attack America and its citizens. 

Tit for tat, Wright maintains, is a dangerous game to play.
Wright is also at odds with the administration over its lack of contact with North Korea since the crisis over its nuclear program began last October.

Who can blame her? Bush & Blair, the Pugnacious Pair, have become so mesmerized by their need to find weapons of mass destruction in Iraq---which to date have been MIA---that they refused to give any preferential thought to the country that poses the most danger of all. 

North Korea, in case you've been out of the country, already HAS nuclear weapons and indicates that it may not hesitate to send them over our way if pushed too far. 
Bush and Blair may not be worried, but Ms. Wright--and Lord know how many Yanks and Brits---do not share their unconcern. Which prompted her resignation.

Interestingly, but not unexpectedly, Wright is the fourth U.S diplomat that has resigned their position in the past several weeks. 

And this writer feels privileged to tell you about all of them.
First, there was John Brady Kiesling of the U.S. Foreign Service, who resigned from government service because "the policies we are now asked to advance are incompatible not only with American values but also with American interests."

Next was John Walters, Chairman of the Boone Country Republican Central Committee. Mr. Walters sent in a letter of resignation because he realized that "the administration's foreign policy was terribly wrong and dangerous, and that he is aware of the threat to America that this errant policy is causing."

Then, most recently, John Brown, also of the U.S. Foreign Service suddenly realized that he had had enough. In his resignation letter to the Secretary of State, Brown said that President Bush had failed to convince the American people, and the world, that massive force should be used against Iraq at this time. Also, Brown said that he "felt an obligation as an American to speak out against the president's failure to justify a questionable policy."
Ms. Wright's resignation-- the fourth government official to break ranks in the past few weeks---does not necessarily signify that the Bush's administration is starting to fall apart, or that the American system of political pressure and delicate diplomacy is tearing loose at the seams. 

But, like in a bowling alley, when a child rolls the ball slowly down the lane, and it finally gets to the pins, they don't slam into each other and go sailing off in all directions. 

Rather, it is a gentle bumping against pins, one at time, until, by some unseen force, each one topples gently over. It takes more time, of course, and isn't quite as aggressive as adult bowling, but the result is the same. Pins keep falling.

When the next politician resigns, count on this writer, who is watching the game, to tell you which pin fell down that time. 

Jim Moore
Jmoore1819@aol.com