The Foreign Service Journal, June 2005

traband. Further, our emissaries in Paris seeking an accommodation with the governing Directorywere rudely dismissed by Foreign Minister Talley- rand. John Adams, the second U.S. pres- ident, was pilloried for not respond- ing to these affronts to our honor with a request that Congress declare war. But Adams had seen enough war- induced suffering to treat hostilities between nations as a last, unpalatable resort. “Great is the guilt of an unnecessary war,” he wrote. Even though his own Cabinet conspired against him, the president held firm. Subsequent events confirmed the wisdom of his resolve. Fast forward. If President Bush and his closest advisers have any mis- givings about the decision to go to war — and the disastrous management of the post-Saddam era — they are well concealed from the public. On the contrary, we see key figures in the unfolding debacle publicly com- mended. Former CIA Director George Tenet, for one, assured the p resident that finding WMD in Iraq was a “slam dunk.” He provided the “facts” for 30 or so false or distorted claims made by Secretary of State Colin Powell before the United Nations. When no WMD were dis- covered after the invasion (despite unlimited access and a huge, unprecedented investigation), our county’s highest-ranking intelligence o fficer remained silent for 18 months. Coincidentally or not, these were the same months that a presidential cam- paign was taking place. His reward: the Medal of Freedom, our nation’s highest civilian honor. Alberto Gonzales, the president’s choice for attorney general, was deeply involved in two abrupt changes of policy that are likely to p rove immensely harmful to U.S. interests and prestige. He endorsed the position that certain provisions of the Geneva Convention are obsolete and do not apply in Afghanistan, Iraq and Guantanamo Bay, and that the p resident has the power to put in place a narrower, more permissive definition of torture, and to authorize its use. The immediate consequences (documented by the horrific pictures of abuse at Abu Ghraib and else- where) are shown repeatedly throughout the Arab world. It is dif- ficult to escape the conclusion that they will serve as a powerful stimulus for al-Qaida recruitment for years to come. How anyone could argue that these departures from the moral high ground could be in our national inter- est defies explanation. Those who followed Mr. Gonzales’ confirmation hearings in the hope of getting some insight into his reason- ing for taking these positions were disappointed. According to Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., stonewalling and evasion were the order of the day. Nevertheless, the White House con- cluded these egregious examples of Mr. Gonzales’ judgment in no way disqualify him for the critical post of attorney general. P resident Adams, where are you when we need you? Arthur S. Lezin FSO-USAID, retired Bend, Ore. Intelligent Dialogue The article “The Anatomy of Ter- rorism” by Ambassador Ron Spiers ( FSJ , September 2004) impressed me greatly. It is imperative for those of us with international knowledge and experience to communicate our con- cerns to our country’s leaders regard- ing the mistakes we are making in international affairs, in the hope that our government will take corrective measures. I believe the real roots of the ter- 10 F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L / J U N E 2 0 0 5 L E T T E R S u