The Foreign Service Journal, July-August 2011

in my onward assignment as minister counselor and deputy chief of mission in Santiago. Historically, DCMs in Chile had gone on to become ambassadors. In this way, the “network” was making sure that my dissenting views on Cyprus did not end my career. There is a denouement to the story. Almost 30 years after the Cyprus crisis of 1973-1975, Henry Kissinger spoke at a luncheon hosted by the American Academy of Diplomacy. In the question period following his remarks, Dr. Kissinger found occasion to refer to the crisis. He stated that Tom Boyatt had written “a prescient memo- randum that did not receive the attention it deserved.” He then terminated this brief apologia with a witty re- mark about how his well-known paranoia had degenerated into masochism. This brought the house down in laugh- ter. In this public forum, I would like to thank Secretary Kissinger for his kind public words on that occasion. Every one of the 150 distinguished retired FSOs in that room got the message. — Thomas D. Boyatt J U LY- A U G U S T 2 0 1 1 / F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L 29 F O C U S branches, which threatened to paralyze the federal gov- ernment. It would be a long time before Congress would compromise on major issues of foreign policy such as war powers. In this sense, at least, the Boyatt case played an impor- tant role, precisely because, in most people’s eyes, it did not constitute a major issue, and could thus serve as a sym- bol of congressional compromise without actually giving up very much. Under pressure from the press as well as the American public, the Pike Committee acquiesced to this logic. In an 8 to 5 vote, it accepted Kissinger’s amal- gamation. The Boyatt affair was the first and last time that Con- gress and the press engaged in public debate about access to Dissent Channel messages. This case nonetheless pre- figured fundamental questions about diplomatic dissent writing and public transparency that would resurface in re- sponse to diplomatic dissent over the Iraq War and other more recent issues.