Former diplomats attack Bush

Fifty-three former United States diplomats on Tuesday accuse the White House of sacrificing US’s credibility in the Arab world — and the safety of its diplomats and soldiers — because of the Bush administration’s support for the Israeli Prime Minister, Ariel Sharon.

The strongly worded rebuke, which paid tribute to last week’s broadside from more than 50 former British diplomats against the government’s policy in Iraq, marked a rare public display of dissent for state department personnel.

Its central charge that the Bush administration is unfairly tilted towards Sharon arrives at a time when Washington’s strategy in the Middle East is in tatters. George Bush has invested heavily in Sharon’s proposal for an Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, and gone a step further by endorsing a continued Jewish settlement in the occupied West Bank.

The overwhelming rejection of the proposal by Likud voters on Sunday was seen in Washington on Monday as a direct snub to Bush. But the White House reaffirmed its support for Sharon.

On Monday he said he would modify his disengagement plan but gave no details, while earlier members of his government said the setback was temporary, and the withdrawal from Gaza would go ahead. ”There is no doubt disengagement is inevitable and unstoppable,” the deputy prime minister, Ehud Olmert, said. ”The alternative is more murder, terrorism and attacks without any wise answer for what 7 500 Jewish [settlers] are doing among 1,2-million Palestinians [in Gaza].”

Sharon’s troubles are due for further scrutiny at a meeting in New York on Tuesday of the sponsors of the peace road map 0- the US, the EU, Russia and the United Nations. But there is no doubt the rebuff from Likud will be seen as an embarrassment to Washington, one that is further deepened by the critique from an assembly of US government personnel with decades of experience.

The last broadside from American diplomats was delivered during the Vietnam war era. It is particularly unusual for US government personnel to criticise policy on Israel.

Unlike the British version, which was scathing of Blair’s alliance with Washington in Iraq as well as Israel and the Palestinians, the American diplomats’ critique was wholly focused on Middle East policy.

It said Washington had overthrown decades of US diplomatic tradition last month when Bush endorsed a plan for Gaza with no Palestinian involvement. ”By closing the door to negotiations with Palestinians and the possibility of a Palestinian state, you have proved that the US 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,” the letter says.

It goes on to accuse the Bush administration of ”unabashed support” for Israel’s strategy of assassinating Palestinian leaders and military operatives, and urges Washington to change course. ”A return to the time-honoured American tradition of fairness will turn the present tide of ill will in Europe and the Middle East — even in Iraq,” it adds.

The letter, which was initiated by a former ambassador to Qatar, Andrew Killgore, was endorsed mainly by those who had served for years in Arab countries. Supporters include the former ambassadors to India, Saudi Arabia, Syria and Egypt. The petition was also endorsed by two recent rebels against the Bush administration policy: John Brady Kiesling, who resigned last year in protest against the war, and Greg Thielmann, an intelligence analyst who accused Washington of distorting information on Iraqi weapons programmes.

But their numbers do not include former administration officials who have been most closely associated with peacemaking efforts.