The letter of the 52 Diplomats to Tony Blair

by Brian · 26 April, 2004

Letter of 26 April 2004 from 52 former British ambassadors, high commissioners and others to the Prime Minister on the government’s middle east policies

Dear Prime Minister,

We the undersigned former British ambassadors, high commissioners, governors and senior international officials, including some who have long experience of the Middle East and others whose experience is elsewhere, have watched with deepening concern the policies which you have followed on the Arab-Israel problem and Iraq, in close co-operation with the United States. Following the press conference in Washington at which you and President Bush restated these policies, we feel the time has come to make our anxieties public, in the hope that they will be addressed in Parliament and will lead to a fundamental reassessment.

The decision by the USA, the EU, Russia and the UN to launch a “Road Map” for the settlement of the Israel/Palestine conflict raised hopes that the major powers would at last make a determined and collective effort to resolve a problem which, more than any other, has for decades poisoned relations between the West and the Islamic and Arab worlds. The legal and political principles on which such a settlement would be based were well established; President Clinton had grappled with the problem during his Presidency; the ingredients needed for a settlement were well understood; and informal agreements on several of them had already been achieved. But the hopes were ill-founded. Nothing effective has been done either to move the negotiations forward or to curb the violence. Britain and the other sponsors of the Road Map merely waited on American leadership, but waited in vain.

Worse was to come. After all those wasted months, the international community has now been confronted with the announcement by Ariel Sharon and President Bush of new policies which are one-sided and illegal and which will cost yet more Israeli and Palestinian blood. Our dismay at this backward step is heightened by the fact that you yourself seem to have endorsed it, abandoning the principles which for nearly four decades have guided international efforts to restore peace in the Holy Land and which have been the basis for such successes as those efforts have produced.

This abandonment of principle comes at a time when rightly or wrongly we are portrayed throughout the Arab and Muslim world as partners in an illegal and brutal occupation in Iraq.

The conduct of the war in Iraq has made it clear that there was no effective plan for the post-Saddam settlement. All those with experience of the area predicted that the occupation of Iraq by the Coalition forces would meet serious and stubborn resistance, as has proved to be the case. To describe the resistance as led by terrorists, fanatics and foreigners is neither convincing nor helpful. Policy must take account of the nature and history of Iraq, the most complex country in the region. However much Iraqis may yearn for a democratic society, the belief that one could now be created by the Coalition is naive. This is the view of virtually all independent specialists on the region, both in Britain and in America. We are glad to note that you and the President have welcomed the proposals outlined by Lakhdar Brahimi. We must be ready to provide what support he requests, and to give authority to the United Nations to work with the Iraqis themselves, including those who are now actively resisting the occupation, to clear up the mess.

The military actions of the Coalition forces must be guided by political objectives and by the requirements of the Iraq theatre itself, not by criteria remote from them. It is not good enough to say that the use of force is a matter for local commanders. Heavy weapons unsuited to the task in hand, inflammatory language, the current confrontations in Najaf and Falluja, all these have built up rather than isolated the opposition. The Iraqis killed by coalition forces probably total between ten and fifteen thousand (it is a disgrace that the Coalition forces themselves appear to have no estimate), and the number killed in the last month in Falluja alone is apparently several hundred including many civilian men, women and children. Phrases such as “We mourn each loss of life. We salute them, and their families for their bravery and their sacrifice”, apparently referring only to those who have died on the Coalition side, are not well judged to moderate the passions these killings arouse.

We share your view that the British government has an interest in working as closely as possible with the United States on both these related issues, and in exerting real influence as a loyal ally. We believe that the need for such influence is now a matter of the highest urgency. If that is unacceptable or unwelcome there is no case for supporting policies which are doomed to failure.

Yours faithfully,

Sir Brian Barder , former high commissioner, Australia*

Paul Bergne, former diplomat; formerly Prime Minister’s Special Representative , Afghanistan ,  and ambassador to Uzbekistan

Sir John Birch, former ambassador, Hungary and ambassador, deputy Permanent Representative, UN

Sir David Blatherwick, former ambassador, Ireland

Graham Hugh Boyce, former ambassador, Egypt

Sir Julian Bullard, former ambassador, Federal Republic of Germany

Juliet Campbell, former ambassador, Luxembourg

Sir Bryan Cartledge, former ambassador, USSR

Sir Terence Clark, former ambassador, Iraq

David Hugh Colvin, former ambassador, Belgium

Francis Cornish, former ambassador, Israel and high commissioner, Brunei

Sir James Craig, former ambassador, Saudi Arabia

Sir Brian Crowe, former director general, external and defence affairs, Council of the European Union

Basil Eastwood, former ambassador, Syria

Sir Stephen Egerton, former ambassador, Saudi Arabia

William Fullerton, former ambassador, Morocco

Dick Fyjis-Walker, former ambassador, Sudan and Pakistan

Sir Marrack Goulding, former head of UN peacekeeping

Sir John Graham, former ambassador to Iran and Nato

Sir Andrew Green, former ambassador, Syria and Saudi Arabia

Victor Henderson, former ambassador, Yemen

Peter Hinchcliffe, former ambassador, Jordan

Brian Hitch, former high commissioner, Malta

Sir Archie Lamb, former ambassador, Norway

Sir David Logan, former ambassador, Turkey

Christopher Long , former ambassador, Switzerland

The Hon Ivor Lucas, former ambassador to Oman and Syria

Ian McCluney, former ambassador, Somalia

Maureen MacGlashan, foreign service in Israel

Philip McLean, former ambassador, Cuba

Sir Christopher MacRae, former ambassador, Chad

Oliver Miles, diplomatic service in Middle East

Martin Morland, former ambassador, Burma

Sir Keith Morris, former ambassador, Colombia

Sir Richard Muir, former ambassador, Kuwait

Sir Alan Munro, former ambassador, Saudi Arabia

Stephen Nash, former ambassador, Latvia

Robin O’Neill, former ambassador, Austria

Andrew Palmer, former ambassador, Cuba and Holy See

Bill Quantrill, former ambassador, Cameroon

Sir David Ratford, former ambassador, Norway

Sir Tom Richardson, former ambassador to Italy and ambassador, deputy Permanent Representative, UN

Andrew Stuart, former ambassador, Finland

David Tatham, former governor, Falkland Islands and ambassador to Yemen

Sir Crispin Tickell, former UN ambassador

Derek Tonkin, former ambassador, Thailand

Charles Treadwell, former ambassador, UAE and Oman

Hugh Tunnell, former ambassador, Bahrain

Jeremy Varcoe, former ambassador, Somalia

Sir Harold “Hooky” Walker, former ambassador, Iraq

Sir Michael Weir, former ambassador, Egypt

Alan White, former ambassador, Chile

*Former positions held have been added, are not meant to be comprehensive, and were not included in the original letter.
Some of those listed as having been heads of mission in non-middle east posts have had experience of the middle east during their careers.