Bill Sykes' Newsletter from America.
(Special Edition - Mid February 2003)
An ex-Brit gives his views-(without fear
or favor)---of the American Scene
NATO in disarray.
Munich, ( 9th February 2003), the United States
cited a three-week deadlock in NATO about contingency
planning to meet the request of Turkey for the provision,
by the United States, of Patriot missiles and other defensive
weapons, so say to intercept incoming Iraqi missiles should
a war occur, has been blocked by France along with Germany
and Belgium.
 We
all know the so called defensive weapons can immediately
become offensive weapons in the event of a war with Iraq.
The United States has pledged that Turkey will get all
the help it needs, bi-laterally if necessary. American
Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld attending the Munich
meetings, issued an uncompromising challenge to both the
United Nations and NATO over the Iraq situation and stated,
“That these acts of irresponsibility could happen
now, at this moment in history, is breathtaking”.
Mr. Rumsfeld was extremely critical of France, Germany
and Belgium and was quoted as saying, “ These are
inexcusable actions by these nations to postpone alliance
planning to defend Turkey in the event of a war against
Iraq”.
The influential German newspaper Der Spiegel reported
that France and Germany were considering plans to deploy
thousands of peacekeepers and hundreds more weapons inspectors
to prevent military conflict in Iraq.
American Officials were livid and denounced the fact that
they heard the possible plan from reporters.
Can it be said that Mr. Rumsfeld’s apparent lack
of diplomacy and his somewhat angry response to the three
detractors wasn’t very well received by the International
European Community and led to demonstrations in Munich
called by religious and labor leaders, which were attended
by thousands of people to protest a possible war with
Iraq. Strange goings on indeed — if one can remember
that far back, I believe that Munich was the center of
discussion and dissent prior to World War Two.
My idea of what a diplomat should be.
 Over
the years I’ve developed my own ideas as to what
I consider to be the ideal qualities of a diplomat.
A diplomat should be highly intelligent, well educated,
well spoken, have the ability to converse with his opposite
numbers on an equal basis and put his country’s
position eloquently without rancor, aggression, or sarcasm,
and also have considerable knowledge of the country that
he is assigned to. This knowledge should include, the
ability to speak the language of the country, knowledge
of their customs and religion, their geography, their
history, to name but a few of the qualities that the diplomat
must possess.
Does Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld have these qualifications?
Not exactly. What about Secretary of State Powell? I would
suggest that if he was allowed off the leash and able
to practice his own degree of diplomacy, without having
to toe the Party line, maybe he could be a better bet.
We welcome feedback about any of the contents
of these newsletters. Please send all correspondence to
bill_sykes@huddersfield1.co.uk
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