Former Diplomat says Many in Government View Iraq War as Crazy

EUREKA SPRINGS, Ark. (AP) - A former diplomat from Arkansas, who said she resigned from the U.S. Foreign Service in part as a protest against the war in Iraq, says many people in the government believe the war is crazy, but are afraid to speak out.

“In order to speak out, you have to resign from the government,” Ann Wright said.

Wright, who grew up in Bentonville, graduated from the University of Arkansas and joined the Army to get out of Arkansas - later joining the Foreign Service - returned to her home state Wednesday to speak at an anti-war gathering sponsored by Veterans for Peace.

Also speaking at the meeting was Cindy Sheehan of Vacaville, Calif., the “peace mom” who last summer led protests outside President Bush’s Texas ranch. Sheehan’s son, Army Spc. Casey Sheehan, 24, was killed in Iraq in April 2004.

Wright was deputy chief of mission at the U.S. Embassy in Ulan Bator, Mongolia, when she resigned from the State Department in March 2003.

She said many of her peers in the government thought the war was “the craziest thing” but no one wanted to speak against the administration’s decision to start it. Wright said it was a bad idea to start the war without the support of the United Nations.

Sheehan said she’s often “preaching to the choir” when she speaks against the war, but she urges everyone in that choir to start singing.

“When we have demonstrations, millions of people should be out on the streets demanding to bring our troops back,” she said.

Sheehan, who described her son as a “sweet, gentle young man,” said her short-term goal is to get the government to pull the troops out of Iraq.

She said she started speaking out to put a human face on the war, a war she said was unnecessarily started to provide profits for corporate colonialism. But the number of opponents to the war is growing, Sheehan said, and “I think we are prevailing and (American troops will) be home soon.”

Outside the municipal auditorium where the event was held, Julie Smithwick, 43, of Green Forest held a sign saying “Cindy … you do not speak for me. I support our troops.”

Smithwick, who said her son is in the Marines and will be heading to Iraq in the fall, said she does not like hearing Sheehan say she is speaking out for the American people. Smithwick said she can speak for herself.

“I can’t see any serviceman who wants the war, but it’s their job,” she said. “Sometimes we have to get dirty.”

©2006 Associated Press.