A retired U.S. Army Colonel who resigned from her post as a diplomat for the state department because of the invasion of Iraq spoke to local residents and activists Thursday in downtown Centralia.
Mary Ann Wright grabbed worldwide media attention in March 2003 when she submitted a letter of resignation to then Secretary of State Colin Powell a day before the invasion of Iraq. Wright, who was one of three State Department employees to step down, spoke to a crowd of 30 people in an afternoon talk at the Centralia Carpenters Building on North Pearl Street.
Her free-ranging talk lasted more than an hour, and touched on issues from the current wars in Iraq and Afghanistan to civil liberties as they pertain to the Patriot Act and the Bush Administrations rhetoric with regards to Iran.
Wright, who spent 29 years in the military, said that it was the administrations decision to invade without United Nations authorization that eventually led her to resign. At the time, she was Deputy Chief of Mission at the U.S. embassy in Mongolia. She said that it is alarming that much of the same rhetoric is being lodged against Iran in the same way that it was leading up to the War in Iraq.
You dont know what can happen until you try it, she said. And I firmly believe we should be engaging in talks with the Iranians over their weapons program.
The former diplomat, who helped reopen the U.S. Embassy in Afghanistan in 2002, is a friend of Lewis County activists Bill and Lela McNutt. The couple said they met Wright at Camp Casey near President George W. Bushs ranch in Crawford, Texas.
Ann was the backbone, said Lela McNutt, who said she slept in ditches and was bitten by bugs while at Camp Casey, which was named after the son of activist Cindy Sheehan. She was the first to show up, cleaning up trash, and the last to leave.
Bill McNutt, a former Marine, saluted Wright at the conclusion of the talk, which ended with a question and answer session. Wright was introduced to the crowd by Rick Burnley, a musician and poet who Lela McNutt said was the official laureate of Camp Casey. Burnley introduced Wright over the phone while Lela McNutt held a microphone to the receiver.
In the White House, at the helm of our nation, we have a murderous clown, Burnley said, adding that rising up during this time of darkness are several points of light.
Wright followed the introduction by thanking local activists who hold weekly demonstrations against the war in downtown Centralia. She said that though public opinion polls indicate that the effort to gain support against the war has been a success, the effort to gain support from electeds has not been fruitful.
It is very frustrating, Wright said during an interview following her talk. We have expected in the past in our country that elected officials would be responsive to their constituents. … When theyre not, thats whats really called a dictatorship. It is a government that doesnt reflect the will of the people.
Wright said that the only reason the country has avoided the implementation of a draft is the large number of contractors that have been dispatched to the Iraq region. This, she said, is just one example of how corporate interests have begun to trump the interests of the American people. Wright issued statements concerning Powell as well. Her letter of resignation to Powell cited the war in Iraq, along with the situations in North Korea, Israel and Palestine, and the unnecessary curtailment of rights in America.
I think he was more loyal to the Bush family than he was to the public, Wright said of Powell. I think he really did let us down.
Much of Wrights talk was highlighted by examples of officials in the U.S. and other countries who have spoken out against the War in Iraq. Her recently published book, Dissent: Voices of Conscience was part of the reason for her visit. Wright is currently on a book tour, she said.
Eric Schwartz covers municipal government and health for The Chronicle. He may be reached at 807-8245.
