Peter W. Galbraith | |
---|---|
1st United States Ambassador to Croatia | |
In office June 28, 1993 – January 3, 1998 | |
President | Bill Clinton |
Succeeded by | William Dale Montgomery |
Personal details | |
Born | 31 December 1950 |
Nationality | American |
Political party | Democratic |
Spouse(s) | Anne O'Leary,divorced; Tone Bringa |
Relations | John Kenneth Galbraith, father; James K. Galbraith, brother |
Children | three |
Alma mater | Harvard University (A.B.) Oxford University(M.A.) Georgetown University (J.D.) |
Profession | diplomat, public servant, professor, writer |
Peter Woodard Galbraith (born December 31, 1950) is an author, commentator, policy adviser and former United States diplomat. In the late 1980s he helped uncover Saddam Hussein's gassing of the Kurds; in the early 1990s he served as the first U.S. Ambassador to Croatia. He has also been an adviser to U.S. policymakers on Iraq, and has been a strong advocate for independence for the Kurdish provinces of Iraq. In November 2009, it was revealed that Galbraith had financial interests in Kurdish oil fields and stood to reap hundreds of millions of dollars under laws he helped to draft.[1]
Early life and education
He is the son of John Kenneth Galbraith, one of the leading economists of the 20th century, and Catherine (Kitty) Merriam Atwater and the brother of economist James K. Galbraith. After attending the Commonwealth School, he earned an A.B. degree from Harvard College, an M.A. from Oxford University, and a J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center.
Career
Early career
Galbraith was an assistant professor of Social Relations at Windham College in Putney, Vermont, from 1975 to 1978.[2]
Galbraith was a professional staff member for the U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations from 1979 to 1993, where he published many reports about Iraq and took a special interest in the Kurdish regions of Iraq. In 1987, he uncovered Saddam Hussein's systematic destruction of Kurdish villages and a year later wrote the "Prevention of Genocide Act of 1988" which would have imposed comprehensive sanctions on Iraq because of the gassing of the Kurds. The bill unanimously passed the Senate but was opposed by the Reagan Administration as "premature" and did not become law.
In 1993, President Bill Clinton appointed Galbraith as the first United States Ambassador to Croatia. In 1995, he was the co-mediator and principal architect of the Erdut Agreement that ended the war in Croatia by providing for the peaceful reintegration of Serb-held Eastern Slavonia.
From 2000 to 2001 he served with the United Nations in East Timor, where he was head of the UNTAET political section and Cabinet Member for Political Affairs and Timor Sea in East Timor's first Transitional Government. He was East Timor's lead negotiator for maritime boundaries with Australia and produced two agreements, including the 2002 Timor Sea Treaty, that effectively quadrupled East Timor's share of the petroleum resources between the two countries.
He was also a Professor of National Security Strategy at the National War College, in 1999 and between 2001-2003.[3] In 2003, he resigned from the U.S. government service after 24 years.
Later career
Involvement in Iraq Politics
Galbraith favors the independence, legal or de facto, of the northern region of Iraq known as Iraqi Kurdistan, and has advised U.S. policy makers including Joseph Biden and John Kerry on the splitting of Iraq. In 2005, he was instrumental in drafting and obtaining approval for a constitution for the Kurdish provincial government which gave it gave it full control over its oil profits.[1]
Galbraith's 2006 book The End of Iraq: How American Incompetence Created a War Without End, advocates acceptance of a "partition" of Iraq into three parts (Kurd, Shiite Arab, and Sunni Arab) as part of a new U.S. "strategy based on the reality of Iraq", and argues that the U.S.'s "main error" in Iraq has been "wishful thinking."[4]. He has also written extensively on Iraq in the pages of the New York Review of Books.
On October 10th 2009, The Norwegian Business Daily (Dagens Næringsliv) revealed that Galbraith had a financial interest in a Kurdish oil field and that he stood to reap hundreds of millions of dollars due to constitutional provisions he helped draft and his close relationship with the government of Iraqi-Kurdistan [5] In November the New York Times stared covering the story. [1]
After playing a key role in enabling the invasion of Iraq, Galbraith first became one of a handful of U.S. officials who worked on writing the Iraqi Constitution, and after he resigned from U.S. government service, he then continuously posed as an independent expert on the region and, specifically, as an "unpaid" adviser to the Kurds on the Constitution. Galbraith was an ardent and vocal advocate for Kurdish autonomy, arguing tirelessly in numerous venues for such proposals—including in multiple Op-Eds for The New York Times—and insisting that Kurds must have the right to control oil resources located in Northern Iraq. Throughout the years of writing those Op-Eds, he was identified as nothing more than "a former United States ambassador to Croatia," except in one 2007 Op-Ed which vaguely stated that he "is a principal in a company that does consulting in Iraq and elsewhere." When he participated in a New York Times forum in October, 2008—regarding what the next President should be required to answer—he posed questions that advocated for regional autonomy for Iraqis generally and Kurds specifically, and he was identified as nothing more than the author of a book about the region.
What Galbraith kept completely concealed all these years was that a company he formed in 2004 came to acquire a large stake in a Kurdish oil field whereby, as the New York Times put it, he "stands to earn perhaps a hundred million or more dollars." In other words, he had a direct—and vast—financial stake in the very policies which he was publicly advocating in the New York Times, the Washington Post, the New York Review of Books and countless other American media outlets, where he was presented as an independent expert on the region.[6] The New York Times has since stated in an editorial published on November 13, 2009 that "Mr. Galbraith signed a contract that obligated him to disclose his financial interests in the subjects of his articles. Had editors been aware of Mr. Galbraith’s financial stake [in Iraqi oil], the Op-Ed page would have insisted on disclosure or not published his articles".[7]
Vermont politics
On January 17, 2008 Galbraith announced that he was considering a run for the governorship of Vermont. He would have run as a Democrat against the incumbent Republican governor Jim Douglas and Progressive Anthony Pollina in the 2008 elections.[8] On May 13, he announced that he would not be running and said he would back former House Speaker Gaye Symington instead.[9]
Deputy Envoy to Afghanistan
Galbraith was announced as the next United Nations' Deputy Special Representative for Afghanistan on March 25, 2009.[10] He is considered a close ally of Richard Holbrooke, the U.S. Special Representative to Afghanistan.[11]
However, Galbraith abruptly left the country in mid September 2009 at the request of UN Special Representative to Afghanistan Kai Eide following a dispute over the handling of the reported fraud in the 2009 Afghan presidential election.[12] On September 30, the UN announced that he had been removed from his position by Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.[13] In response to his firing, Galbraith told The Times, "I was not prepared to be complicit in a cover-up or in an effort to downplay the fraud that took place. I felt we had to face squarely the fraud that took place. Kai downplayed the fraud."[14][15]
Other activities
Galbraith is a senior diplomatic fellow at the Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation and a principal in the Windham Resources Group, that does work in Iraq.[16]
Personal life
He and his wife, a Norwegian social anthropologist, Tone Bringa, have three children and a home in Townshend, Vermont. Two previous marriages ended in divorce.
Galbraith was a good friend of the twice elected Prime Minister of Pakistan Benazir Bhutto, dating back to their student days at Harvard and Oxford Universities, and was instrumental in Bhutto's release from prison in Pakistan for a medical treatment abroad during the military dictatorship of General Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq.
Writings
- Galbraith, Peter (2006), The End of Iraq: How American Incompetence Created a War without End; Simon and Schuster. ISBN 0743294238
- Galbraith, Peter W. (2008), Unintended Consequences: How War in Iraq Strengthened America's Enemies; Simon & Schuster. ISBN 1416562257
References
- ^ a b c Gibbs, Walter (2009-11-12). "American Adviser to Kurds Stands to Reap Oil Profits". The New York Times.
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(help) - ^ BBC News (2009-10-05). "Sacked UN man attacks mission". BBC.com.
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(help) - ^ Galbraith, Peter (2006). The End of Iraq: How American Incompetence Created a War without End. Simon and Schuster. pp. 4, 12, 222, 224. ISBN 0743294238.
- ^ Gyldenskog, Vanvik (2009-10-10). "Kicked top diplomat in the controversial dual role". Dagens Næringsliv.
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ignored (help) - ^ Editorial Board (2009-11-13). "Editor's Note". The New York Times.
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(help) - ^ Curran, John (2008-01-22). "Former Ambassador Testing the Waters for Gubenatorial Bid". Boston.com.
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(help) - ^ WCAX News (2008-05-13). "Galbraith Not Running for Governor". WCAX.com.
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(help) - ^ Press Release (2009-03-25). "Secretary-General Appoints Peter W. Galbraith Of United States As Deputy Special Representative For Afghanistan". Secretary-General Department of Public Information.
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(help) - ^ Bone, James (2009-03-17). "US strengthens diplomatic presence in Afghanistan". Times Online.
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suggested) (help) - ^ Bone, James (2009-09-15). "UN chief Peter Galbraith is removed in Afghanistan poll clash". Times Online.
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suggested) (help) - ^ Oppel, Richard A. (2009-09-30). "After Clash Over Afghan Election, U.N. Fires a Diplomat". The New York Times.
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suggested) (help) - ^ Bone, James (2009-10-01). "Sacked envoy Peter Galbraith accuses UN of 'cover-up' on Afghan vote fraud". Times Online.
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(help) - ^ Hockenberry, John (2009-10-01). "Dismissed Afghan Envoy Speaks Out". Transcript of interview with Peter Galbraith. TheTakeAway.org.
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suggested) (help) - ^ Holhut, Randolph T. (2009-11-12). "Galbraith to speak tonight". Battleboro Reformer.
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External links
- "Peter W. Galbraith". Book reviews and articles. New York Review of Books. 2009.
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(help) - "Fired UN Official Accuses the U.N. of Helping Cover Up Electoral Fraud". Transcript and Video of Interview. Democracy Now. 2009-10-05.
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(help) - "Sacked UN diplomat speaks out". Short Video clip of Hard Talk Interview. BBC. 2009-10-14.
- "Staff profile Peter Galbraith". Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation.
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