Peter van Buren

Peter van Buren was born in New York City.

Van Buren served in the U.S. Department of State for 24 years, including a year in Iraq as a team leader for two Provincial Reconstruction Teams (PRTs).{{Cite web|url=https://www.thenation.com/authors/peter-van-buren/|title=Peter Van Buren|date=May 16, 2011|website=The Nation|language=en-US|access-date=2018-04-04}}

After his book, We Meant Well: How I Helped Lose the Battle for the Hearts and Minds of the Iraqi People, was published in 2012 Van Buren claims to have experienced a series of escalating, adverse actions.{{cite web|url=http://www.salon.com/2012/04/12/the_man_the_state_dept_wants_silenced/|title=The man the State Dept. wants silenced|website=Salon|date=12 April 2012|publisher=}}{{cite web |url=http://washdiplomat.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=8467:us-foreign-service-officer-blacklisted-for-scathing-expose&catid=1491&Itemid=428#.UBvzWsf_Hx4.twitter |title=U.S. Foreign Service Officer Blacklisted for Scathing Exposé |last1=Seminara |first1=Dave |date=July 31, 2012 |website=The Washington Diplomat |access-date=June 24, 2018 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20160327134507/http://washdiplomat.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=8467:us-foreign-service-officer-blacklisted-for-scathing-expose&catid=1491&Itemid=428 |archivedate=March 27, 2016 |url-status=live }} According to his former employer, the U. S. State Department, van Buren had not properly cleared his book for publication under Department rules, and the book contained unauthorized disclosures of classified material.{{cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/states-actions-against-peter-van-buren-offer-a-few-lessons-on-use-of-classified-info-power/2011/10/27/gIQAdAcHNM_story.html |title=State's actions against Peter Van Buren offer a few lessons on use of classified info, power |last1=Davidson |first1=Joe |date=October 27, 2011 |newspaper=The Washington Post |access-date=June 24, 2018 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20180624060718/https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/states-actions-against-peter-van-buren-offer-a-few-lessons-on-use-of-classified-info-power/2011/10/27/gIQAdAcHNM_story.html |archivedate=June 24, 2018 |url-status=live }} The Washington Post noted that "Van Buren has tested the First Amendment almost daily."{{cite news| url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/federal-eye/post/state-dept-moves-to-fire-peter-van-buren-author-of-book-critical-of-iraq-reconstruction-effort/2012/01/31/gIQAiXNSCS_blog.html | newspaper=The Washington Post | first=Lisa | last=Rein | title=State Dept. moves to fire Peter Van Buren, author of book critical of Iraq reconstruction effort | date=March 14, 2012 |access-date=June 24, 2018 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20180624064113/https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/federal-eye/post/state-dept-moves-to-fire-peter-van-buren-author-of-book-critical-of-iraq-reconstruction-effort/2012/01/31/gIQAiXNSCS_blog.html |archivedate=June 24, 2018 |url-status=live }} The Government Accountability Project and the ACLU helped defend van Buren, and the State Department eventually allowed him to retire with his standard pension and benefits.{{cite web|url=http://diplopundit.net/category/peter-van-buren/|title=Diplopundit.net|publisher=}}{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/08/world/us-envoy-peter-van-buren-takes-caustic-pen-to-iraq-war.html?_r=1&pagewanted=all|title=U.S. Envoy, Peter Van Buren, Takes Caustic Pen to Iraq War|date=7 October 2011|work=The New York Times}}{{cite web |url=https://foreignpolicy.com/articles/2011/09/29/how_i_became_a_state_department_outcast |title=How the State Department Came After Me (For telling the truth about what I saw in Iraq) |last1=Van Buren |first1=Peter |date=September 29, 2011 |website=Foreign Policy |publisher=FP Group (Graham Holdings Company) |access-date=June 24, 2018 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20180206092942/https://foreignpolicy.com/2011/09/29/how-the-state-department-came-after-me/ |archivedate=February 6, 2018 |url-status=live }}

Van Buren was associate producer for the film Silenced (2014) by James Spione.{{cite web|url=http://tribecafilm.com/filmguide/53208997c07f5df7d2000113-silenced|title=Silenced |website=Tribeca Film Festival}}{{cite web|url=http://nakededgefilms.com/films/silenced/|title=Silenced|first=Mattia |last=Viviani |website=Naked Edge Films}}

In August 2018, Twitter banned Van Buren for life for writing that "harasses, intimidates, or uses fear to silence someone else's voice."{{cite web |url=https://www.theamericanconservative.com/articles/i-was-banned-for-life-from-twitter/ |title=I Was Banned for Life From Twitter |last1=Van Buren |first1=Peter |date=August 9, 2018 |website=The American Conservative |publisher=American Ideas Institute |access-date=August 10, 2018 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20180810042328/https://www.theamericanconservative.com/articles/i-was-banned-for-life-from-twitter/ |archivedate=August 10, 2018 |url-status=live}}

• {{cite book|title=Hooper's War: A Novel of WWII Japan|publisher= Luminis Books|date= May 15, 2017 |isbn= 978-1941311127}}
• {{cite book|title=Ghosts of Tom Joad: A Story of the #99 Percent|publisher= Luminis Books|date= April 25, 2014|isbn= 978-1935462910}}
• {{cite book|title=We Meant Well|url=https://archive.org/details/wemeantwellhowih0000vanb|url-access=registration|publisher= Metropolitan Books|date= September 27, 2011 |isbn=9780805094367}}
• {{cite book|title=Why Peace (as a contributor)|publisher= Marc Guttman|date= April 23, 2012 |asin=B007WTUR6E}}

{{Reflist}}

• [http://wemeantwell.com/ Website] (wemeantwell.com)
• [https://twitter.com/WeMeantWell Twitter account] (@wemeantwell) - account suspended August 2018

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Category:Living people

Category:1960 births

Category:American diplomats

Category:American political writers

Category:American male non-fiction writers