In February he made headlines when he publicly resigned in protest over the war in Iraq. At the time he was political counselor in the U.S. Embassy in Athens. His postings included Morocco, Armenia, Israel and Greece. In 1994 Kiesling was one of a group of foreign service professionals presented with the Rivkin Award, given by the American Foreign Service Association for constructive dissent. Kiesling was also a member of the group of State Department officials that pushed for intervention in Bosnia.