Our security has been weakened.
Boston Blackie
DIPLOMATS AND MILITARY COMMANDERS FOR CHANGE
The undersigned have held positions of responsibility for the planning
and execution of American foreign and defense policy. Collectively, we
have served every president since Harry S. Truman. Some of us are
Democrats, some are Republicans or Independents, many voted for George
W. Bush. But we all believe that current Administration policies have
failed in the primary responsibilities of preserving national security
and providing world leadership. Serious issues are at stake. We need a
change.
From the outset, President George W. Bush adopted an overbearing
approach to America's role in the world, relying upon military might and
righteousness, insensitive to the concerns of traditional friends and
allies, and disdainful of the United Nations. Instead of building upon
America's great economic and moral strength to lead other nations in a
coordinated campaign to address the causes of terrorism and to stifle
its resources, the Administration, motivated more by ideology than by
reasoned analysis, struck out on its own. It led the United States into
an ill-planned and costly war from which exit is uncertain. It justified
the invasion of Iraq by manipulation of uncertain intelligence about
weapons of mass destruction, and by a cynical campaign to persuade the
public that Saddam Hussein was linked to Al Qaeda and the attacks of
September 11. The evidence did not support this argument.
Our security has been weakened. While American airmen and women,
marines, soldiers and sailors have performed gallantly, our armed forces
were not prepared for military occupation and nation building. Public
opinion polls throughout the world report hostility toward us. Muslim
youth are turning to anti-American terrorism. Never in the two and a
quarter centuries of our history has the United States been so isolated
among the nations, so broadly feared and distrusted. No loyal American
would question our ultimate right to act alone in our national interest;
but responsible leadership would not turn to unilateral military action
before diplomacy had been thoroughly explored.
The United States suffers from close identification with autocratic
regimes in the Muslim world, and from the perception of unquestioning
support for the policies and actions of the present Israeli Government.
To enhance credibility with Islamic peoples we must pursue courageous,
energetic and balanced efforts to establish peace between Israelis and
Palestinians, and policies that encourage responsible democratic reforms.
We face profound challenges in the 21st Century: proliferation of
weapons of mass destruction, unequal distribution of wealth and the
fruits of globalization, terrorism, environmental degradation,
population growth in the developing world, HIV/AIDS, ethnic and
religious confrontations. Such problems can not be resolved by military
force, nor by the sole remaining superpower alone; they demand patient,
coordinated global effort under the leadership of the United States.
The Bush Administration has shown that it does not grasp these
circumstances of the new era, and is not able to rise to the
responsibilities of world leadership in either style or substance. It is
time for a change.
Designations of Signatories (in alphabetical order)
The Signatories to this Statement are retired, but held the following
positions during their careers in service to the United States
Government.
1. The Honorable Avis T. Bohlen; Assistant Secretary of State for Arms
Control, 1999; Ambassador to Bulgaria, 1996; District of Columbia
2. Admiral William J. Crowe, USN, Ret.; Chairman, President's Foreign
Intelligence Advisory Committee, 1993; Ambassador to the Court of Saint
James, 1993; Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff, 1985; Commander in Chief,
United States Pacific Command; Oklahoma
3. The Honorable Jeffrey S. Davidow; Ambassador to Mexico, 1998;
Assistant Secretary of State for Inter-American Affairs, 1996;
Ambassador to Venezuela, 1993; Ambassador to Zambia, 1988; Virginia
4. The Honorable William A. DePree; Ambassador to Bangladesh, 1987;
Director of State Department Management Operations, 1983; Ambassador to
Mozambique, 1976; Michigan
5. The Honorable Donald B. Easum; Ambassador to Nigeria, 1975;
Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs, 1974; Ambassador to
Upper Volta, 1971; Virginia
6. The Honorable Charles W. Freeman, Jr.; Assistant Secretary of
Defense, International Security Affairs, 1993; Ambassador to the Kingdom
of Saudi Arabia, 1989; Rhode Island
7. The Honorable William C. Harrop; Ambassador to Israel, 1991;
Ambassador to Zaire, 1987; Inspector General of the State Department and
Foreign Service, 1983; Ambassador to Kenya and Seychelles, 1980;
Ambassador to Guinea, 1975; New Jersey
8. The Honorable Arthur A. Hartman; Ambassador to the Soviet Union,
1981; Ambassador to France, 1977; Assistant Secretary of State for
European Affairs, 1973; New Jersey
9. General Joseph P. Hoar, USMC, Ret.; Commander in Chief, United
States Central Command, 1991; Deputy Chief of Staff, Marine Corps, 1990;
Commanding General, Marine Corps Recruit Depot, Parris Island, 1987;
Massachusetts
10. The Honorable H. Allen Holmes; Assistant Secretary of Defense for
Special Operations, 1993; Ambassador at Large for Burdensharing, 1989;
Assistant Secretary of State for Politico- Military Affairs, 1986;
Ambassador to Portugal, 1982; Kansas
11. The Honorable Robert V. Keeley; Ambassador to Greece, 1985;
Ambassador to Zimbabwe, 1980; Ambassador to Mauritius, 1976; Florida
12. The Honorable Samuel W. Lewis; Director of State Department Policy
and Planning, 1993; Ambassador to Israel, 1977; Assistant Secretary of
State for International Organization Affairs, 1975; Texas
13. The Honorable Princeton N. Lyman; Assistant Secretary of State for
International Organization Affairs, 1997; Ambassador to South Africa,
1992; Director, Bureau of Refugee Programs, 1989; Ambassador to Nigeria,
1986; Maryland
14. The Honorable Jack F. Matlock, Jr.; Ambassador to the Soviet Union,
1987; Director for European and Soviet Affairs, National Security
Council, 1983; Ambassador to Czechoslovakia, 1981; Florida
15. The Honorable Donald F. McHenry; Ambassador and U.S. Permanent
Representative to the United Nations, 1979; Illinois
16. General Merrill A. (Tony) McPeak, USAF, Ret.; Chief of Staff,
United States Air Force, 1990; Commander in Chief, Pacific Air Forces,
1988; Commander, 12th Air Force and U.S. Southern Command Air Forces,
1987; Oregon
17. The Honorable George E. Moose; Representative, United Nations
European Office, 1997; Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs,
1993; Ambassador to Senegal, 1988; Director, State Department Bureau of
Management Operations, 1987; Ambassador to Benin, 1983; Colorado
18. The Honorable David D. Newsom; Secretary of State ad interim, 1981;
Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs, 1978; Ambassador to the
Philippines, 1977; Ambassador to Indonesia, 1973; Assistant Secretary of
State for African Affairs, 1969; Ambassador to Libya, 1965; California
19. The Honorable Phyllis E. Oakley; Assistant Secretary of State for
Intelligence and Research, 1997; Assistant Secretary of State for
Population, Refugees, and Migration, 1994; Nebraska
20. The Honorable Robert Oakley; Special Envoy for Somalia, 1992;
Ambassador to Pakistan, 1988; Ambassador to Somalia, 1982; Ambassador to
Zaire, 1979; Louisiana
21. The Honorable James D. Phillips; Diplomat-in-Residence, the Carter
Center of Emory University, 1994; Ambassador to the Republic of Congo,
1990; Ambassador to Burundi, 1986; Kansas
22. The Honorable John E. Reinhardt; Director of the United States
Information Agency, 1977; Assistant Secretary of State for Public
Affairs, 1975; Ambassador to Nigeria, 1971; Maryland
23. General William Y. Smith, USAF, Ret.; Chief of Staff for Supreme
Headquarters Allied Powers Europe, 1979; Assistant to the Chairman,
Organization of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, 1975; Director of National
Security Affairs, Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for
International Security Affairs, 1974; Arkansas
24. The Honorable Ronald I. Spiers; Under Secretary General of the
United Nations for Political Affairs, 1989; Under Secretary of State for
Management, 1983; Ambassador to Pakistan, 1981; Director, State
Department Bureau of Intelligence and Research, 1980; Ambassador to
Turkey, 1977; Ambassador to The Bahamas, 1973; Director, State
Department Bureau of Politico-Military Affairs, 1969; Vermont
25. The Honorable Michael E. Sterner; Ambassador to the United Arab
Emirates, 1974; New York
26. Admiral Stansfield Turner, USN, Ret.; Director of the Central
Intelligence Agency, 1977; Commander in Chief, Allied Forces Southern
Europe (NATO), 1975; Commander, U.S. Second Fleet, 1974; Illinois
27. The Honorable Alexander F. Watson; Assistant Secretary of State for
Inter-American Affairs, 1993; Ambassador to Brazil, 1992; Deputy
Permanent Representative to the United Nations, 1989; Ambassador to
Peru, 1986; Maryland
jakdedert
Well, yeah...but what do those guys know?
<g>
jak