Diplomats and Military 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.
signatories:
The Honorable Avis T. Bohlen
Assistant Secretary of State for Arms Control, 1999 Ambassador to Bulgaria, 1996 District of Columbia
Admiral William J. Crowe, USN, Ret.Chairman,
President’s Foreign Intelligence Advisory Committee, 1993Ambassador to the Court of Saint James, 1993Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff, 1985Commander in Chief, United States Pacific Command Oklahoma
The Honorable Jeffrey S. Davidow Ambassador to Mexico,
1998 Assistant Secretary of State for Inter-American Affairs, 1996Ambassador to Venezuela, 1993Ambassador to Zambia, 1988Virginia
The Honorable William A. DePree
Ambassador to Bangladesh, 1987 Director of State Department Management Operations, 1983Ambassador to Mozambique, 1976Michigan
The Honorable Donald B. Easum
Ambassador to Nigeria, 1975,Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs, 1974, Ambassador to Upper Volta, 1971 Virginia
The Honorable Charles W. Freeman, Jr.
Assistant Secretary of Defense, International Security Affairs, 1993Ambassador to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, 1989 Rhode Island
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
The Honorable Arthur A. Hartman
Ambassador to the Soviet Union, 1981Ambassador to France, 1977Assistant Secretary of State for European Affairs, 1973 New Jersey
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
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
The Honorable Robert V. Keeley
Ambassador to Greece, 1985Ambassador to Zimbabwe, 1980Ambassador to Mauritius, 1976 Florida
The Honorable Samuel W. Lewis
Director of State Department Policy and Planning, 1993Ambassador to Israel, 1977, Assistant Secretary of State for International Organization Affairs, 1975, Texas
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
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
The Honorable Donald F. McHenry
Ambassador and U.S. Permanent Representative to the United Nations, 1979, Illinois
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
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
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
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
The Honorable Robert Oakley
Special Envoy for Somalia, 1992,Ambassador to Pakistan, 1988,Ambassador to Somalia.1982, Ambassador to Zaire, 1979 Louisiana
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
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
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
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
The Honorable Michael E. Sterner
Ambassador to the United Arab Emirates, 1974, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Near East Affairs (Israel/Palestine Negotiations) -- 1971, New York
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
The Honorable Alexander F. Watson Assistant Secretary of State for Inter-American Affairs, 1993, Deputy Permanent Representative to the United Nations, 1989, Ambassador to Peru, 1986, Maryland