A CALL FOR CHANGE: Opposition to the Bush Doctrine Grows

Admiral William J. Crowe, USN, Ret., member of Diplomats and Military Commanders for Change, which stated on June 16th: “We face profound challenges in the 21st century … 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.”

How did America go from being the most admired democracy in the world to what many now consider to be a reckless, self-righteous, militaristic superpower? How did we waste all the goodwill we engendered after September 11 to the point now where many fear us?

A new group has emerged to challenge the foreign-policy assumptions and directions of the Bush administration — and it’s not just a bunch of disgruntled “liberals.”

The group is called Diplomats and Military Commanders for Change and it includes many heavy hitters from past administrations, both Republican and Democratic, going back to the Reagan administration. The group went public this past weekend and its announced goal is the defeat of President Bush in November.

What has inspired this group of retired diplomats and military people to organize and come forward to oppose a second Bush presidency?

A major issue is the group’s belief that the Bush administration has squandered the goodwill of the American people and their government. The group believes this administration has seriously damaged the alliances America spent the 20th century cultivating and has alienated our friends around the world to such a degree that we risk isolating ourselves just when we need our friends the most.

The group believes the blame for this disaster belongs to the Bush White House. And it doesn’t think our national prestige can survive four more years of the Bush Doctrine.

The group believes the Iraq War was a strategic blunder that has drained our resources away from the pursuit of our real enemies, Osama bin Laden and al Qaeda.

And the group believes Bush has failed to be an honest and even-handed broker for peace between Palestine and Israel — a tradition about which his father was resolute.

The list of members is impressive: former Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman (under Reagan) Admiral William J. Crowe; former Air Force chief of staff (under Bush Sr.) General Merrill McPeak; former commander of U.S. forces in the Middle East (under Bush Sr.) General Joseph Hoar; former ambassador to Israel (under Reagan) William Harrop, former ambassador to Russia (under Reagan and Bush Sr.) John Matlock; former CIA chief (under Carter) Admiral Stansfield Turner; former ambassador to Saudi Arabia (under Bush Sr.) Charles Freeman; and others.

This distinguished group will be publishing open letters to the public this week as they begin a campaign to gather support in their effort to deny the Bush administration another four years. The majority of the group does not, at this time, openly endorse John Kerry for the presidency, yet that is the implicit message of its campaign. The main focus is the inept and arrogant mishandling of our national prestige. And the members believe the removal of Bush from office is the most important step that needs to be taken in order to begin the reversal of this destructive course of action.

It remains to be seen to what extent this group partners with other groups to bring about this change. And it remains to be seen how many more former top leaders in government, the military, and society at large join with Diplomats and Military Commanders for Change or supports its mission.