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The report was signed by Democrats and Republicans.
Among the Republicans signing the report were Admiral William Crowe, former Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff under Reagan; and General Joseph Hoar, head of U.S. Central Command under the senior Bush.
Among former generals signing the report is General Merrill McPeak, former U.S. Airforce Chief of Staff. In the 2000 election he was a member of "Veterans for Bush." He has become so disillusioned that today he is providing advice to the Kerry campaign.
The report was also signed by former ambassadors, who were Republicans or served under Republican presidents. These include Arthur Hartman and Jack Matlock Jr, who served in the Soviet Union under Reagan; and William Harrop, Robert Oakley, and Freeman, who served in sensitive hotspots under the elder Bush.
One of the signers is Phyllis Oakley, a former head of the State Department's Bureau of Intelligence and Research (INR). She tells us how she and others in the foreign policy community feel:
''Over nearly half a century we have worked energetically in all regions of the world, often in very difficult circumstances, to build piece by piece a structure of respect and influence for the United States that has served our country very well over the last 60 years. Today we see that structure crumbling under an administration blinded by ideology and a callous indifference to the realities of the world around it.
”Everything we have heard from friends abroad on every continent suggests to us that the lack of confidence in the present administration is so profound that a whole new team is needed to repair the damage.''
The report itself says:
''It is time for a change. 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.''
And this:
”The Bush administration has shown that it does not grasp (the) 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.''
The signers of this report did so reluctantly. They are the type of people who are cautious in what they say. Yet they were so upset by how Bush destroyed America's good name and dissolved our friendships with many allies, that they felt impelled to come together to write and sign this document.
I agree wholeheartedly with the report:
"It's time for a change."
