Bush
Weakened US Security, Leadership: Ex-Officials
The seasoned diplomats and top brass said Bush’s policies have been a "disaster" (AFP)
WASHINGTON,
June 17 (IslamOnline.net) – The Bush administration's policies have
weakened American national security, led the country to ill-planned
and costly war and fanned anti-American sentiments by relying on
military force and disdaining the UN, a cohort of former American
diplomats and military leaders said on Wednesday, June 16.
"We
all believe that current Administration policies have failed in the
primary responsibilities of preserving national security and providing
world leadership," said the 26 members of the Diplomats and
Military Commanders for Change group in a newly-released statement.
"The
lack of confidence in the present administration in Washington is so
profound that a whole new team is needed to repair the damage,"
the group's spokesperson Phyllis Oakley, a former assistant secretary
of state for intelligence and research, told a press conference before
reading the statement.
The
signatories include Democrats and Republicans who have "served
every president since Harry S. Truman."
Bush
also came under attack
last month from former diplomats, who faulted his
endorsement of Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's controversial
plan to withdraw from the Gaza Strip.
That
group of 58 former US ambassadors and diplomats said Bush had cost the
United States "credibility, prestige and friends" and
"placed US diplomats, civilians and military doing their jobs
overseas in an untenable and even dangerous position."
