Former Officials to Criticize Bush Foreign Policy

Top News Article | Reuters.com WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A group of former U.S. officials is urging voters to defeat President Bush in the November election, saying his policies have isolated the United States, a spokesman for the group said on Sunday. The group of 26 former diplomats and military officials, including appointees of former Republican presidents Ronald Reagan and George Bush, plan to issue an open statement on Wednesday criticizing Bush's foreign policies. "We just came to agreement that this administration was really endangering the United States," said William Harrop, a former ambassador to Israel under the previous Bush administration. The signers are a mix of Democrats and Republicans, Harrop said. They include Jack Matlock and Arthur Hartman, two former ambassadors to the former Soviet Union during the 1980s. Also in the group are several other former ambassadors and retired military officials, the group said. Signers of the statement are concerned that the administration has undermined U.S. leadership in the world and alienated U.S. allies, Harrop said. As an example, Harrop cited the decision to launch the war in Iraq without sufficient international support. "Our view is that the President Bush administration has chosen American domination of the world as in our best interest," Harrop said. "We don't think that's going to work." Harrop said the group was not aligned with Bush's Democratic challenger in the November election, Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry. "But we want an alternative and that's the alternative," Harrop said.