Former diplomats, commanders blast Bush foreign policy

WASHINGTON -- The Bush administration does not understand the world it faces and is unable to handle ''in either style or substance" the responsibilities of global leadership, a group of 27 retired diplomats and military commanders charged yesterday.

''Our security has been weakened," the former ambassadors and four-star commanders said in a statement read at a packed Washington news conference.

''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."

The statement fit onto a single page, but the sharp public criticism of President Bush was striking, coming from a bipartisan group of respected former officials united in anger about US policy.

The commentary emerges at a time when public doubt about the US invasion of Iraq and Bush's handling of national security has grown and when faith in Bush's leadership has fallen, as measured by opinion polls.

State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said the administration ''has a record that it's happy to stand on." He said the United States fights terrorism with ''diplomatic, military, intelligence, and law enforcement means."

As for the group of former government officials drafting a strong statement, Boucher said it is ''within their rights, within their freedom."

''Well, it's a free country," he said. ''They can do that if they want, just like any other citizens."

The 27 signatories described Bush administration ''manipulation of uncertain intelligence about weapons of mass destruction" and ''a cynical campaign to persuade the public that Saddam Hussein was linked to Al Qaeda and the attacks of Sept. 11."

The new group, which calls itself Diplomats and Military Commanders for Change, believes that Bush must be replaced for the United States to regain credibility and strengthen valuable foreign alliances.

Among those who signed the statement were Admiral William J. Crowe, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff under Ronald Reagan and ambassador to Britain under President Clinton, and Marine General Joseph P. Hoar, appointed by George H.W. Bush to lead US forces in the Middle East.