I had little to say initially about the statement signed by the group Diplomats and Military Commanders for Change blasting the Bush administration's handling of the war on terror, mostly because they seem to comprise the worst of the teams that kept us blinded to the fact that Islamofascists declared war on us far before we returned the favor. Reading the Post article, I was struck by the tone set in their press conference, where popularity seems to be a greater concern than security:

The former officials said the administration "adopted an overbearing approach to America's role in the world, relying on military might and righteousness, insensitive to the concerns of traditional friends and allies, and disdainful of the United Nations. . . . Motivated more by ideology than by reasoned analysis, it struck out on its own."

Charles W. Freeman Jr., former U.S. ambassador to Saudi Arabia, cited a "post-9/11 atmosphere of hysteria. I think we will in time come to be very ashamed of this period in history," Freeman said, "and of the role some people in the administration played in setting the tone and setting the rules."

Donald F. McHenry, a former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, answered a question about U.S. public diplomacy, a topic of special Bush administration focus, especially in the Muslim world. "You can embark on all the public diplomacy you wish, but if there is no substance to the policy, it's very difficult to sell," he said.

Based on their statement and their public appearance, they all propose nothing new except a return to the failed policies of the past several administrations of ignoring Islamofascist terror and hoping it goes away. Once again, we have another group of career diplomats and less-than-spectacular military thinkers who believe that the point of diplomacy is to create alliances rather than to increase security. Alliances are great as long as they work to everyone's mutual advantage, but not if they hamstring the US from protecting itself. And I note that not one of them had anything to say about the lack of UN standing for our adventures in the Balkans and our failure to ally with Russia or China on those actions.

Reader Jack Lavelle calls the DMCC the Weenie Caucus, and expressed my gut reaction perfectly:

What is it with these people calling themselves Diplomats and Military Commanders for Change?

Have they been on a "fact-finding" mission to Monaco or Fiji for the last 3 years?

Don't they get it that we are at war, that 3,000 innocent Americans were slaughtered by Islamic ideologues whose only regret is that they didn't launch 10 planes that day?

Or don't they get the part about the 'asymmetry' of this conflict and feel just because no 'nation' has chosen off against the US that there is no need to fight terrorism where we find it?

How can someone like Adm. Crowe say to enlisted men fighting the terrorists that it isn't a worthy struggle? As I recall, his record in the final days of his tenure wasn't all that shiny, so is this his attempt at resurrection?

I'm ashamed of these people. Have the brass and the striped-pants crowd forgotten the lesson taught us by Gen. Giap in Vietnam - that except for the dissension and protest by American citizens against their own government, the North Vietnamese were ready to surrender 5 years before the war finally ended?

They must have missed that one. This is no time for dithering. It's time to support the President and the troops. BOTH.

I'm disgusted.

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