http://www.abc.net.au/lateline/content/2004/s1133559.htm
Broadcast: 16/06/2004
Former officials target Bush campaign
Reporter: Tony Jones
TONY JONES:
Well, to Washington now, where the group calling itself Diplomats and
Military Commanders -- former senior US officials and serving officers
from both side of politics -- is about to call for President Bush's
ouster in this year's elections.
As we said earlier, the group includes high-ranking former officials
who served presidents on both sides of politics, among them people who
once held the following posts: chairman of the joint chiefs, CIA
director, head of US central command, air force chief of staff and an
array of former ambassadors and assistance secretaries of state and
defence.
They're due to release their joint statement at a press conference at
11:00pm, our time, and we're joined now by Robert Keeley, who was a
former ambassador to Greece and Zimbabwe.
TONY JONES:
Ambassador Keeley, thanks for joining us.
ROBERT V KEELEY, FMR US AMBASSADOR TO GREECE: Good morning.
It's morning here.
TONY JONES:
It is a pretty radical move for a group of former officials to get
together like this and call for the ouster of a sitting president.
Why are you doing that?
ROBERT V KEELEY:
Well, it's not all that rare, but it is fairly rare.
We had an earlier letter by a bunch of people, retired ambassadors
mostly, mostly dealing with the Middle East.
What's unusual about this is the combination of diplomats and military
commanders and the high ranks that they held.
These are very senior people.
There are 26 of them.
Many others have asked to join the group after they heard about it but
these are quite senior people and it's very rare.
They're not serving, they're all retired, obviously.
Five of them are military commanders, generals and admirals and the
others have all served in important posts as ambassadors, as assistant
secretaries.
TONY JONES:
Is it genuinely a bipartisan group, not a group of disgruntled
liberals trying to give a leg up to Senator Kerry?
ROBERT V KEELEY:
No, it's very non-partisan or bipartisan.
In fact, the principals who started this, three or four of them, are
all Republicans who are very upset about how this Administration is
handling our foreign policy and it includes Independents and Democrats
and people who have never been political.
It's very rare for people serving in the military and in our
diplomatic service to be partisan because we have to be prepared to
serve all administrations and all of us have.
I served in every administration from Eisenhower to George Bush
senior.
TONY JONES:
Did any of you have misgivings about so directly challenging a sitting
President?
ROBERT V KEELEY:
A few people declined to join because they didn't think it was a good
idea to go public and a few other people have current positions, that
is, they are again working for the Government in one capacity or
another and they thought it inappropriate to be joining in this
statement but the amazing thing is the number of people who have
called up since they heard about this and wanted to join in the
effort.
We could have 100 names easily if we wanted them.
TONY JONES:
What's the biggest mistake or error of judgment in your joint opinion
that this President has made?
ROBERT V KEELEY:
Well, I think it's the struggle between unilateralism and
multilateralism, perhaps, and the idea of pre-emptive war and the idea
that you use military force as a first resort rather than a last
resort.
As one of our people said, this Administration is trying to do foreign
policy without diplomacy, which is a new departure, in our opinion.
Diplomacy should come first and when that fails then you can consider
using force.
We seem to have been doing the opposite.
We use force first and then we try to use some diplomacy to clean up
the act afterwards.
TONY JONES:
Is this all about the war in Iraq or does it go broader than that?
ROBERT V KEELEY:
It's much broader than that.
We mentioned a great many other things, not a great many but things
like the environment, Israel-Palestine, but you know global warming,
there are a whole batch of issues, non-proliferation.
We seem to have abandoned our dedication to international treaties to
deal with some of these issues.
It's not just Iraq, but I think Iraq brought it all to a head, because
it's still not resolved although some diplomatic moves have been made
recently at the United Nations and at the G8 summit that we certainly
would approve of but we don't think that's a fundamental change in
direction by the Administration, not yet.
TONY JONES:
What do you say is at stake if this President wins a second term?
ROBERT V KEELEY:
Well, I think we'll have a continuation of the same sorts of policies.
In our opinion they haven't learned any lessons yet about how to
manage world affairs.
We have a long tradition of seeking international cooperation, of
working with allies.
If you're even talking about the so-called war on terrorism we need
international cooperation, we need the help of other countries.
We have so antagonised foreign Governments and the general
populations.
We're impressed by polls that show that vast majorities of people in
many many countries, formerly friendly to us, really detest us and
this Administration, and it's a danger for Americans.
What we'd like to do is return to the standard operating procedure
since World War II and that is to build alliances, to work
cooperatively with other countries.
Some people in the Administration have said, well, many people, that
9/11 changed everything.
In our opinion it didn't change all that much.
It was a major terrorist attack by foreign terrorists on our soil and
this was shocking to people, particularly because they could see it on
television, but that didn't change everything.
There are certain fundamentals that we still need to use in our
diplomacy that were not changed by 9/11.
TONY JONES:
You may be aware that one Republican strategist, speaking anonymously
it has to be said, is saying that your timing is a little out here,
that you're making this push precisely at the time the President is
starting to reach out to the rest of the world, going to the UN and
seeking help in Iraq?
ROBERT V KEELEY:
Well, that's certainly true that he's done those things but this
initiative results from many many months of frustration that came to a
head only in late March and early April and this is mid-June.
We can't wait until November, we can't wait until next year to see if
things will change.
The feelings amongst this group are so strong that we need what we
call regime change in Washington.
Although we're not working with the Kerry campaign, we're quite
independent, that obviously is the alternative and what we're calling
for is change of Administration in Washington in November.
TONY JONES:
Presumably though you're not seeking a change of policy in Iraq, you'd
still want American troops as Senator Kerry does to remain in Iraq and
finish the job?
ROBERT V KEELEY:
Well, we don't get into the details of policy, there are large number
of alternatives, but certainly getting the UN involved, transferring
sovereignty, all these are good things.
I'm afraid our troops will still be there for quite a time to come and
they're in extreme danger now.
There has not been any diminution of violence although we've turned to
the UN and promised sovereignty or some form of sovereignty after June
30.
It's still a major problem.
TONY JONES:
This is a difficult question to ask you but what do you say to US
allies, countries like Australia which have backed George Bush, backed
the war in Iraq and continue to back his policies?
ROBERT V KEELEY:
Well, we're not addressing foreign nations, we're addressing the
American people and indirectly the Administration itself hoping that
it will have some effect.
I don't know what we say to foreign countries.
We certainly wish them to keep supporting us to the extent they can.
But I think we're diplomats but we're not engaged in diplomacy right
now.
We're doing the unusual thing for us and that is getting mixed up in
domestic politics.
TONY JONES:
Robert Keeley, we are out of time.
We got to you a little late so we'll have to leave you there.
We thank you though for rushing in to join us, though.
ROBERT V KEELEY:
Thank you very much.
________________________________________________
Harry
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