Former American Diplomats Endorse Obama - Updated

By Patricia H. Kushlis

A week or so ago, I received an e-mail from a former U.S. Foreign Service colleague asking me if I would be interested in adding my name to a statement endorsing Barack Obama for the presidency. At that time there were about 100 names on the list including those of several friends and former colleagues. Since then, the statement has been refined and the number of signatories has more than doubled.

Here is the final text:

"EXPERIENCE SPEAKS OUT: FORMER US DIPLOMATS FOR OBAMA

We are a diverse group of over 200 former Foreign Service officers. Each of us has had extensive experience in implementing the international affairs and national security policies of both Republican and Democratic administrations. We have first hand knowledge of the grave multiple challenges of the Cold War, a period of peril but one in which the United States wore with honor the mantle of leadership. In cooperation with other democracies, and dialog with countries that were not, our nation found solutions to problems which seemed intractable. Senator Obama can place our nation again in that position of trust, credibility and respect.

With him, we call for a return to the successful reliance on bipartisan cooperation at home and close coordination on the use of active diplomacy with our friends and allies abroad, to face the challenges posed by those who are neither. We have watched with profound regret the frequent, costly failures of the current administration to apply these fundamental principles.

We, the undersigned, are firmly convinced that new American leadership is critical at this juncture in world history. We urge Americans, regardless of party affiliation, to select as our next president Senator Barack Obama, a leader with courage, intelligence, energy, a fresh perspective and a focus on the future. We believe based on our long foreign policy experience that he has the qualities needed to restore American leadership, credibility and respect in the world, the persona to make bipartisanship a possibility once again, and the judgment and vision to set our nation on the path to a better future."

I've been advised that this declaration as well as a list of the signatories, my name included, will appear on the Foreign Policy Professionals for Obama website beginning Wednesday, August 20.

Former public diplomacy colleague Gerald Loftus is also a signatory and has posted the delaration on Avuncular American explaining eloquently why he signed the declaration.

Foreign Policy Professionals for Obama web site

The well designed, easy to read Foreign Policy Professionals for Obama web site contains relevant foreign policy campaign related news. Looking for Obama's statement on Georgia? Here it is.

Or, how about the following grossly under reported (to my knowledge) piece of news that I ran across there: a tidbit of little published information on active duty military support for Obama versus McCain.

The tilt's not what one might think: According to the item published on August 14, US troops overseas have contributed nearly six times as much to the Obama campaign than to McCain. The US military overall - whether stationed at home or abroad - have contributed $55,000 more to Obama than McCain. This according to a report from the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics.

Now where haven't I seen that before? Why it hasn't gotten much, if any, media play?

An update: a sharp eyed reader said he saw it in USA Today and Yahoo News. I checked USA Today: it's an AP story and USA Today ran it on August 14. Anywhere else?

By the way, Foreign Policy Professionals for Obama is in no way restricted to former U.S. diplomats. There's a gmail address on the site for those interested in joining and there's an upcoming event in DC on Wednesday, August 20.

A word of warning to government employees

For individuals employed by US federal, state or local government, check out Hatch Act does and don'ts. Here's the link to the relevant information from the federal government's Office of Special Counsel. There's a lot more latitude in the Act than I thought when I read the data on the OSC site as I was researching an earlier post on Bush administration political Ambassadorial hanky-panky but there are also some definite prohibitions as well.

Comments

[Digger]

I have linked to your entry here: http://lifeafterjerusalem.blogspot.com/2008/08/former-diplomats-endorsing-obama.html