We Know the World and We Support Obama
Dear Friends and Relations,
A friend and former colleague of mine in the Foreign Service, Kevin McGuire, some time ago drafted a short statement of support for Obama and began to ask retired Foreign Service officers if they would sign it. So far 334 of us have done so, including by my count 66 former American ambassadors.
If you would like to know why we have done so and who we are, you can find our reasons and our signatures at Foreign Policy for Obama.Com: Declaration of Support by Over 280 Former Diplomats. (Ed. note: the number is now over 330.)
You can go to ForeignPolicyforObama.com and click on the link in the left hand column.
I will remind you that the Foreign Service of the United States is our country's career diplomatic and consular service. We staff both the State Department in Washington and our embassies and consulates abroad. Usually two-thirds or more of our ambassadors are Foreign Service officers, although both Democratic and Republican administrations have made a number of ambassadorial appointments for political reasons. Some of these Republican appointees and, by my count, two former career officers, have come out for McCain.
Our Service has sometimes been criticized by Republicans who label us a bunch of liberals. I cannot speak for my former colleagues, but as I said in a recent essay, if we must use labels I want to be considered a liberal conservative. I am a conservative because, among other reasons, I believe in a prudent course for the country, including a conservative fiscal policy and conservation -- two old Republican virtues that present-day Republicans have forgotten.
In the Foreign Service we serve the President and the Constitution faithfully -- I served under seven Presidents, finally as ambassador to Somalia under President Reagan -- and we do our best by our country. We do not speak lightly about national security. Five of my friends and colleagues were killed by terrorists. More American ambassadors have died violent deaths since World War II than our admirals and generals combined. Two other friends and colleagues were kidnapped by terrorists, but survived.
I have backed Obama since I wrote, in early 2007, the review of his second book that I hope you will read at The Cal Review. He is a prudent manager, a professor of constitutional law, and a moral and upright man with sound judgment. I agree with Colin Powell that Obama is fully qualified to be commander in chief. He understands the problems that we face at home and abroad, and he will begin -- though it will take years -- to resolve them. He has a sturdy and experienced running mate, Joe Biden, whom I have admired greatly since I first met him in 1981.
Obama is running against a man whose chief virtue seems to be that he withstood five years of arduous imprisonment and torture and, since he could not equal the Navy record of his father and grandfather, went into politics after he married a rich wife. McCain has changed his positions as the years have progressed, but he has always supported the super-rich through the years as our society has divided.
He is the candidate of a party whose last candidates for President and Vice President were George W. Bush and Richard Cheney -- who inherited a budgetary surplus, sent us to war under false pretenses, and ran the country into the ground. McCain has chosen as his running mate and possible successor a woman who backed hundreds of Federal millions for the "bridge to nowhere" before she opposed it (and then kept the money) -- whom an independent investigator in Alaska finds guilty of ethics laws in the Troopergate scandal--and who knows so little about our Constitution that she says the Vice President is in charge of the Senate. I will leave it to the Republicans to explain the new report that she spent $150,000 of party funds on clothing and cosmetics.
Barack Obama did not approve this message. It's all mine.
Regards to all--
Peter
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watch john McCain use his leadership skills during the debate
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XWTZu-kTwUU
(from prev)
Barack Obama is symbolic of change; the change the rest of the world is looking for in the US. Of A. Change to a more tolerant, mature society, worthy of the respect it commands. His very being acknowledges the diversity that is America. A Kenyan father and an American mother, born in Hawaii and partly raised in Indonesia his rapprochement with the View From Afar is in diametric opposition to McCain’s, whose direct dealings abroad thus far have come at the figurative point of a gun – a point he emphasizes narcissistically and ad nausea in his stump speeches.
Viewed up close by this naturalized American, I watched the huge party conventions that prelude Election ’08 from suburban Atlanta. I saw the lucid, eloquent and emotive delivery of Obama’s acceptance speech and compared that to the repetitive, self-indulgent and wooden delivery of McCain and said to myself:
“I don’t get it. It’s like chalk and cheese the difference is so stark. Obama should win by a landslide!”
Yet the polls illustrate the large disparity between the View From Afar and the view from within.
I don’t get it.
(from prev)
Wouldn’t it be nice if the next POTUS could be greeted enthusiastically abroad by cheering crowds like Kennedy or even Reagan were, instead of having the tightly choreographed security extravaganzas that the hugely unpopular incumbent (Bush) does?
Doesn’t it follow that an American President who was popular abroad might be able to accomplish far more than the current administration, which has seen members of the “coalition of the willing” walk away from Iraq, and few countries willing to carry more of the burden in Afghanistan?
Wouldn’t it bode well for the possibility of actually achieving some of the vital and urgent tasks that globally we all must face vis-à-vis energy, our shared environment and the economy?
Weren’t you just plain embarrassed, as I was during the recent debacle in Georgia when McCain appeared to salivate at the prospect of confrontation remarking, rather presumptuously, that we were ‘all Georgians’, i.e., ready to genuflexively kick some Russian butt, Cold War style? Wasn’t it somewhat heartening to hear the pragmatic tones emanating from Obama who criticized Russia’s actions and called for reconstruction aid for Georgia but opined that kicking Moscow out of the G8 would do little good and harm U.S. efforts to work with Russia on other issues?
(contd)
Growing up as a kid in the East End of London, I was fascinated by all that the USA had to offer, as were most of the impressionable young generation of my day. The aura pervading the music, movie and sports industries was upon maturity replaced by an appreciation of the economic, political and more pointedly, military eminence the US has on the planet and the influence this nation that comprises but 5% of world population has on each and every human being.
Uncle Sam coughs, the world catches a cold.
In this contest a recent opinion poll surveyed by the BBC suggests that Obama leads McCain by a four to one margin. The poll also explored the expected impact of the US election. In 17 of the 22 countries surveyed the most common view is that, if Barack Obama is elected president, America’s relations with the rest of the world are likely to get better. If John McCain is elected, the most common view in 19 countries is that relations will stay about the same as they are now. As things stand now, there is nothing but timid obeisance to American might which is presently being wielded with the recklessness of a bull in a china shop.
Why should this be of consequence to Americans?
(contd)
If the Republican trickle-down economic theories have brought the World this current fiscal mess, the very next area they have impacted is the total souring of foreign relations for America.
The Bush Administration has been equally as incompetent in this area as it has been on economics.
Once the shining beacon and example of freedom, the country is now the "Typhoid Mary" among the G8 and the G20, and the United Nations,...it goes on and on.
Obama has drawn a whole spectrum of the most astute advisors and people around him, and it appears sure that they will be far more competent, foresightful and intelligent about America's foreigh relations than has been these past 8 years.
I proudly add my name to those of other retired FSOs, although I see the list on the foreignpolicyforObama website has not been updated since mid-September. But I would also urge you consider that endorsements do not win elections. Over the past 18 months I have volunteered for Obama in 7 states and am now working to get out the vote in Ohio. Individual voters, most of whom do not read Huffington Post, need to hear from professionals why it is safe and wise to vote for Barack Obama. This is the Obama ground game, the strategy to ensure an electoral victory. So join the Campaign for Change, go out and knock on doors, make calls to voters and find other practical ways between now and November 4 to win this historic election.
I think the reason the list hasn't been updated is because the administrators have been doing the same thing! Keep up the important work, we are so close to winning this and no one should slow down now!
Well said and well taken...
Also, please note that the Obama campaign is very well organized.
Many of us have not ever seenl any campaign as well organized and "together" like this...
It says it all...
Come on fellas, It looks like McCain is going to lose. We want to keep these plush jobs with MASSIVE budgets and obscene salaries don't we. Let's all band together. Maybe a few of us can keep our posts.
www.thetruthburns.wordpress.com
Lol surprise surprise, diplomats support the candidate who encourages diplomacy, how self-serving!
Just kidding, good to hear. More support the better.
Yeah! What he said! We don't need no stinkin' diplomacy! War! War! War!
that's right...Mccain is for the rich...Obama is for the middle-class...good article!
PEOPLE!!! Go out and Vote!! We need an Obama landslide as reports show that McCain is trying to rig/scam this election!! Please get your family and friends out and vote for this historical moment! You are contributing to history!
NEW POLITICAL AD ATTACKS(Video) http://politicaladattacks.blogspot.com/
"He is a prudent manager, a professor of constitutional law, and a moral and upright man with sound judgment. "
Not exactly. His only experience as a manager was when he chaired the Annenberg Challenge. The results of the schools that were given $160 million are not impressive at all.
He is not a professor of constitutional law. He was a senior lecturer. Ask a bona fide , tenured professor if there's a difference between the two titles.
Moral and upright man with sound judgement? He attended a church for 20 years that had an inflammatory and racist preacher. Only when his rantings became public, did Obama leave that church and denounce the pastor. His relationship with a convicted Chicago slum lord and former terrorist raises serious doubts about his sound judgement.
He managed the most impressive, well run Presidential campaign in modern history. He was an Illinois State Senator for eight years, two years longer than Abraham Lincoln. He was the first African-American President of the Harvard Law Review. He has taught constitutional law. He was a communitee organizer. You and the Republican party have worked very hard to make all these accomplishments seem small. The American people have not bought your argument. As for the Rev. Wright, he came of age at a time when being black in America was very difficult. It shaped who he was and how he felt. Barack Obama didnot have the same experience as Wright and your attempt to hold Obama responsible for the views of someone else has not worked with logical thinking people.
You both point to his two year campaign as if that is an accomplishment. He wasn't elected to campaign for half of his time in the Senate (if not more). He is a great campaigner. I will give you that. He is the least experienced candidate for POTUS in modern times. His endorsements are quite questionable. Colin Powell? When did he ever endorse a liberal candidate with limited experience (black or white). Furthermore, Obama's embracing Powell is disengenous too. Obama hit Hillary hard during the primaries on her vote for the war. But he accepts the endorsement of the man who demonstrated to the UN why we should invade Iraq? Please explain that to me.
Pulemerci: your comments reflect desperately thin reasoning. Obama has managed a two-year, multi-million-dollar campaign. I doubt you know anything about the "results" of the Annenberg Challenge-- the only places I see suggestions that it failed are in right-wing publications, so I doubt the story is quite as you put it-- but let me say as a former teacher that education reform takes years, and its success is sometimes best measured in the results for individual students. More importantly, education projects are research, and the fact that a particular project may not have confirmed its premise doesn't mean it's a failure, any more than scientific research that doesn't demonstrate its hypothesis invalidates the scientists who undertook the research. It's just a way of pointing us in another or related direction, building on what we know as a result of the effort.
And also, to complete my earlier response to Pulemerci: Regarding your comment that Obama wasn't a professor, it's uninformed. Obama was offered a professorship but turned it down. The NY Times ran a very interesting piece last summer on this time in Obama's life, complete with sample syllabi and exams from Obama's classes, and the ultimate response to the issue you raise is that Obama was a professor at the UC Law School I encourage you to read the article, which makes clear that Obama excelled in his law classroom(http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/30/us/politics/30law.html?scp=6&sq=obama%20law%20school&st=cse) and the blog postings that discuss Obama's exams and syllabi (http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/07/30/inside-professor-obamas-classroom/).
Finally, on Wright, Rezko, and Ayres: Obama has been running for president for 2 years. If there were any other example of Wright's "inflammatory" and "racist" sermons, I think we'd have heard them by now. You obviously haven't even troubled yourself to hear the entire sermon on which you're basing your judgment. The same point is true for Obama's relationship with Tony Rezko. The Chicago Tribune, which investigated their relationship thoroughly and conducted a very probing and extensive interview with Obama on the subject, has endorsed Obama. The paper's editorial board concluded there was no illegal or unethical behavior involved. As for Bill Ayres: the suggestion that Obama has a soft spot for "terrorists" is simply ludicrous.
Touche - but I certainly hope you are not implying that McCain is better.
Because he is not. I ask myself, would I want my child to grow up and do things that McCain has done (graduate at the bottom of his class, leave his first wife, cheat on his wives, call his wife a c*nt, sell-out to his party, select an uneducated/unqualified mavericky woman as VP that has barely traveled outside of the US) and my answer is HELL NO.
I would however, encourage my son to do similar things as Obama. Go to school, be active in school, serve the community, meet and marry a nice woman, have children, inspire and uplift people.
well said. I don't see how being a POW (hard as that would have been) still wipes out the other facts about his life history mainly
1. A lack of academic accomplishment
2. A shallowness of character (leaving his wife after she waited all that time for him)
3. A propensity to achieve things through others (his rich wife, a folksy uneducated VP candidate)
Somehow they do succeed in painting obama as the elite or welfare recepient to their mobs whereas it is mccain who is the elite (son of an admiral) and receipient of welfare (from his wife)
Senior Lecturers are considered to be members of the Law School faculty and are regarded as professors, although not full-time or tenure-track.
http://www.law.uchicago.edu/media/index.html
seems like he was a professor!
Greetings from Switzerland!
Most European Democracies have a wider variety of parties (including much stronger green parties), and therefore our elections rarely come down to as dramatic a choice as yours. But from over here, it looks like the US is about to make a decision between the painful past and a bright future. Obviously, foreign support (or lack thereof) is low on the list of reasons who Americans vote for. But the world is still looking to the US as an example of cooperation, dialogue and goodwill. Needless to say which candidate we think stands for that, and when I say "we" I mean an overwhelming majority, including conservatives. Please get this one right, America. We really want to admire you again.
We'd like to be worthy of admiration again too. For eight years, I have been hanging my head in shame for the things our leaders were doing and advocating. I am hoping the long nightmare will soon end.
Wonderful news. Thank you, sir!
The Foreign Service people have been sidelined and marginalized by the Bush Administration for eight years. They do the best they can, knowing that they can do much better under a competent and ethical president. It has always been my sense that many of them cannot wait till they can get back to do what they are supposed to do. So good for you for speaking out!
As one of the very foreigners Peter talks about, I am thrilled to see that he has hit it spot on. This is exactly why I, and most other non-US citizens I know, support Obama, and dread the possibilty of a McCain/Palin presidency.
We are tired of bullying tactics, and see in Obama a leader who puts diplomacy first. McCain and Palin both come across as far to agressive, not only in their foreign policy utterances, but in their very day-to-day demeaner!
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