IT'S NOT FAIR--THEY HAVE THE ANTI-ZIONIST WHACKJOBS & WE JUST HAVE RESPECTED COLD WARRIORS (via Kevin Whited):

Groups will rebut Bush critics (David R. Sands, 8/15/04, THE WASHINGTON TIMES)

Two new groups, supported by retired senior military commanders and three former secretaries of state, will issue a sharp rebuttal to a manifesto by a group of retired U.S. diplomats criticizing President Bush.

The groups will argue this week that the anti-Bush statement gives a false impression that the U.S. foreign-policy establishment opposes Mr. Bush's policies en masse. They also worry that the attack undermines the Foreign Service's claim of nonpartisanship.

"Can you really argue that we in the Foreign Service can serve both red America and blue America impartially if the elders in our own tribe are turning themselves into political warriors?" asked Thomas Boyatt, who served for 25 years in the diplomatic corps and was President Reagan's ambassador to Colombia, referring to the colors used to identify Democratic- and Republican-leaning states.

"People have a constitutional right to express their opinions, but these kinds of overt political statements go against 75 years of tradition for retired senior diplomats," said Mr. Boyatt, speaking for the newly formed Diplomats for a Nonpartisan Foreign Service.

Among those expected to endorse his group's call for a nonpartisan diplomatic corps at a press conference tomorrow are former Secretaries of State Henry Kissinger, George P. Shultz and Lawrence Eagleburger, as well as former Defense Secretary Frank C. Carlucci.