A Kansas University professor has added her name to a letter signed by more than 650 foreign affairs experts calling for a shift of American policy in Iraq.

Deborah Gerner, professor of political science, said the letter was signed by an impressive list of foreign-policy specialists from across the political spectrum, many of whom have held high-ranking government posts.

“The diversity is what I really want to stress,” Gerner said. “This group of scholars who have signed on, we agree on virtually nothing else. We all agree there has to be a change in U.S. foreign policy and national security policy, and Iraq is really getting in the way of the real problems we face.”

The open letter, released Tuesday, calls the U.S. policy in Iraq “the most misguided one since the Vietnam period.”

The letter was organized by “Security Scholars for a Sensible Foreign Policy,” spearheaded by Stuart Kaufman, professor of political science and international relations at the University of Delaware.

It makes several points in challenging President Bush’s foreign policy stances:

• The war took the focus off the U.S. effort to fight al-Qaida forces.
• Iran is a greater sponsor of terrorism than Iraq, and North Korea and Pakistan pose a greater risk of nuclear proliferation.
• The moral grounds of the war were “dubious,” considering more than a thousand Americans and thousands of Iraqis have died.

“The Iraq war is harming our efforts to address terrorism,” Gerner said. “It’s a distraction rather than solving the problem. It’s taking our energy, attention and money away from things like al-Qaida.”

Gerner said another common bond among the scholars was the need for a multilateral approach to foreign policy. She said gaining the support of allies would be key in withdrawing forces from Iraq as soon as possible.

“The wisest threat at this point is to pull out and focus our military attention, talent and intelligence-gathering on the real threats rather than what I would consider an artificial threat,” she said.