Ex-defense chief calls for Iraq exit plan (Melvin Laird)

[sabra]

http://news.webindia123.com/news/showdetails.asp?id=141597&n_date=20051020&cat=World

Ex-defense chief calls for Iraq exit plan

Former U.S. Defense Secretary Melvin Laird says the Bush administration is repeating mistakes in Iraq made by Richard Nixon during the Vietnam war.

Writing in the forthcoming edition of Foreign Affairs magazine, the 83-year-old Laird said the mistakes will lead to public disillusionment and the impression that there is no clear goal for victory or a detailed, well-described plan to bring U.S. troops home.

Laird called on President Bush to begin a phased withdrawal of some troops on a one-for-one plan, in which one U.S. soldier would head home each time one newly trained Iraqi soldier is ready to fight, the Boston Globe reported.

The war in Iraq is not 'another Vietnam,' said Laird -- a Republican who served nine terms in Congress from Wisconsin. "But it could become one if we continue to use Vietnam as a sound bite while ignoring its true lessons.

[existentialist]

1. Add Melvin Laird to the list

of Republicans who are beginning to realize that the Bush administration is a disaster.