Nixon Defense Secretary, Melvin Laird Calls for Iraq Exit Plan

[kerrygoddess]

Nixon Defense Secretary, Melvin Laird Calls for Iraq Exit Plan
October 19th, 2005

Melvin Laird, Secretary of Defense under Nixon during the Vietnam War is speaking out on Iraq. Laird, in the next edition of Foreign Affairs magazine “that most Americans want to see a clearly defined exit strategy and will not tolerate an open-ended military commitment in Iraq — something that he said would make the fledgling Iraqi government even more dependent on US forces and hinder its independence.”

He has warned that the U.S. is “repeating in Iraq some of the mistakes that led to public disillusionment and ultimate defeat in Vietnam, including the impression that there is no clear goal for victory or a detailed, well-described plan to bring US troops home.”

Laird’s article for Foreign Affairs magazine breaks more than 30 years of silence on his tenure in the Nixon administration during Vietnam. Now 83 years old, “Laird compares on-the-job lessons he learned from the US experience in Southeast Asia with the ongoing US presence in Iraq and calls on President Bush to begin a phased withdrawal of some troops on a one-for-one plan: When one newly trained Iraqi soldier is ready to fight, one US soldier heads home. Bush, Laird writes, must also hold top administration officials accountable for abuses of detainees in American custody to restore US prestige in the region.”

MORE & LINKS - http://blog.thedemocraticdaily.com/?p=886

[acmavm]

1. I got to the end of the first paragraph and had to start laughting.

<snip>
something that he said would make the fledgling Iraqi government even more dependent on US forces and hinder its independence.”
<snip>

There are so many things wrong with this statement I don't know where to start. But shall I start with 'what frigging independence'?

And then I'll move on to 'do you really think that this bunch of thugs will ever allow independence'.

You folks can take it from there.

[kerrygoddess]

2. The fact is...

The longer we stay the more dependent they are on us. Laird is not saying anything that Dems have not said.