Vietnam era defense sec.(McNamara) says US got it wrong in Iraq

[JoFerret]

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/afp/20040916/pl_afp/iraq_us_italy_mcnamara&cid=1521&ncid=1480

Vietnam War-era defense secretary says US got it wrong in Iraq


ROME (AFP) - Former US defense secretary Robert McNamara, a key hawk in the Vietnam War, said as he got married here that the United States had got it wrong in Iraq.

"They made a mistake," McNamara said ....

Without naming US President George W. Bush (news - web sites) and his administration, he said that "it's a terrible problem and I don't know how it will end."

The veteran politician had already denounced US President George W. Bush's Iraq policy earlier this year, saying Washington should never have used its power "unilaterally."

[pinerow]

1. He should know all about foreign policy based on hubris

nt

[Leilani]

2. Well, if anyone would know

he would!

What a hypocrite!

[NewYorkerfromMass]

3. He would know. eom

[TrogL]

4. McNamara was one of the worst of the hawks, if he's saying this...

then the situation's worse than anybody can possibly imagine.

I've been hearing this from several sources.

Iraq may turn out to be worse than Vietnam.

[HereSince1628]

5. McNamara is an A**hole of the first order.

Personally, an infinity of satisfaction will begin for me as I settle down near his hot rock on my entry into hell.

[amber dog democrat]

9. I think its far worse than Vietnam.

and the situation is going off the rails faster than I would have imagined.

TrogL, these are intersting times.

[NNN0LHI]

13. Iraq may turn out to be worse than Vietnam?????

I was never concerned that any Vietnamese people would come over to this country and commit random suicide attacks. I think it is only a matter of time until we have a visit from some pissed off Iraqis in our country.

Don

[truthisfreedom]

20. i surmise that it's already worse than Vietnam. i think we're in a world

of hurt.

[struggle4progress]

17. McNamara's problem has always been that he doesn't like ...

... public conflict. Some years ago, he started saying he'd alway opposed the VN war but didn't think he should criticize Johnson. Within the last year or so, Charlie Rose interviewed him: McNamara was more or less insistant that he didn't think he should make any comment about the Iraq war. I bet McNamara won't be touring the US to complain about the situation in Iraq.

[Lerkfish]

21. Iraq IS worse than VIetnam...I'll tell you why...

in Vietnam, we only had one or two countries (vietnam, cambodia) to worry about.
with Iraq and the threatening of other MUSLIM countries, we are stirring up a much larger and diffuse hornet's nest. Muslims are roughly one third of the entire world population at the moment (if I recall correctly), if the becomes us against muslims (and that is already the perception), then we are aligning ourselves against a much larger group, and against a group that is willing to take the fight to our land.


so yes, worse, worser, much more worsest.

[R Hickey]

6. I like Robert McNamara and the Neocon's hate him.

McNamera wrote a book saying that the whole Viet Nam War was a gigantic mistake. The Neocons hate him for having written it. I am glad he wrote it.

Senator Kerry was once a soldier who volintered to kill people in Nam. Later he changed his mind. I'm glad he did.

Senator Byrd was once in the KKK, but I don't hold that against Senator Byrd, either.

[liberalhistorian]

12. So the fact that he says that he knew even as early

as 1965-66 that Vietnam was a mistake and that we probably shouldn't have troops there because it was going to turn into a disastrous quagmire, but he didn't say or do a damn thing to stop it, just kept sending (mostly poor and minority) kids to that disastrous quagmire. doesn't bother you? As far as I'm concerned, I hope there's a special spot in hell reserved just for him that will make the "hot seat" he's often been on in this life seem like ice water.

[Waverley_Hills_Hiker]

14. Sounds just like Colin Powelll.....

....man, if Powell isnt history repeating himself...hes our new McNamara...

[rman]

22. i think McNamara didn't have the power to stop that war

not to say that he's innocent or anything, but if he'd have spoken out against the war then he'd probably have been replaced.

[jburton]

7. He's a "pessimistic nay-sayer"

So says the White House....

:eyes:

[amber dog democrat]

8. "it's a terrible problem and I don't know how it will end."

That statement says it all. Here is someone whom I would listen to.

We have a Calagula in the White House. He is INSANE.

[Tempest]

10. The Fog Of War

In the documentary, The Fog Of War, McNamara puts forward the case that the Iraq war is a complete lost cause.

The documentary is about Vietnam, but the parallels to Iraq are unmistakable.

[Waverley_Hills_Hiker]

15. That was an EXCELLENT documentary..!!!

I have the DVD and re-watch it every now and then.

[llmart]

23. Yes, that was an excellent documentary!

At the end I almost felt sorry for McNamara. He seems like he is a man who is haunted by his past mistakes and will take them to his death. Too bad it takes some of these hawks years to figure out and admit they were wrong. Hubris, indeed. And we have a perfect example of that in the WH now.

[NewYorkerfromMass]

11. I know someone who sat next to him on a plane

It was around 1970, and he (an old employer) let him know at the end of the trip how terrible he thought the war was and made sure to let him know it was "his" war.
McNamara practically ran away from him.

[illiteratepresident]

16. But when will Bob McNamara do the Right Thing and Come C lean

sig file:

[Just Me]

18. Whoah, McNamara speaks out, again!!!!

That makes me dizzy.

Damnit.

Bush is gonna get his ass whipped,...American-style.

[Karenina]

19. Kick!

[vetwife]

24. Well ain't that something. Shame he couldn't do it 35 years ago !

Scumbag...He was our Rumsfield in the 60's and 70's.
I don't even mention his name around vets. He is right now but was surely wrong then. I think for the vets who like Kerry, Mcnamara might ought to just keep quite. Most of them hate his guts and will just not vote if he is saying the war is wrong, they will turn to spite him. He is right of course but those vets still hold a grudge against McNamara. He held them in harms way for years and yes he could have done something. He was part of the problem. Age has probably mellowed him but he needs to just go sit in a corner somewhere. Where's his pal Westmoreland? 58,000 names on a wall, more than 110,000 vets dead from suicide, over 30 percent homeless, God knows who all died from Agent orange, and McNamara speaks. Shut up You puke..Too late for redempention ! That was to Old Bob not any of You guys ! God that felt good !