GOP Senator Says Iraq Looking Like Vietnam

[Anonymouse]

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20050821/ap_on_go_co/us_iraq

By DOUGLASS K. DANIEL, Associated Press Writer 1 hour, 47 minutes ago

WASHINGTON - A leading Republican senator and prospective presidential candidate said Sunday that the war in Iraq has destabilized the Middle East and is looking more like the Vietnam conflict from a generation ago.

Nebraska Sen. Chuck Hagel, who received two Purple Hearts and other military honors for his service in Vietnam, reiterated his position that the United States needs to develop a strategy to leave Iraq. Hagel scoffed at the idea that U.S. troops could be in Iraq four years from now at levels above 100,000, a contingency for which the Pentagon is preparing.

"We should start figuring out how we get out of there," Hagel said on "This Week" on ABC. "But with this understanding, we cannot leave a vacuum that further destabilizes the Middle East. I think our involvement there has destabilized the Middle East. And the longer we stay there, I think the further destabilization will occur."

[TomServo]

He's right! It is like Vietnam!

[Sip]

GOP for president.

[winoman]

Yeah - many similarities...enemy that mixes with the people - cannot be defeated (without scorched earth policies)...and talk of expanding the war - going after places that support the terrorists (insurgents...whatever...) like Iran and Syria (sounds like Cambodia and Laos to me...)...but of course there are significant differences...that make our involvement even more dangerous, risky, doomed to fail and of questionable merit/justifiability in the eyes of the world...all the more reason to scurry away as quickly as possible...