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Rdtf
CNO
Joined: 13 May 2004
Posts: 2209
Location: BUSHville
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 Posted: Mon Aug 22, 2005 12:21 am Post subject: Republican Senator Hagel likens Iraq war to Vietnam |
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http://today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=topNews&storyID=2005-08-21T202811Z_01_MOL161657_RTRIDST_0_NEWS-IRAQ-USA-DC.XML
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Republican senator likens Iraq war to Vietnam
Sun Aug 21, 2005 4:27 PM ET
By Sue Pleming
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - An influential Republican senator said on Sunday the longer the United States stayed bogged down in Iraq, the more the conflict looked like another Vietnam War.
"What I think the White House does not yet understand and some of my colleagues, is the dam has broken on this (Iraq) policy," said Nebraska Sen. Chuck Hagel, a senior member of the Foreign Relations Committee and possible presidential candidate in 2008.
A decorated Vietnam War veteran, Hagel also said the war in Iraq had further destabilized the Middle East and the White House needed to find an exit strategy for Iraq.
Hagel's comments on ABC's "This Week," coincide with President George W. Bush's new offensive to counter growing public discontent over U.S. involvement in Iraq and calls for a pull-out date.
The White House rejected Hagel's remarks and said it was essential the United States complete its mission in Iraq.
"The president knows a free and democratic Iraq will help transform a dangerous region and lay the foundation of peace for our children and grandchildren," White House spokesman Trent Duffy said in Crawford, Texas.
"Our policies of the past only allowed the Middle East to become a terrorist breeding ground," he said. "Quitting now wouldn't help anyone except terrorist killers, who certainly aren't quitting their efforts to target innocent people."
Bush is taking his message on the road this week when he will invoke the September 11, 2001, attacks to contend that the United States must stay the course in Iraq.
But the public is showing more discontent with Bush's handling of Iraq, with high-profile protests during his Texas ranch vacation and new poll results showing growing concern over the outcome of the war.
Hagel said there were growing similarities between Iraq and U.S. involvement in Vietnam and he predicted the longer the United States stayed in Iraq the more unpopular it would become.
"We are locked into a bogged down problem not unsimilar or dissimilar to where we were in Vietnam. The longer we stay the more problems we are going to have," he said. Continued ... |
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GM Strong
Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy
Joined: 18 Sep 2004
Posts: 1579
Location: Penna
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| Posted: Mon Aug 22, 2005 12:26 am Post subject: |
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Hagel is a McCain style RINO. More concerned with what the MSM and the Dems think about him than what his own people do. His core has evaporated and there is no moral compass anymore.
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8th Army Korea 68-69 |
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Me#1You#10
Site Admin
Joined: 06 May 2004
Posts: 6503
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| Posted: Mon Aug 22, 2005 12:45 am Post subject: |
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| Term limits...now. The ills this would cure boggles the mind. |
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dusty
Admiral
Joined: 27 Aug 2004
Posts: 1264
Location: East Texas
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| Posted: Mon Aug 22, 2005 2:05 am Post subject: |
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The only similarity is the way the anti-war movement in this country is gaining strength and numbers.
And Senator Hagel is not helping the situation one little bit.
I'm sorry, I can't excuse this behavior. The man knows better than to play politics with this thing but there he is, doing it.
No excuse for him. Shame on him. Shame, shame, shame as Gomer Pyle would have said.
Dusty
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Left and Wrong are the opposite of Right! |
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dusty
Admiral
Joined: 27 Aug 2004
Posts: 1264
Location: East Texas
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| Posted: Mon Aug 22, 2005 2:07 am Post subject: |
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| Me#1You#10 wrote: | | Term limits...now. The ills this would cure boggles the mind. |
You got that right Me#1. And throw the Line Item Veto in for good measure.
Dusty
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Left and Wrong are the opposite of Right! |
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Rdtf
CNO
Joined: 13 May 2004
Posts: 2209
Location: BUSHville
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| Posted: Mon Aug 22, 2005 2:08 am Post subject: Hagel: Iraq war has destabilized Mideast, resembles Vietnam |
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http://www.cnn.com/2005/POLITICS/08/21/hagel.iraq.ap/index.html
| Quote: | Hagel: Iraq war has destabilized Mideast, resembles Vietnam
Sunday, August 21, 2005; Posted: 7:11 p.m. EDT (23:11 GMT)
WASHINGTON (AP) -- A leading Republican senator and decorated Vietnam War veteran said Sunday the Iraq war has destabilized the Mideast and is looking more like the Vietnam conflict 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."
Hagel said "stay the course" is not a policy. "By any standard, when you analyze 2 1/2 years in Iraq ... we're not winning," he said.
President Bush was preparing separate speeches this week to reaffirm his plan to help Iraq train its security forces while its leaders build a democratic government. In his weekly Saturday radio address, Bush said the fighting there protected Americans at home.
Polls show the public growing more skeptical about Bush's handling of the war.
In Iraq, officials continued to craft a new constitution in the face of a Monday night deadline for parliamentary approval. They missed the initial deadline last week.
Other Republican senators appearing on Sunday news shows advocated remaining in Iraq until the mission set by Bush is completed, but they also noted that the public is becoming more and more concerned and needs to be reassured.
Sen. George Allen, R-Virginia, disagreed that the U.S. is losing in Iraq. He said a constitution guaranteeing basic freedoms would provide a rallying point for Iraqis.
"I think this is a very crucial time for the future of Iraq," said Allen, also on ABC. "The terrorists don't have anything to win the hearts and minds of the people of Iraq. All they care to do is disrupt."
Hagel, who was among those who advocated sending two to three times as many troops to Iraq when the war began in March 2003, said a stronger military presence by the U.S. is not the solution today.
"We're past that stage now because now we are locked into a bogged-down problem not unsimilar, dissimilar to where we were in Vietnam," Hagel said. "The longer we stay, the more problems we're going to have."
Allen said that unlike the communist-guided North Vietnamese who fought the U.S., the insurgents in Iraq have no guiding political philosophy or organization. Still, Hagel argued, the similarities are growing.
"What I think the White House does not yet understand -- and some of my colleagues -- the dam has broke on this policy," Hagel said. "The longer we stay there, the more similarities (to Vietnam) are going to come together."
The Army's top general, Gen. Peter Schoomaker, said Saturday in an interview with The Associated Press that the Army is planning for the possibility of keeping the current number of soldiers in Iraq -- well over 100,000 -- for four more years as part of preparations for a worst-case scenario.
Sen. Lindsey Graham, a South Carolina Republican, said U.S. security is tied to success in Iraq, and he counseled people to be patient.
"The worst-case scenario is not staying four years. The worst-case scenario is leaving a dysfunctional, repressive government behind that becomes part of the problem in the war on terror and not the solution," Graham said on "Fox News Sunday."
Allen said the military would be strained at such levels in four years yet could handle that difficult assignment. Hagel described the Army contingency plan as "complete folly."
"I don't know where he's going to get these troops," Hagel said. "There won't be any National Guard left ... no Army Reserve left ... there is no way America is going to have 100,000 troops in Iraq, nor should it, in four years."
Hagel added: "It would bog us down, it would further destabilize the Middle East, it would give Iran more influence, it would hurt Israel, it would put our allies over there in Saudi Arabia and Jordan in a terrible position. It won't be four years. We need to be out."
Sen. Trent Lott, R-Mississippi, said the U.S. is winning in Iraq but has "a way to go" before it meets its goals there. Meanwhile, more needs to be done to lay out the strategy, Lott said on NBC's "Meet the Press."
"I do think we, the president, all of us need to do a better job, do more," Lott said, by telling people "why we have made this commitment, what is being done now, what we do expect in the process and, yes, why it's going to take more time." |
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srmorton
PO2
Joined: 07 Aug 2004
Posts: 383
Location: Jacksonville, NC
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| Posted: Mon Aug 22, 2005 2:52 am Post subject: |
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Hagel is an idiot! He does not even deserve the title of RINO. I think
he is a lib who ran as a Republican because he thought it would give
him a better chance to win in a red state. Like McPain, he has a
snowball's chance in hell of getting the nomination for POTUS. The
more he talks, the more he shows that he is unqualified to be CinC.
If I were from Nebraska, I would much prefer a sincere, conservative
Democrat like Ben Nelson to Hagel whose only purpose in life appears
to be to say whatever is most likely to get him quoted by the MSM.
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Susan R. Morton |
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PhantomSgt
Vice Admiral
Joined: 10 Sep 2004
Posts: 972
Location: GUAM, USA
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| Posted: Mon Aug 22, 2005 8:28 am Post subject: |
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Irresponsible statements by our elected leaders embolden our enemy and send the wrong message to troops on the battlefield.
Hagel forgets we are in the age of the military volunteer. These young men and women raised their hand to swear an oath that they obviously take more seriously than the Senator from Nebraska who swore a similar oath.
Whoever says we are not in the fight of our life, does not understand the enemy to freedom that confronts us from the shadows. We face at least four decades of battle to defeat this enemy and we have barely begun the journey. This battle is not for the weak hearted or weak kneed or those who do not have the will to win. Lives will be lost and our Nation’s resolve will be severely tested as we forced to expend our greatest National Treasure, the young men and women of America for the fight.
A mother named Cindy lost a treasured Son and became bitter. America gained another day of freedom from her sons’ ultimate sacrifice and we are indebted.
Senator Hagel, shame on you for comparing the Political War of Vietnam with the Professional War Against Terror our volunteer men and women wage today. During Vietnam, South East Asia was at risk from Communism and today the entire World is at risk from Terrorism; we have no alternative but to win.
I for one am thankful of the sacrifices made by our troops as they play in an away game so we can keep our home court advantage during the long struggle of this War.
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Retired AF E-8
Independent that leans right of center. |
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AMOS
Senior Chief Petty Officer
Joined: 30 Jul 2004
Posts: 558
Location: IOWA
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| Posted: Mon Aug 22, 2005 2:28 pm Post subject: Unsimilar? |
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"We are locked into a bogged down problem not unsimilar or dissimilar to where we were in Vietnam." UNSIMILAR? And he wants the GOP nomination? Nebraska should chuck Haggle.
Term limits.............Robt. "Sheets" Byrd and how many others? Mandatory retirement at 65 would work. |
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