Iraq is George Bush’s Vietnam: US Senator Kennedy
Ultimately, we have to ask ourselves this very basic question. And that is, is the face of the United States part of the liberation and security and the stability in that country, or are we a force that is perceived to be expanding the kind of uncertainty and savagery and revolution that’s taking place there?
- Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-MA)
Using Vietnam as an analogy to describe George W. Bush’s ill-fated and poorly-planned foray into Iraq has been widely and loudly considered to be unpatriotic. That hardly makes the comparison any less correct. In fact, the longer the fiasco continues, the more apt the analogy is beginning to seem. All we need is a few prominent Democrats to step forward and show that they have the cojones to call the war in Iraq what it truly is: a clusterf—k on a par with Vietnam.
It appears that at least one Democrat is displaying some cojone: Ted Kennedy.
Iraq is “clearly is George Bush’s Vietnam,” said Kennedy, speaking on CBS’s “Face The Nation” program.
Kennedy then blasted Bush’s claim in an interview in Sunday’s Washington Post that his Iraq policy was endorsed by the US public because of his November 2004 re-election victory.
“I think that’s ridiculous,” said Kennedy. He quickly referred to the 1964 elections, when Democrat Lyndon Johnson, who had increased US military involvement in Vietnam, defeated Republican Barry Goldwater by an overwhelming majority.
Johnson then had to “basically abdicate the presidency” when he announced in March 1968 that he would not seek re-election, largely due to the drain on time, resources and his popularity resulting from failures in Vietnam.
According to Kennedy, Iraq “is a disaster because it’s the a result of blunder after blunder after blunder. And it is George Bush’s Vietnam,” he insisted.
It has “absolutely been a mistake that we went into Iraq, instead of following (September 11 mastermind) Osama bin Laden (news - web sites),” said Kennedy.
Further mistakes included not having enough troops for post-war operations, disbanding the Iraqi army, having single source contracts to groups like the politically connected Halliburton, the prisoner abuse scandals at Abu Ghraib, and the US refusal to accept offers by other countries such as Egypt to assist in training Iraqi forces, said Kennedy .
“Finally they have been unable to make up a plan — they’re making it up day by day. Until Iraqis are going to fight for their own country we are going to have a very, very dangerous situation,” said Kennedy.
Too much of Bush’s clusterf—k has been allowed to pass unquestioned because Democrats have been terrified of being perceived as unpatriotic. True patriotism, though, is not about keeping quiet as your country is being hijacked by neo-Conservative thugs bent on their own enrichment and self-aggrandizement. It’s not about sitting by quietly when a miserable failure of a policy in Iraq has resulted in the wasted sacrifice of 1400 American soldiers. Patriotism is about recognizing when policies have gone horribly wrong and standing up to the despots who are banking on our silence and complicity.
Ted Kennedy will no doubt be excoriated by those afraid of the truth and think that attacking him on the basis of his personal history is fair game. If he is the lone voice in the wilderness, his protestations will ultimately be for naught. Perhaps when a succession of prominent Democrats see fit to follow Kennedy’s example we’ll begin to see a reason to hold out some hope. Being the Loyal Opposition should not have to be synonymous with being the Ineffective Opposition.
WE DESERVE BETTER.
