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Hagel's Parallels Between Iraq And Vietnam Are Inaccurate
The Post Chronicle ^ | 08\26\2005 | Oliver L. North

Posted on 08/26/2005 5:42:01 AM PDT by RepublicNewbie

Nebraska Republican Sen. Chuck Hagel, a Vietnam veteran and two-time Purple Heart recipient, did support the war, and even advocated sending in more troops. But now he is calling for the administration to develop -- and publish -- an exit strategy. "We should start figuring out how we get out of there," Mr. Hagel said. "But with this understanding, we cannot leave a vacuum that further destabilizes the Middle East." Sen. Hagel, who is occasionally mentioned as a GOP presidential candidate in 2008, says our soldiers are getting bogged down in Iraq the way they did in Southeast Asia a generation ago.

(Excerpt) Read more at postchronicle.com ...


TOPICS: Foreign Affairs; Government; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: chuckhagel; hagel; iraq; olivernorth; vietnam
I've been waiting to hear Ollie's take on this.
1 posted on 08/26/2005 5:42:01 AM PDT by RepublicNewbie
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To: RepublicNewbie

Publish an exit strategy?

Why don't we just print every military plan and classified document, translate it to arabic, and hand it out to every terrorist in Iraq.


2 posted on 08/26/2005 5:54:38 AM PDT by varyouga (Reformed Kerry voter (I know, I'm a frickin' idiot))
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To: RepublicNewbie

Ollie is such a gentleman. The title of this should be "Hagel is Full of $hit"


3 posted on 08/26/2005 5:56:53 AM PDT by msnimje
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To: RepublicNewbie

Hagel is toast come Presidential Primary Season, and I can't wait for his campaign to go down in flames!


4 posted on 08/26/2005 6:01:58 AM PDT by conservativecorner
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To: conservativecorner
Hagel is toast come Presidential Primary Season, and I can't wait for his campaign to go down in flames!

Yeah I am watching all the republican backstabbers out there too. If they think we will forget about what they have said or done they are mistaken.

5 posted on 08/26/2005 6:08:33 AM PDT by pepperhead (Kennedy's float, Mary Jo's don't!)
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To: varyouga

RE; An exit strategy

Maybe we could get Madeline Albright and Sandy Berger to visit Iran and Syria and work out something that won't hurt their feelings when we pull out during the 7th inning stretch.


6 posted on 08/26/2005 6:08:52 AM PDT by silverleaf (Fasten your seat belts- it's going to be a BUMPY ride.)
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To: conservativecorner
Everyone is tiptoeing around hagel because he is a veteran.

Julius Rosenberg was a veteran too.

A traitor is a traitor is a traitor, no matter service he once rendered.

If someone saves a guy's life, and then claims a right to beat that guy up if he feels like it later, he would rightly be called a stupid jerk.

hagel hasn't "earned" any mythical "right" to stab our soldiers in the back.

7 posted on 08/26/2005 6:17:20 AM PDT by wideawake (God bless our brave troops and their Commander in Chief)
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To: RepublicNewbie
This was the best part of Ollie's piece:

As we near the fourth anniversary of Sept. 11, it's important to remember that events make dates important, not the other way around.

What I sense from reading pieces about the war in Iraq is a maddening sense of American leadership being afraid to press its might, and win this war in a manner we would win it if this were northern Europe in the 1940s. Rather, we seem hell-bent on prosecuting the war in such a manner that keeps other, everyday life as close to "peacetime" as possible. Though I'm not a Vietnam veteran, I've read all I can on the subject, and in my opinion, that's where the similarities between Iraq and Vietnam lie: our desire to fight and yet not fight at the same time.

Long and short of it? If Iraq is worth the blood of one American soldier, we should prosecute the war in the most brutal, violent way possible in order to win it and get on to the next theater as soon as possible.

8 posted on 08/26/2005 6:31:38 AM PDT by Hemingway's Ghost (Spirit of '75)
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To: Hemingway's Ghost
I love it when these Vietnam experts like Hagel and McCain talk strategy and war planning. They were so far down the food chain when they were in Vietnam that they only did what they were ordered to do. When I was there as a Ltjg flying planes I never received a call from the President or any Admirals asking me what my take was on the conduct of the war and neither did Hagel or McCain. These two clowns didn't know anything about foreign policy or strategy then and they sure as hell don't know any more now. I wish they would STFU and let real warriors handle the situation.
9 posted on 08/26/2005 6:38:27 AM PDT by mortal19440
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To: mortal19440
When I was there as a Ltjg flying planes I never received a call from the President or any Admirals asking me what my take was on the conduct of the war and neither did Hagel or McCain.

A fantastic point. Likewise, it was befuddling that Lawng Jawn Forbes Kerry based his entire Presidential campaign on what he did as a LTJG in Vietnam (for four months), and people (except for us) bought it hook, line, and sinker.

10 posted on 08/26/2005 6:57:19 AM PDT by Hemingway's Ghost (Spirit of '75)
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To: RepublicNewbie
Why can't the media hold people on both sides up to scrutiny. The correct retort to Hagel's claim that we "destabilized" the Middle East is to ask: "You think it was stable before?" and "Do you want to retain the stability that bred 9/11?" "Do you think 'He may be a thug but he's our thug' is morally defensible and politically viable?"

Instead, if you criticize the war you get a free pass. If you're a do-nothing seat-filler like Hagel, you get promoted to "leading Republican" even though no Republicans are following you.

11 posted on 08/26/2005 9:41:54 AM PDT by Dilbert56
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To: RepublicNewbie

We are in a war that already elevated our deficit. The information provided to us to keep us there is coming from where? The Obama administration.

There are a lot of smart people on FR, but this is how I feel. I’d love it if someone would enlighten me as to these feelings against this war. I really don’t trust the info for staying in.


12 posted on 11/10/2014 2:39:30 PM PST by Beowulf9
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