Advice to Kerry on Exiting Iraq

The New York Times ^ | February 18, 2004 | GEORGE McGOVERN

[Brilliant]

To the Editor:

I am a longtime admirer of Thomas L. Friedman. I disagree, however, with his advice to Senator John Kerry relative to our Army in Iraq, which is summarized in his final line: "We will not run" (column, Feb. 15).

This determination to stand and fight is tempting to political leaders. The trouble with this appeal is that brave young Americans do the bleeding and dying — not the political leaders who committed them to a mistaken war. Terrorists are killing American soldiers in Iraq because our Army is in Iraq. I hope that President Bush, with the help of the United Nations, will find a way to return Iraq to the Iraqis and bring our Army home.

Paradoxically, on the same page as Mr. Friedman's column is a column by Maureen Dowd detailing how Ahmad Chalabi, the convicted criminal Iraqi exile, snowed the neoconservatives in the Bush administration into believing that the American Army could walk into Iraq unopposed and that he would be an ideal replacement for Saddam Hussein.

Replacing Saddam Hussein with Ahmad Chalabi would be comparable to replacing Jack the Ripper with Al Capone. Such a development is not worth risking the death of one additional American.

Thousands of young Americans bled and died in Vietnam to keep a series of political frauds in power in Saigon. Let's not go down that road again, claiming all the while, "We will not run." How about a compromise? Let's walk out of Iraq.

GEORGE MCGOVERN Marco Island, Fla., Feb. 16, 2004 The writer was the Democratic candidate for president in 1972.

[NonValueAdded]

Let's see ... terrorists in Iraq kill American soldiers in an attempt to get the US government to pull them out, McGovern says pull them out, we do and the terrorists win, saying "Hmmm, this works." That is supposed to stop terrorism??? George McGovern, are you insane?

[tkathy]

President Bush is working towards a free, stable middle east. The big picture!

[NonValueAdded]

Clean-up needed in aisles 19 and 20.

[ohioman]

Damn. That SOB McGovern is still alive?

[MaryFromMichigan]

Brilliant screen name! :)

[SpinyNorman]

McGovern is only qualified to give advice on exiting, period.

[Diogenesis]

re #9

"We removed the Taliban from power, removed Saddam from power,
got Lybian cooperation, Pakistani cooperation,
some ammends from iran and North Korea.
I'm overlooking a lot here, but we did
this in under three years with less than 2,000 men lost.
Thats a pretty spectacular accomplishment." cripplecreek

And then some.

---

"Thanks to Kerry in his Hanoi Jane period,
Vietnam was a disaster for America
that gave the establishment a wholly irrational fear
of almost every ramshackle Third World basket case on the planet."
Mark Steyn

[Gritty]

The problem with the "new" George McGovern is he sounds just like the "old" George McGovern!

[Brilliant]

It seems appropriate for Kerry to be taking his advice from George McGovern.

[wilmington2]

After Senator Kerry became a Benedict Arnold his antiwar group supported a plan called RAW. This stood for rapid American withdrawal. Would he do it again?

[Brilliant]

He says he'll stay the course, but you can't square that with the rest of what he says. Because the enemy knows his weaknesses, you can bet they will put pressure on him to fold.

[jwalsh07]

McGovern has forgotten the lesson taught to him by the Khmer Rouge. Or perhaps, like most liberals, he just doesn't care about the massacre of millions.

[Conspiracy Guy]

Tedward is history.

CG