Posted on 01/16/2005 2:20:28 PM PST by Tarpaulin
WASHINGTON (AFP) - America's ongoing military entanglement in Iraq (news - web sites) has become President George Bush (news - web sites)'s Vietnam, US Senator Edward Kennedy, a leading member of the opposition Democratic party, said.
The harsh words refer to the US role and ultimate defeat in the 1964-1975 Vietnam war.
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.
As for the upcoming elections in Iraq, "We have to let the Iraqis make the judgment and the decision about the elections. The United States has been manipulating and making all the calls in terms of Iraq. The Iraqis have to make the judgments," he said.
Kennedy also believes neighboring countries should be enlisted to encourage Sunni Iraqis to participate in the electoral process.
"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?" he asked.
Thanks to the liberal media, we're rarely told that the Democrats were in charge of the US during much of the Vietnam era.
Dear Ted: SHUT UP!
Why don't we just ask Osama bin Laden Obama, huh teddy?
Assad and Mubarak, to name but two of them, are not nice guys, don't believe in democracy, and would be among the first to stick Iraqi Sunnis in prisons if they got the chance.
Kennedy and his staff are beyond "stupid". Must be the untreated syphilis and alcoholism in that gang.
Idiots.
Who woke Ted the Swimmer up?
And 2 years is far short of 10 years...
Ted Kennedy; an army of pompous phrases assaulting the landscape in search of a coherent thought.
Fat drunken bastard needs to have his mouth taped closed.Where does treason start by the way ? Im serious . Not to get off topic but what WOULD someone have to do be to a traitor these days ?
My wife was never that big when she was pregnant.
Wonder what Barney F and Kennedy have been doing lately.
Let's tell it like it is here, Democrats are masters of the art of manipulating public opinion by words -- ala Goebbels "tell a lie frequently enough and it becomes truth" -- Teddy believes that he can talk the worst case scenario into existence by simply stating it, advocating it, etc. Mr. Kennedy and the Democrat party perfected Goebbels opus and realized the art of creating "quagmires" (no, not Chappaquidick) during Vietnam.
This democRAT strategy of talking the worst into existence is currently manifest in Ted's call to "quagmire". The democRAT collective guilt is further illustrated when, in 2001, the Democrats blamed Bush for "talking down the economy" (simply classic projection) and then spending the next 4 years doing exactly that; namely, talking down the economy.
Democrats are the classic grifters who are so warped and guilt ridden by their grifts that they accuse everyone else of doing precisely what they are doing...It would be funny if it wasn't so pathologically frightening.
Thanks. Bears repeating!
And Chappaquiddick is Ted Kennedy's Vietnam.
You almost had me, if you would have just said "illegal occupation" and "for the children," I would have been there.
I know it. Isn't he disgusting?
Too bad Rose and Joe didn't believe in abortion instead of lobotomies.
Yes, and to compare Iraq to Viet Nam demonstrates a
complete ignorance of history. The U.S. was involved in
Viet Nam for over a decade and lost 58,000 troops. The
causes and nature of the conflicts have no parallel. The
tragedy of Viet Nam is the mental rut that so many are
still stuck in -- members of the media, academe, and
politics of a certain age can't get over it and it affects
all their views on foreign policy in a very negative way.
Kerry and Kennedy are good examples. Some people of that
generation are caught in a time/space warp. It's time to
turn the page.
The more they throw these words around, the less power they have. Let's call it Crying Wolf Syndrome.
Besides, Vietnam does not have as much emotional impact to non-baby boomers. I was in kindergarten when we pulled out of Vietnam. I barely remember when Carter was elected. To most of the GenXers, Vietnam might as well be the Spanish-American war.
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