Daniel Ellsberg on Iraq: a real American hero

[welshTerrier2]

this guy is great ... while everyone is so busy talking about Deep Throat, we seem to have forgotten about another hero who released the Pentagon Papers to the press ... Nixon came after him big time for that ... Nixon's gone; Ellsberg's writing about the US occupation of Iraq and why our Congress lacks the courage to put an end to it ..

in the article below, Mr. Ellsberg clearly lays out why Iraq is a quagmire just like Vietnam (actually worse) ...

source: http://www.commondreams.org/views05/0609-31.htm

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Nixon kept the American people with him, not only through a first term but into a second term, by a continuous hoax that he was in the process of leaving Vietnam. It was never, ever his intention that there not be American bases in Vietnam. He foresaw initially large deployments of U.S. troops, at least 40,000 or so, indefinitely. <skip>

I believe it will be much harder and longer to get out of Iraq. There was no oil in Vietnam. Our need for bases in that area was not what we perceive our need for bases in the Middle East to be. Vietnam was not next to a highly influential ally of the United States, like Israel, with great influence on our policy that demands our continued presence in that area.

I do not foresee that we will be getting out of Iraq immediately, soon, or for a very long time. In fact, it is hard for me to see when that will be. When will we leave the oil of the Middle East and the oil of Iraq to the control of people who are not our collaborators, people who are not determined to be friendly to Israel and unfriendly to Iran, another Shia state? When do we leave it to those people? It will be a long time, frankly, under Democrats or Republicans.

That does not mean it is too soon for us to be talking about why we should be out; why it is a good policy for us to be out. That's why I am so happy with Rep. Lynn Woolsey's (D-Calif.) bill proposing a withdrawal strategy. She's made a whole succession of excellent moves under this administration. That bill is very, very important. <skip>

The unity of resistance forces right now is on one thing and that is American occupation. That doesn't make for a peaceful Iraq, ever. In fact, it precludes the possibility of a peaceful Iraq. Our administration says our duty is to stay there, that we owe them our presence, which is false. We owe them a lot in the way of money and reconstruction but not our presence. It only oppresses them, really. <skip>

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[Spectral]

1. It's depressing, but true

Thanks for this.

[OldLeftieLawyer]

2. Ratface's legacy

He'll go down in history as the worst President ever.

Imagine if he had actually won those elections ..............