Former Nixon adviser Alexander Haig wants all out war against Iraq

[ProSense]

What the hell is wrong with these people?

Haig: Vietnam Mistakes Repeated in Iraq

6 minutes ago

BOSTON - Former Nixon adviser Alexander Haig said Saturday military leaders in Iraq are repeating a mistake made in Vietnam by not applying the full force of the military to win the war.

"Every asset of the nation must be applied to the conflict to bring about a quick and successful outcome, or don't do it," Haig said. "We're in the midst of another struggle where it appears to me we haven't learned very much."

The comments by Haig, Nixon's chief of staff and also a secretary of state under President Reagan, came at a conference at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum examining the Vietnam War and the American Presidency.

Snip...

Kissinger was greeted outside by about 25 protesters who chanted "Kissinger should go to jail, no bail." He refused to directly respond to a question, submitted by the audience and read by a moderator, that asked if he wanted to apologize for policies that led to so many deaths in Vietnam.

more...

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060312/ap_on_re_mi_ea/haig_iraq_2

[acmavm]

1. What's wrong with those people? They never could get enough blood,

gore, and death so satisfy their needs.

[Catherine Vincent]

2. It doesn't matter what he wants.

He's not in charge here. :evilgrin:

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

3. Haig always liked blowing stuff up.

Reminded me of General Jack D. Ripper in "Dr. Strangelove"; I always expected him to start babbling about precious bodily fluids. Haig was Sec. of State under Reagan, and when Reagan got shot he announced that HE was now in charge. Which he wasn't. Haig and Kissinger are scary guys.

[jimshoes]

4. What makes any of these psychos

think they're any good at war. I haven't seen anything that would convince me to give them another go at waging a war ever again against anybody.

[Vickers]

5. The mistake in Vietnam was going there...same with Iraq.

Even a syphilitic, comb-over, drunken lout like Haig should understand that.

[CrazyOrangeCat]

6. Couple familiar old faces . . .

. . . still as hateful as ever.

Hands still soaking in the blood of innocents.

Too bad they still get air time . . .

[RoyGBiv]

7. Oh, just go bury yourself already ...

Geezus. All these right-wing psychopaths that have been pissed about Nixon leaving office all these years are finally getting what they want. The idiots are coming out of the woodwork. It's Nixon Pt. III, only not as smart.

Haig was an idiot then, and he's an idiot now. As for "military leaders" making all the same mistakes, I call bullshit. The "mistakes" in Vietnam were by and large committed by the civilian leadership in Washington, from the moment we got involved through escalation. Even the pullout was managed so badly by the non-military people one wonders if a Little League coach on loan might not have come up with a better plan.

GAWD!!!!!!!!! I just want to hurl.


OnEdit: This reminds me. I had a bizarre experience on Thursday. This client I was talking to at work noticed my ID badge and squinted while he got a closer look. Seems my last name is the same as someone who was pretty heavily involved in exposing Nixon way-back-when, which I knew, but which I never even think about because it's not relevant to anything in my life. But, this guy noticed. Why? Because he's still pissed about it. "You related to him?" he asked me. I had to think a minute to realize who the hell he was talking about, and when I did, I just said "no." "Good. We can do business then."

WTF? :wtf:

[Boojatta]

12. I could be wrong

Seems my last name is the same as someone who was pretty heavily involved in exposing Nixon way-back-when, which I knew, but which I never even think about because it's not relevant to anything in my life. But, this guy noticed. Why? Because he's still pissed about it. "You related to him?" he asked me. I had to think a minute to realize who the hell he was talking about, and when I did, I just said "no." "Good. We can do business then."

Perhaps he is related to Nixon, not that there's anything wrong with that. Perhaps he doesn't want his own illegal activities exposed. Perhaps he was eating a peach recently and bit into a bad spot.

You could have quoted the Bible: "This is the verdict: Nixon has come into the world, but men loved impeachment instead of Nixon because they had the wrong relatives."

[RoyGBiv]

13. Oh, I like that ...

I am definitely going to use that soon. I know another Nixon-lover who also happens to be a fundie type, and I imagine his head may well explode.

Thanks. :-)

[Boojatta]

21. Revising message

I know another Nixon-lover who also happens to be a fundie type, and I imagine his head may well explode.

If that Nixon-lover isn't concerned about your surname, then we might need to modify the wording. How about this?

"This is the verdict: Nixon has come into the world, but men loved impeachment instead of Nixon because they idolized the Constitution more than they loved the one true Nixon."

[Boojatta]

22. Here's another one

Nixon might have had a poorly translated Bible. The usual translation tells people to be as subtle as a serpent and as innocent as a dove. Apparently, Nixon's Bible said "be as subtle as a serpent and as honest as a dry cleaner."

"We didn't do that. It must have been like that when you brought it in!"

Of course, I could be wrong.

[IndianaGreen]

8. Haig: We are in control here, in the White House!

Who remembers a sweating Haig saying those words in the WH press room right after Reagan was shot?

Even Nancy Reagan thought that Haig was a looney!

[CrazyOrangeCat]

10. Vividly.

When NANCY thinks you're nutso, some self-examination might've been in order, Big Al . . .

[sheelz]

9. It's all out war now!

250,000+ dead now! How many more must die-- asshole!

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x2507984

[benddem]

11. Haig should have been locked

up after he said "I'm in charge" when Reagan was shot. He and Kissinger are war mongers.

[European Socialist]

14. How did that nutjob not get hired by team Dumya.

[tinfoilinfor2005]

15. haha!

You are so right about that. :)

[RoyGBiv]

16. Wanted :

Immediate opening for psychopath to spout inane drivel on the TeeVee.

Qualifications: Ability to spout inane drivel
Experience : Must have a least 35 years history of spouting inane drivel
Other : Alexander Haig, this means you.

That's how.

[terrya]

19. LOL

Haig would be PERFECT for this regime.

[opihimoimoi]

17. "I AM IN CHARGE " Haig does it again..inserting FOOT in MOUTH

I thought the dude was in a home somewhere in Lululand...

I guess he got a weekend pass to come out.

[Jai4WKC08]

18. Haig is right on this

You don't go to war unless you're willing to commit the needed resources. That was the Powell Doctrine, based on Vietnam, and Bush/Cheney/Rummy threw it out the window. Since none of them had ever been to war, what did they know? They thought they could do it nice and easy, "a cake walk," make Bush a "war president" to help get him re-elected and divert the publics attention from the inability to get OBL.

I found a different article that gave a little more of Haig's remarks:

Haig said current U.S. military leaders in Iraq are repeating a mistake made in Vietnam, by not applying the full force of the military to win the war.

"Every asset of the nation must be applied to the conflict to bring about a quick and successful outcome, or don't do it," Haig said. "We're in the midst of another struggle where it appears to me we haven't learned very much."

Haig also criticized President Bush for getting the military bogged down in Iraq. "We didn't have an obligation to create a democracy" in Iraq, said Haig.

"That's due to the neo-con addition to this administration," said Haig. "You create a democracy by example, not with bayonets."

http://www.projo.com/news/content/projo_20060312_viet12.34900ed.html
(registration required)

He's right about that last part too.

[Boojatta]

20. "You create a democracy by example, not with bayonets."

Were the Cold War and the Second World War caused by a failure of the USA to set an example for the USSR, Japan, and Germany?

Has Mr. Haig considered updating his vocabulary to appeal to the younger generation? I'm not an expert on military matters, but I suspect that bayonets are not used much by the US military nowadays.

[Jai4WKC08]

23. Don't confuse cause and effect

Not sure where you're going, but WWII was caused by Germany invading Poland. And some other stuff, of course. Point is, creating democracy had nothing to do with its cause, and was no one's intent at the time.

One could argue that BushCo really had no intent of creating democracy in Iraq when he ordered the invasion; I would agree, but also note that according to Sy Hersh, the neo-cons in his administration have been true believers all along. But whatever. It's the reason given now, and deserves debunking at every opportunity.

Democracy had nothing to do with starting the Cold War either, but it damn sure played a part in ending it. And the US/NATO never invaded a country to "fight" the Cold War, altho I suppose we allowed, even encouraged, some rather nasty militarism on the part of surrogates in the process. But as far as eastern Europe and the former republics of the Soviet Union, those which are democracies today brcame so solely because they chose to. It was never imposed by bayonet... or M1 Abrams. And never could have been.

As for Haig's vocabulary... I doubt he really cares whether he appeals to anyone any more. But I had no trouble understanding the idea he was trying to convey.

[Boojatta]

24. Who is confusing cause and effect?

"You create a democracy by example, not with bayonets."

I interpret that to mean the same thing as "The way to ensure that a democracy will be established in some particular country other than your own country is to make a good democracy in your own country so that other people will be impressed. It would be a mistake to use force."

How do you interpret it?

Weren't there US soldiers in Japan and West Germany after the Second World War? What were the soldiers for if, in the process of creating a democracy, it is a mistake to use force?

[Jai4WKC08]

25. That's exactly what I mean

Creating democracy was not the cause of WWII. It was the effect.

The soldiers weren't in Germany and Japan for the purpose of creating democracy. They were there to occupy the conquered nations. The Marshal Plan was a response to the need to end the occupation without leaving a political vacuum from which who knows what sort of government might arise, and what threat it might pose in the future.

In Iraq, the neo-cons wanted to create a democracy, and so they pushed for a war to do it. Creating democracy was the cause, and war was the effect. As I said, it was not imo the reason Bush/Rove decided to take us to war, but it is certainly the one Bush uses now to justify it. Haig seems to believe it was the original reason, or maybe he's just reacting to the recent rhetoric, or just criticizing the neo-con philosophy.

I'm not here to defend Haig's politics, btw, altho I have reason to believe he was a very good military commander (I didn't serve under his command, but I knew quite a few who had). I just think he is correct in the comments he made at this particular conference.

[Boojatta]

26. What was the purpose of occupying the conquered nations?

The soldiers weren't in Germany and Japan for the purpose of creating democracy. They were there to occupy the conquered nations.

[Mr_Jefferson_24]

27. "Every asset of the nation...

...must be applied to the conflict to bring about a quick and successful outcome, or don't do it," Haig said.

Thanks for the timely advice, Al, that's real fuckin' helpful. Hey, maybe the captain of the Titanic should slow the ship a bit and watch more carefully for icebergs---we should probably advise him before something bad happens.

[Jeffersons Ghost]

28. I LIKE IT!

Iraq = Nam is a headline that works for me!

[saltpoint]

29. Haig is a life-long testosterone case. A certified, hair-on-the-tongue

lunatic.

He can belch imperial bullshit all he wants, but his president's war has gone down the toilet of history, and it only makes Haig sound worse than he did under Nixon, which was incredibly bad already.

A hateful, unstable, dangerous blowhard.