Battle Over Iraq War Lives in Syria
Debates about whether the US should commit troops to aid opposition forces fighting Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has roots in debates over US policy toward both Iraq and Vietnam, writes Geoffrey Aronson.
The most poignant moment of the confirmation hearing of former Sen. Chuck Hagel as secretary of defense was the colloquy sparked by Sen. John McCain's demand for a statement of contrition from Hagel for his opposition to the surge in Iraq, and more broadly, to U.S. policy in the region.
Hagel was having none of it.
“As to the comment I made about the most dangerous foreign policy decision since Vietnam,” he replied, "[it] was about not just the surge but the overall war of choice going into Iraq. That particular decision that was made on the surge, but more to the point, our war in Iraq, I think was the most fundamentally bad, dangerous decision since Vietnam."
McCain considers the U.S. effort in Vietnam to have been a “noble cause.” Hagel, like McCain and Secretary of State John Kerry, came of age serving in Vietnam. That experience was seared into the consciousness of each, but the lessons each learned about the use and misuse of American power in Vietnam continue to resonate today.
