Ellsberg: Iraq a new Vietnam

[reprehensor]

http://www.commondreams.org/headlines04/0420-04.htm

The Veteran of the Pentagon Papers-era Defense Department says the U.S. Should Withdraw Its Troops
by Olivia Winslow

Ellsberg, who is best known for releasing to the New York Times 30 years ago what came to be known as the Pentagon Papers, a top-secret report that outlined U.S. involvement in Vietnam over two decades, drew similarities to his experience with government deception and what is happening in Iraq today.

Speaking to about 300 people at Nassau Community College yesterday, Ellsberg, a former Pentagon analyst, predicted that the situation in Iraq, which has seen a new outbreak of resistance to U.S. forces from Iraqi insurgents in recent weeks, "will get far worse."

To Ellsberg, the solution is to withdraw U.S. troops, though he added, "it's going to be harder to get out of this than from Vietnam." But he suggested that, in the long run, it was better to admit error and leave.

"Yes, there is a cost to be paid by admitting error like this ... but the cost to be paid by doubling the debt and reinforcing that error week by week, year by year, decade by decade is incomparably worse ..."

more@link