Rummy: "Of course it won't be another Vietnam. We are going to go in, overthrow Saddam, and get out"

[sabra]

http://www.newsweek.com/id/205800/page/2

<snip>

Rumsfeld's own view remained fixed—as his oldest friend in the Pentagon, then-Air Force secretary James Roche, bears witness. Roche and Rumsfeld shared Chicago roots and Washington ties going back 30 years. Within the Pentagon, Roche was viewed with some awe as one of the few who could answer back to Rumsfeld. In fall 2002, Roche went with a colleague to see Rumsfeld to voice their fears about U.S. intervention in Iraq. "Don, you do realize Iraq could be another Vietnam," Roche said. Rumsfeld appeared outraged. "Vietnam? Do you think you have to tell me about Vietnam?" he said. "Of course it won't be another Vietnam. We are going to go in, overthrow Saddam, and get out. That's it." (Rumsfeld, who is writing his memoirs, declined to comment on Roche's account.)

But Rumsfeld, conscious of the support the neocons had in the White House, allowed Wolfowitz to continue planning a more expansive democracy-building mission. This led to jarring collisions. Just before the March 2003 invasion, a group of think-tank commentariat were summoned to the Pentagon for an off-the-record preview of the administration's plans. The first 40 minutes were consumed, those present recall, by Wolfowitz's staffers laying out a grand scheme to bring democracy to Iraq. Then Rumsfeld breezed in. "Forget everything you've just heard," he said. "We're going to go in, overthrow Saddam, remove his WMD, and get out." The commentariat departed, bewildered.