Retired general: Iraq invasion was 'strategic disaster'
The Lowell Sun
http://www.lowellsun.com/ci_3072005
WASHINGTON -- The invasion of Iraq was the "greatest strategic
disaster in United States history," a retired Army general said
yesterday, strengthening an effort in Congress to force an American
withdrawal beginning next year., Retired Army Lt. Gen. William Odom, a
Vietnam veteran, said the invasion of Iraq alienated America's Middle
East allies, making it harder to prosecute a war against terrorists.
The U.S. should withdraw from Iraq, he said, and reposition its
military forces along the Afghan-Pakistani border to capture Osama bin
Laden and crush al Qaeda cells.
"The invasion of Iraq I believe will turn out to be the greatest
strategic disaster in U.S. history," said Odom, now a scholar with the
Hudson Institute.
Homeward Bound, a bipartisan resolution with 60 House co-sponsors,
including Lowell Rep. Marty Meehan, requests President Bush to
announce plans for a draw-down by December, and begin withdrawing
troops by October 2006.
The measure has not been voted on, nor has the House Republican
leadership scheduled hearings. But supporters were encouraged
yesterday, pointing to growing support among moderate conservatives
and the public's rising dissatisfaction with the war.
Meehan, one of the first to propose a tiered exit strategy in January,
when few of his Democratic colleagues dared wade into the
controversial debate, pointed to "enormous progress."
"Talking about this issue, having hearings on this issue, getting more
Americans to focus on it will result in a change of policy," Meehan
told The Sun. "The generals and commanders on the field in Iraq
overwhelmingly are saying we need less in terms of occupation and more
Iraqis up front, and that's the only strategy I think that will result
in getting American troops back home."
-- EVAN LEHMANN
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