"In Vietnam-era files, parallels of anxiety; Kerry releases records to spur Afghan debate" by Bryan Bender, Globe Staff | July 15, 2010
WASHINGTON — There was widespread confusion about who the United States was fighting in Vietnam, not unlike in Afghanistan, where the Taliban is joined by a host of other insurgent groups with differing agendas. There were also deepening doubts about the credibility of official assessments of the political and security situation, and shifting reasons for why the United States was even there — concerns that have a familiar ring today....
Yeah, THEY NEVER LEARN!
Also see: Taliban I Told You So
Oh, they just happen to be -- like the Vietnamese -- the PEOPLE that LIVE THERE, huh?
The historical record released yesterday also holds personal significance for the Massachusetts Democrat, a Vietnam veteran who testified against the war before the same committee in 1971.
You know, back when he was a human being.
In releasing the documents, Kerry might be hoping to bolster his own historical record by demonstrating the depth of concern during private Senate deliberations that the Vietnam War was a losing enterprise long before the United States withdrew its forces in 1973....
Related: How Do You Ask a Man to Be the Last to Die For a Lie, Senator?
So HOW MUCH LONGER do we have to WAIT, senator?
Kerry’s involvement in debates over various wars has been a hallmark of his public career. He voted in 2002 to give President George W. Bush the authority to go to war in Iraq, going against the strong opposition of Senator Edward M. Kennedy. And while Kerry supports the war in Afghanistan, other members of Congress, including Representative James McGovern of Worcester, have argued that the war is unnecessary.
The documents, released after consulting with several national security agencies, cover 1967 and 1968, when the United States was dramatically expanding its military involvement in Vietnam....
Is it going to take 3-4 million dead Afghans before we leave?
Many of the documents involve the so-called Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, which was passed by Congress in 1964 and gave Johnson authority to send US forces into combat against North Vietnam.
You know, the FALSE FLAG Johnson used to TRICK YOU INTO WAR, America?!
The PLAYBOOK is always the SAME, isn't it?
The resolution was approved after the Johnson administration reported that a US Navy ship operating in international waters was attacked by North Vietnamese boats — reports that were later called into question.
Of course, when ISRAEL ATTACKS the U.S.S. Liberty for REAL Johnson DID NOTHING!
By 1968, when the committee heard testimony from naval officers that directly refuted the version of events provided by Secretary of Defense Robert S. McNamara, some members of the committee said they regretted voting for the resolution....
Now you KNOW WHY I am SO PASSIONATELY AGAINST the WARS!
Once they START is is TOO LATE!!
The transcripts also show that some senators were extremely doubtful that the United States had a reliable partner in the South Vietnamese government — an echo of recent concerns about the Afghan government, which has been implicated in rampant corruption and lacks credibility with the Afghan people....
So how does the United States address that amongst their own people?
Overly optimistic assessments of the war were also a continuing theme of the committee debates during that period, the documents show....
Yes, NOTHING HAS CHANGED after all these years!
In fact, the news coverage is FAR WORSE than it was during the Vietnam time!
There were also concerns, not unlike those raised by opponents of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, about changing justifications for the war in Vietnam....
Hey, WHATEVER WORKS!!
--more--"
"Kerry says Afghanistan strategy is off course" by Associated Press | July 15, 2010
WASHINGTON — Senator John F. Kerry expressed doubts yesterday about the course of the war in Afghanistan, further complicating the Obama administration’s effort to maintain support for the nearly 9-year-old conflict.
Kerry, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said it is not clear that the administration has a solid strategy for prevailing....
Complaints were aired at a hearing in which the administration’s special envoy for Afghanistan and Pakistan, Richard Holbrooke, acknowledged that the way ahead remains in doubt....
On the hopeful side, he said, the pace at which NATO-trained Afghan police and army troops quit or desert has declined, yet it is too early to know whether that trend can be sustained.
Holbrooke said he and Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton will visit Afghanistan next week for an international conference at which President Hamid Karzai is expected to make commitments on strengthening the rule of law, fighting corruption, and building an economy.
The administration has said it will review its Afghan strategy, which was announced last winter, at the end of this year. But slow progress against the Taliban, plus the disruptive effects of the firing of the outspoken American commander there last month, has stirred a growing unease among many in Congress, including leading members of Obama’s own party.
Kerry opened the hearing with strong words of warning for the administration. He said the blood and treasure invested in Afghanistan since 2001 will be “irrelevant’’ in the absence of a serious strategy for building an Afghanistan that can provide for its own security....
So when we getting out, John?
