Leading national-security specialists : Iraq gravest error since Vietnam

[G_j]

VIETNAM REDUX
Jim Lobe, AlterNet

An open letter signed by leading U.S. national-security
specialists describes the U.S. invasion and occupation of
Iraq as the gravest foreign policy error since the VietnamWar.

http://www.alternet.org/waroniraq/20174

The U.S. invasion and occupation of Iraq has been the "most misguided" policy since the Vietnam War, according to an open letter signed by some 500 U.S. national-security specialists.

The letter, released Tuesday by Security Scholars for a Sensible Foreign Policy (S3FP), said that the current situation in Iraq could have been much better had the Bush administration heeded the advice of some of its most experienced career military and foreign service officers.

But the administration’s failure to do so has actually fueled "the violent opposition to the U.S. military presence," as well as the intervention of terrorists from outside Iraq.

"The results of this policy have been overwhelmingly negative for U.S. interests," according to the group which called for a "fundamental reassessment" in both the U.S. strategy in Iraq and its implementation.

..more..