Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Politics : The Iraq War And Beyond -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: RealMuLan who wrote (3871)	4/17/2004 1:10:51 PM
From: RealMuLan	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 9018

Iraq could be worse than Vietnam: EU's Patten 17 April 2004 Top EU official Chris Patten said Saturday it was wrong to compare the war in Iraq with the United States' fate in Vietnam -- as the consequences of failure in Iraq would be far more serious. The European Union's external relations commissioner said that with "the substantial benefit of hindsight, Vietnam would have been caught up in the opening of markets, the end of communism and globalisation". "In the case of Iraq, I think if things go wrong we'll be living with the consequences for a very, very long time," he told reporters after a meeting of EU foreign ministers. EU sources said that during the two-day meeting more than one minister, including Germany's Joschka Fischer, made the comparison with the United States' doomed attempt to stop the spread of communism in Southeast Asia. "If things go wrong in Iraq, it'll make it much more difficult for us to deal with tensions in the Islamic world and the world outside," Patten said. "So I think the comparison which is customarily drawn, which suggests that somehow Iraq could become as difficult an issue as Vietnam, is misplaced, because I think it's arguably much more serious." President George W. Bush this week rejected emotive comparisons with Vietnam made by Massachusetts senator Ted Kennedy. "Iraq is George Bush's Vietnam," Kennedy had said, "and this country needs a new president". Kennedy is an outspoken campaigner for John Kerry, the Democratic candidate in the November 2 presidential election. EU foreign affairs chief Javier Solana, for his part, rejected the Vietnam comparison. "The historical situation in Vietnam and today's situation in Iraq are completely different," he said. "To me it is abundantly clear that the situation in the 60s is quite different from today's situation." Text and Picture Copyright © 2004 AFP. All other copyright © 2004 EUbusiness Ltd. All rights reserved. This material is intended solely for personal use. Any other reproduction, publication or redistribution of this material without the written agreement of the copyright owner is strictly forbidden and any breach of copyright will be considered actionable. eubusiness.com