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 : Don't Blame Me, I Voted For Kerry -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: lorne who wrote (15668)	4/17/2004 9:31:32 PM
From: American Spirit	Respond to of 81568

Republican Icon Blasts Cheney-Bush Unilateralism Fri Apr 16, 7:14 PM ET Add Politics - AFP to My Yahoo! NEW YORK (AFP) - Former US defense secretary Robert McNamara, a central figure in the Vietnam war, denounced President George W. Bush (news - web sites)'s policy in Iraq (news - web sites) on, saying the United States should not have used its power "unilaterally." "We are the strongest nation in the world today," McNamara said. "We should never use that power unilaterally." "If we had followed that rule we wouldn't have been in Vietnam," he said at the Plaza Hotel here in a conference organized by the American Bar Association. McNamara was the hawkish US secretary of defense from 1961-68 under presidents John Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson, both Democrats. Bush is a Republican who is running for re-election against Democratic Senator John Kerry (news - web sites) in November. "There's no solution in Iraq that doesn't involve the UN (United Nations (news - web sites)) in a major role," McNamara said. Referring to UN special envoy Lakhdar Brahimi's proposals for Iraq's political transition, he said: "The events in the last 48 hours give us some hope." Brahimi expressed confidence Wednesday that a caretaker Iraqi government could be set up on time ahead of the United States' June 30 handover of power. McNamara lamented the Bush administration's relations with "potential opponents." "Are we empathetic today in our relations to our potential opponents? I don't think so," he said. The threat of nuclear proliferation should be a priority, he said, adding that the US nuclear policy has not changed in 40 years. "Our nuclear policy today is roughly the same, it's insane," McNamara said. "We're committed to the non proliferation treaty ... and here we are, designing two new nuclear weapons," he said. "Our current policy is immoral, it's illegal." He warned of the threat posed by North Korea (news - web sites), a communist country that has nuclear ambitions. "We are in the deepest trouble with North Korea today," he said. "Preemptive action and regime change, it's not going to work. What are we going to do? It's a no answer question, but we have to worry about it." A former close adviser to Kennedy, Theodore Sorensen, criticized Bush's "unilateral" policy. "This president needs a reminder: we can't do it alone," he said. "If we've learned something from the commission on 9/11 (investigating the September 11 attacks), it's that we are never absolutely certain," Sorensen said. "Intelligence is an imperfect art and science. So how can we have a doctrine of unilateral preemptive action if we can't be certain?" he asked