Iraq situation could be 'disastrous'
Originally published in the Richmond Times-Dispatch
Iraq situation could be 'disastrous'
Former U.S. officials agree that stakes are very high in this war
BY KIRAN KRISHNAMURTHY
TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER
The possible regional consequences of the war in Iraq are more dire than the stakes during the Vietnam War, two former secretaries of state from opposing political parties told a Fredericksburg audience last night.
"I actually think it's more serious than Vietnam in its repercussions," said Madeleine K. Albright, secretary of state in the Clinton administration, citing the explosive nature of the Middle East, including the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
"You're right for a change," said Lawrence Eagleburger, who was secretary of state under President George H.W. Bush. "If we fail in this one, what happens in the Middle East is going to be disastrous."
The two former diplomats were joined at the University of Mary Washington by retired Gen. Wesley Clark, who served as supreme commander of Allied forces and was a 2004 Democratic presidential candidate. He described the invasion of Iraq as "an unnecessary war."
Clark said the battle against terrorism starts with changing ideology. "We've got to change people's minds. We've got to take angry young men and through their own faith convince them that it wasn't, in the Quran, destined that they should kill innocent people," he said.
The second step, he said, is bringing in allies to arrest people who commit violence against citizens. Military force should be a last resort, he said.
"That's the way, if you want to win the war on terror, you would go about it. If you turn it upside down, you create more terrorists."
Eagleburger said he supports the war in Iraq, but that the current administration made a "terrible mistake" by pinning the invasion on finding weapons of mass destruction.
He said the United States should perhaps re-evaluate its alliances with France and Germany and should put energy into strengthening partnerships with Japan and India. He acknowledged President Bush's "cowboy approach" has fueled "antagonism" with some in Western Europe, but he added, "We are not in this world simply to make friends."
Albright said Arab nations must want democracy for it to succeed.
"We must be reasonable in what we expect," she said. "Democracy is no panacea. It may be the best system ever devised, but it provides no guarantee of civil peace, economic prosperity or public happiness. And there's considerable risk that those elected will be extremists, scoundrels or fools."
