In Retrospect...McNamara deceit and lessons for Iraq today

[EVDebs]

""Like many Vietnam books, this one avoids telling us what happened to the withdrawal plan, which vanished with President Kennedy's murder. But McNamara is crucially misleading when he says that the first Johnson document on Vietnam policy, National Security Action Memorandum 273 of November 26, 1963, "approved planning for covert action against North Vietnam by CIA-supported South Vietnamese forces." This was the restricted draft policy recommendation (for "Government of Vietnam resources") prepared on November 21 for Kennedy's signature; but soon after Johnson's accession the next day, the restriction to South Vietnamese forces was removed from NSAM 273. The road to U.S. activities like the Tonkin Gulf incidents had been opened, one month before the "disgraceful" scene where Johnson said, "Just get me elected, and then you can have your war.""" from http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1548/is_n4_v10/ai_17100323/pg_2

By avoiding a Powell Doctine mandated plan for withdrawal, one of the 'lessons' of Vietnam War (which one would assume even the Swift Boat Veterans for 'Truth' would agree with), the present administration needs to tell us about their withdrawal plans from Iraq (if they indeed exist).