Mike Levin: “My conclusion is that just as it took a new administration to extract the United States from Vietnam, it will take a new…”

“My conclusion is that just as it took a new administration to extract the United States from Vietnam, it will take a new administration to extract us from Iraq in a way which leaves that country stable and democratic. We cannot leave Iraq as we did Vietnam. Nor can we just continue a western occupation of a Muslim nation that is the target and magnet for violence and terror, and that has become more destabilizing than stabilizing. We must change course in Iraq--or else Iraq's future is not likely to be stability and democracy, and the legacy to the world of the Iraq war is likely to be greater turmoil and terror. I agree with what Republican Senator Chuck Hagel said recently: 'We're in deep trouble in Iraq.' Although President Bush continues to say that things are going well in Iraq, even Secretary of State Colin Powell acknowledged recently that the situation is 'getting worse.'”