Lt. General William Odom on Nightline tonight! (5/6/04)

[huckleberry]

Nightline Daily E-Mail
May 6, 2004

NIGHTLINE: HAS THE U.S. ALREADY LOST IN IRAQ?

TONIGHT'S FOCUS: As the scandal continues to unfold of American military personnel abusing and humiliating Iraqi prisoners, the drumbeat of opposition builds. A chorus of voices is calling for the resignation of Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and many feel that these revelations have put back the U.S. cause irrevocably. But there are some who felt that the U.S. had lost Iraq even before this scandal broke. You'll hear from one of those people tonight.

The shocking revelations of prisoner abuse in Iraq have been dominating the airwaves and news pages for days now. For a lot of people here and abroad the feeling is that the damage caused by these photos will make it impossible for the U.S. to fulfill its mission in Iraq. Any hope of winning the hearts and minds of Iraqis, and thus winning in Iraq itself, has been lost.

But there are some who have felt that for a while. One such voice is retired Army Lt. General William Odom. He was the Director of the National Security Agency during the Reagan administration and he has also served as the Army's senior intelligence officer. He says the U.S. has already lost in Iraq so the question is "how high a price we're going to pay&.less by getting out sooner or more by getting out later?" Now this is not the voice of a partisan opposition member. He is currently a senior fellow at the conservative Hudson Institute. He opposed the war from the beginning, arguing that it wasn't reasonable to assume the Iraq could quickly develop into a democracy. General Odom will be sharing his thoughts in a conversation with Ted Koppel this evening.

Looking ahead to tomorrow, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld will be in the hot seat testifying to both the House and Senate Armed Services Committees tomorrow. He is bound to get a grilling from both sides of the aisle, and it will make for a fascinating Friday Night Special.

We hope you will be able to join us.

Madhulika Sikka and the Nightline Staff
Nightline Offices
ABCNEWS Washington D.C.

[keithyboy]

1. They're calling for the wrong person to resign: It should be Bush

Then the rest will leave. Bush resigns, Cheney is impeached, Rummy is sacked!

[Imalittleteapot]

2. Agreed. nt

[Oddman]

3. This is going to be great!

I'm really looking forward to it!


Torture Accomplished

[Wonk]

4. kick

[Oddman]

5. Odom making sense, making great points . . .

Clearly stated. Bring the troops home . . . .now


"What? Me lie?"

[TacticalPeek]

6. His positions seem unassailable.

We can get out now, and be hated and weakened. Or, we can stay longer and then get out, and be hated more and weakened more.

Cold facts from the general.
Koppel is dense, or playing so.

[aquart]

8. My position exactly.

[Wonk]

7. mp3 here for those who missed it

5 M

[cornfedyank]

9. kick, kick , kick the voter in the ass--Wake Up. Vote.

thanks for the mp3. I listened twice.

[Bozita]

12. Thanks for the mp3, Wonk

Listening now.

[LibertyorDeath]

10. Kick

[makhno]

11. That's the kind of people we need in an admin

Not the fucking hacks that seem to find their way into positions of power. The foundations of a strong state, let alone a democratic one, are missing in Iraq, and it sure as hell not an invasion that's going to bring them there in time for an election at home.

You know this country's in trouble when the president gets fucking non-entities like Condi Rice to vet his foreign policy, rather than respected intellectuals such as Odom.