September 4, 2002: Former Navy Secretary Says Neoconservatives Will Put US in Iraq For Decades

The Washington Post publishes an op-ed by James Webb, a former assistant secretary of defense and secretary of the Navy, warning that the neoconservatives’ plan to invade Iraq would commit the US to a long term occupation of Iraq. “The issue before us is not simply whether the United States should end the regime of Saddam Hussein, but whether we as a nation are prepared to physically occupy territory in the Middle East for the next 30 to 50 years. Those who are pushing for a unilateral war in Iraq know full well that there is no exit strategy if we invade and stay. This reality was the genesis of a rift that goes back to the Gulf War itself, when neoconservatives were vocal in their calls for ‘a MacArthurian regency in Baghdad.’ Their expectation is that the United States would not only change Iraq’s regime but also remain as a long term occupation force in an attempt to reconstruct Iraqi society itself.” [Washington Post, 9/4/2002]