WASHINGTON, Nov. 17 (UPI) -- Newly declassified documents show former U.S. President Richard Nixon faced similar dilemmas in Vietnam to those faced by President Bush in Iraq.
The National Archives and Records Administration released 50,000 pages of previously classified documents from the Nixon administration that recount how the U.S. war effort was hampered by the 1968 massacre at My Lai of South Vietnamese civilians by U.S. troops. Similarly, Bush is today being plagued by reports of prisoner abuse in Iraq and at the military prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
The National Archives and Records Administration released 50,000 pages of previously classified documents from the Nixon administration that recount how the U.S. war effort was hampered by the 1968 massacre at My Lai of South Vietnamese civilians by U.S. troops. Similarly, Bush is today being plagued by reports of prisoner abuse in Iraq and at the military prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
As for Bush trying to impose democracy in Iraq and Afghanistan, a Nixon-era internal White House planning memo has modern overtones as well, the New York Times reported.
"What the United States wants for South Vietnam is not the important thing," the memo said. "What North Vietnam wants for South Vietnam is not the important thing. What is important is what the people of South Vietnam want for themselves."
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"What the United States wants for Iraq is not the important thing," the memo said. "What the insurgents want for Iraq is not the important thing. What is important is what the people of Iraq want for themselves."
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