LUNCH-HOUR REPORT 3-28: Bush, McCain, and fear-mongering

By Mary Anna Towler on March 28, 2008

Zbigniew Brzezinski, national security adviser in the Carter administration and an Obama supporter, lashes out in today's Washington Post against President Bush and Senator John McCain's stand on the Iraq war.

"The case for terminating the war is based on its prohibitive and tangible costs, while the case for ‘staying the course' draws heavily on shadowy fears of the unknown and relies on worst-case scenarios," writes Brzezinski. "President Bush's and Sen. John McCain's forecasts of regional catastrophe are quite reminiscent of the predictions of ‘falling dominoes' that were used to justify continued U.S. involvement in Vietnam. Neither has provided any real evidence that ending the war would mean disaster, but their fear-mongering makes prolonging it easier."

The US must pull out of Iraq, writes Brzezinski, but the pullout "must be matched by a comprehensive political and diplomatic effort to mitigate the destabilizing regional consequences" of the war.

ABC News, citing a Vermont Public Radio report, says Vermont Senator Patrick Leahy is calling for Hillary Clinton to leave the race. She can't win, Leahy said, and by staying in the race, she's letting John McCain have a free ride.