University Law Prof. Robert Turner and former Sen. Mike Gravel, D-Alaska, participated in a debate about the parallels between the war inIraq and the war in Vietnam. The debate last night became a heated argument about varying views on the war in Iraq.
Turner, who served in Vietnam, said the reason the U.S. went to war in Vietnam was because of the containment doctrine to stop the spread of Communism.
Gravel, who has filed papers to run in the 2008 presidential election, cited different reasons for involvement in Vietnam.
"Why were we so involved?" Gravel said. "We like to say freedom ... our focus of attention was on Indochina because of rubber and tin and the resources."
Gravel went on to say the war in Iraq is a "total replay" of Vietnam.
"What happened in Vietnam is that the best and brightest of the left took us to war without reason," Gravel said. "In Iraq, [it was] the best and brightest of the right."
Gravel said the war would not end until President Bush leaves office.
Turner defended U.S. actions in Iraq, arguing that Saddam Hussein clearly did have weapons of mass destruction.
"He used them in 1988 against Iranians and his own people" Turner said. "When we went after the war, he admitted he had them."
In his rebuttal, Gravel said Bush was not the only one to blame for the war in Iraq.
"Make no mistake about the war, this was not just a Bush war," Gravel said. "It was a fraud done under the American people. It is Congress's war."
During the question and answer period, both debaters were asked for solutions to the situation in Iraq.
Gravel said nothing could be done until the next election.
"I don't agree," Turner said. "I don't know anyone who says we should just walk away... walking away and saying here's our white flag... your generation is going to pay the price."
The final question of the evening asked both men the reason for the U.S. to stay in Iraq.
Turner again stated that leaving Iraq is not the answer.
"In the big picture if we just walk away saying we can't deal with this, I don't think our grandchildren will ever learn about 9/11," Turner said. "I hope I'm wrong in that."
Gravel, however, advocated total withdrawal of U.S. troops.
"Let's get our troops out of Iraq," Gravel said. "It's a political problem and a diplomatic problem. We are fighting a colonial war in a post-colonial period and will we ever wake up? The cost to us and to this country is failure as a nation in a very competitive world."
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