Washington, D.C. – Lieutenant General Robert Gard (USA, Ret.), Senior Military Fellow at the Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation, and Brigadier General John Johns (USA, Ret.), Board Member at Council for a Livable World, appeared at a press conference today with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid to speak out against the Iraq War.
“The Iraqi people understand the situation there better than those who are advocating to continue the current course,� said Lt. Gen. Gard. “We have lost the support and the confidence of the Iraqi people and you can’t win without it.�
“The legislation being proposed by both the House and the Senate does not cut off funds for executing the surge strategy,� Brig. Gen. Johns added. “The President has used the active duty military as props.�
Gen. Gard concluded with a striking comparison to Vietnam, a conflict in which he and Johns both served: “The current situation is reminiscent of the spring of 1965 in Vietnam. Both the then Secretary of Defense and the President knew the war was unwinnable militarily, but because the President didn’t want to be tarred with losing a war, he continued on for five more years and 34,000 more combat deaths.�
The press conference can be viewed at rtsp://video.c-span.org/project/iraq/ iraq041607_reid.rm?mode=compact (paste link into browser).
Dr. John H. Johns served as a combat arms officer in the Army for over 26 years, retiring as a brigadier general in 1978. He also served in a number of staff positions, including 8 years on the Army General Staff, retiring as the Director of Human Resources Development. He taught leadership and ethics at the U.S. Military Academy and has lectured on ethics at the Air War College, the Army War College, the U.S. Military Academy, and the Naval Academy.
Dr. Robert G. Gard, Jr. currently serves as the Senior Military Fellow at the Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation. General Gard finished a distinguished career in the U.S. Army as President of the National Defense University (NDU). Following his tenure at NDU, General Gard served as President of the Monterey Institute of International Studies for more than a decade until 1998.
Council for a Livable World, based in Washington, D.C., works tirelessly to reduce the danger of nuclear weapons and increase national security. Founded by nuclear scientist Leo Szilard in 1962, the Council provides Members of Congress with technical information on weapons of mass destruction and operates a Candidate Fund that helps elect candidates who support sensible national security policies.
Visit the Council online at http://www.clw.org/.
