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In the early stages of our involvement in Vietnam, basically I felt that our course was right. My concern grew with the concern of the American people.

As the senior commander in Vietnam, I was aware of the potency of public opinion - and I worried about it.

It's not right to say that our loss in Vietnam turned out to be a gain. But lessons were learned. And they were the right lessons.

I simply told people what I thought about the state of the war in Vietnam, and it was that we better get out of this.

Vietnam was a lie but at least there was a political agenda. It was the domino theory. Iraq is about nothing but George Bush's ego laced with imperialist ambitions. And it was helped by your government.

The object of my relationship with Vietnam has been to heal the wounds that exist, particularly among our veterans, and to move forward with a positive relationship,... Apparently some in the Vietnamese government don't want to do that and that's their decision.

Now we have a problem in making our power credible, and Vietnam is the place.

So one important lesson of Vietnam is, the first casualty of an unwise and unjust war are the American troops called on to fight it. Their service should be honored.

I learned a lot from Vietnam veterans, especially as some of them turned against their own war.

I thought the Vietnam war was an utter, unmitigated disaster, so it was very hard for me to say anything good about it.