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William Odom

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William Odom

Born: June 23, 1932

Died: May 30, 2008

Nationality: American

Occupation: Soldier

Biography: William Eldridge Odom was a retired U.S. Army 3-star general, and former Director of the NSA under President Ronald Reagan, which culminated a 31-year career in military intelligence, mainly specializing in matters relating to the Soviet Union.

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William Odom

“Also, General Zinni, who commanded central command, was very much opposed to the war in the first place, as I was. We were both quoted to that effect in February of 2003.”

- William Odom

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William Odom

“But I would make it unambiguously clear that we are going to withdraw, and if Iraq falls into civil war and if all these unhappy things occur, we're just going to have to accept them.”

- William Odom

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William Odom

“Firing off 1,000 or 500 or 2,000 nuclear warheads on a few minutes' consideration has always struck me as an absurd way to go to war.”

- William Odom

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William Odom

“I don't think that the war serves U.S. interests. I think Osama bin Laden's interests and the Iranian interests are very much served by it, and it's becoming a huge drain on our resources both material and political.”

- William Odom

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William Odom

“I have never belonged to a party. I don't have party affiliation.”

- William Odom

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William Odom

“I remember serving in Vietnam in that war, and many of us at the major Lieutenant Colonel, colonel level were frustrated that no one in the U.S. wanted to debate it that way.”

- William Odom

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William Odom

“I will make a general statement that we have not had anything like the policy of holding people in high office responsible for their acts that I think we should.”

- William Odom

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William Odom

“I've decided that the political context is such that the only way reform will finally come about in the Russian military is that the deterioration goes beyond the point to which these old generals can stand up there and resist it.”

- William Odom

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William Odom

“In fact, it struck me when we invaded last year that if we did it without European and East Asian support, we were risking losing our alliance in Europe in exchange for Iraq, and that is a very undesirable exchange.”

- William Odom

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William Odom

“In World War II in Germany, we had a ration for one U.S. soldier, or one allied soldier for every twenty inhabitants. The ratio in Iraq is about one for a hundred and sixty.”

- William Odom

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William Odom

“It was not in our interest to enter Iraq in the first place.”

- William Odom

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William Odom

“It was, however, in the interest of Osama bin Laden for us to destroy a secular Arab leader; it was very much in the interest of the Iranians because they wanted revenge against Saddam Hussein for Iraq's invasion in 1980.”

- William Odom

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William Odom

“Military officers from different countries, when they meet each other, tend to sort of fall in love, become mutual admiration societies, at the expense of realities.”

- William Odom

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William Odom

“Once we destroyed the Saddam regime, we knew there was going to be a civil war.”

- William Odom

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