Witness to history

Former Defense Secretary Melvin Laird looks back By Patrick Dickson, Stars and Stripes Mideast edition, Monday, October 13, 2008 Stars and Stripes Secretary of Defense Melvin Laird poses with U.S. servicemembers during a tour of bases in Spain in June 1970. Applying lessons learned in Vietnam FT. MYERS, Fla. — U.S. policy regarding the war on terrorism and the war in Iraq could use some adjustments, and the man offering that advice knows a bit about running a war. Melvin Laird, Richard Nixon’s Secretary of Defense from 1969 to 1973, sat down with Stars and Stripes for an interview to coincide with the release of his biography, "With Honor: Melvin Laird in War, Peace and Politics." Laird’s first criticism of the prosecution of the war in Iraq is that the Bush administration did not prepare the American public for a long... [read full story]