John Abizaid Born : April 1, 1951 Browse All Authors Top 38 quotes by John Abizaid We've got to ensure that the quality and the capability of these forces will be good enough to withstand the challenges that the insurgents and the terrorists will present to the new Iraqi government. John Abizaid quality government challenges Morale is good; troops are confident; leaders are capable. John Abizaid troops leader military Capturing any member of any terrorist cell or any insurgent cell that we may happen to come across is always very, very valuable, and the thing that interests me is that in most instances after a time people talk and they tell us what they know. John Abizaid cells may people You don't build a new power plant in the United States overnight. It takes years to build. John Abizaid united-states plant years Clearly the Secretary of Defense, my boss, would like nothing better than to get Osama bin Laden and to get... to ensure the complete defeat of al-Qaida, because we know that al-Qaida is planning operations against the United States even as we speak here. John Abizaid boss united-states military Everybody needs to understand that I learned Arabic from the United States Army as a second language. I never spoke it at home. John Abizaid united-states army home I think you also understand that one of the key things that's got to be done in Iraq is to build a mentality of understanding that the military needs to be subordinate to civilian control and respectful of its own people. John Abizaid keys military thinking The power to prevent violence is a power that no police force seems to have anywhere in the United States. John Abizaid united-states police violence I believe we've... we've worked very hard with the Iraqis to build a better place ever since the fall of Saddam's government. John Abizaid military believe fall As far as Zarqawi is concerned, there is a network of extremists; it's not just Zarqawi. John Abizaid concerned extremist military I don't believe Iran is a suicide state. John Abizaid iran suicide believe Nobody's more mindful of the sacrifices of our troops than those of us that command them. John Abizaid command troops sacrifice But my Arabic is pretty good. It's good enough to have conversations with people, to understand what they say, to understand what they're feeling. John Abizaid good-enough feelings people And so I think that if the person has the funds, the network, and the equipment to do this, and also the experience, which is the key factor, then they can be quite deadly. John Abizaid reincarnation keys thinking So, these political activities will create friction in and of themselves, and in this environment of friction there'll be additional violence. John Abizaid environmental political violence Well, the hardest thing to do, as we know from our own experience on 9/11 is protect everything all the time. John Abizaid hardest wells protect And over time, I think, as Iraqi security capacity builds, you'll see American and coalition presence there decline. John Abizaid decline capacity thinking The United States is the most powerful nation on Earth and it just can't walk away from the Middle East and central Asia and the Horn of Africa. John Abizaid middle-east united-states powerful You know as well as I do that counterinsurgency is a very nuanced type of military operation. John Abizaid operations type military We'll try to include Iraqi officers in our staffs. We will do everything we can to empower Iraqi security forces to stand up on their own and operate where they can alone. John Abizaid empowering military trying
