The president and I sat down in the Oval Office, and he expressed very clearly that what he wants from me is my best professional military advice. David Petraeus More Quotes by David Petraeus More Quotes From David Petraeus I think Putin wants to recreate as much of the Soviet Union as he can through a variety of different means. He's invaded parts of Georgia, took Crimea, southeastern Ukraine, bases in other countries. David Petraeus mean country thinking Afghanistan has other enormous challenges as well, including a political system that is still very much developing, although there has been some progress in the past several years. David Petraeus political past years ISIS is on its way to defeat but terrorism threat persists. David Petraeus isis defeat way The progress in Iraq is still fragile. And it could still be reversed. Iraq still faces innumerable challenges, and they will be evident during what will likely be a difficult process as the newly elected Council of Representatives selects the next prime minister, president, and speaker of the council. David Petraeus iraq president challenges Reconciliation is what takes place, of course, at higher levels. President Karzai has been very clear about the red lines for reconciliation, accept the constitution, lay down their weapons, cut their ties with al Qaeda and essentially become productive or at least participating members of society in that regard. David Petraeus cutting ties president I'm living the dream. David Petraeus living-the-dream dream This cannot be the United States being the air force for Shia militias, or a Shia on Sunni Arab fight. David Petraeus fighting military air I did a week-long assessment in 2005 at (then Defense Secretary Donald) Rumsfeld's request. Following our return, I told him that Afghanistan was going to be the longest campaign of what we then termed "the long war." David Petraeus assessment war long In Afghanistan you are not rebuilding, you are building. There is very limited infrastructure and extreme terrain, with deserts in the south and mountains so high in some areas that helicopters don't even fly well at a certain altitude because the air becomes so thin. The country has a serious problem of illiteracy, especially after so many years of war and Taliban rule. David Petraeus war country years There [in Afghanistan] is also a growing insurgency threat from al-Qaida, the Taliban and other extremist elements, some of which comes from the tribal areas of Pakistan, as well as from the Northwest Frontier province and Baluchistan. David Petraeus pakistan growing elements The first official statements of President Asif Ali Zardari's new government have been firm and robust. Pakistan is obviously a renewed democracy. David Petraeus democracy government president Pakistan are very keen to carry out the operations themselves. And there's significant effort on the part of the US and other countries to provide assistance that can enable Pakistan to do just that. David Petraeus pakistan effort country The task [in Afghanistan] is to reduce civilian casualties while still not hesitating to respond to enemies who are trying to kill our soldiers. David Petraeus soldier trying enemy The question is always how you get the number of troops needed. They do not have to be coalition forces. We also have to expand the training program for the Afghan National Army and the national police, in particular. and Defense Secretary Robert Gates has already announced support for a significant increase in the Afghan army. David Petraeus support army numbers There are some ideas that will translate from Iraq to Afghanistan and there are many that will not. The first lesson of counterinsurgency, in fact, is that every situation is truly unique, has its own context, its own specific set of factors - and you have to understand that context in enormous detail to be able to craft a sound and comprehensive approach. David Petraeus iraq unique ideas Over the last few years they have done a superb job in their fight against al-Qaida. As you may recall, our embassy in Jedda (in Saudi Arabia) was overrun some four years ago and a number of foreign workers went home because of violence against them. David Petraeus fighting home jobs We cleared many of their towns and cities and rural areas of al-Qaida Iraq and other insurgents. David Petraeus iraq als cities Iraq has gone from being on the brink to being on the mend, and it clearly has some big advantages. David Petraeus advantage iraq gone Al-Qaida in particular remains dangerous, and there [in Iraq] is some residual militia and special group presence. There are still between 20 and 30 attacks per day, still periodic car bombs and still loss of innocent civilians. David Petraeus iraq car loss First and foremost is to not allow the reestablishment, if you will, of an extremist sanctuary that can export the kind of terror that ended up with terrorists taking down the World Trade Center and plowing into the Pentagon and a field in Pennsylvania. That's the point: We started this war because the Sept. 11 attack came from this area. And we do not fight alone, but with some 40 allies who share that view. David Petraeus fighting views war
