Well, the oil, the oil spot, if you will, is a, is a term in counterinsurgency literature that connotes a peaceful area, secure area. So what you're trying to do is to always extend that, to push that out. David Petraeus More Quotes by David Petraeus More Quotes From David Petraeus 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 I am neither a pessimist nor an optimist. I am a realist, and the reality in Iraq is that it has been very hard and it continues to be hard. David Petraeus realist iraq reality Don't forget Yemen, where there are also extremist elements, as we saw recently. David Petraeus yemen saws elements There has, indeed, been very substantial progress in Iraq over the past year - violence is down by 80 percent, civilian deaths by about the same, and so on. David Petraeus iraq past years US Ambassador to Iraq Ryan Crocker and I have repeatedly sought to emphasize that the progress in Iraq is fragile and also, possibly, reversible. David Petraeus ambassadors progress iraq Fighting in cities is a totally different endeavor than obviously fighting out in the open. David Petraeus different fighting cities The Islamic State fighters in Mosul are dead men walking and I think they increasingly know it. David Petraeus islamic men thinking There is no military solution to the challenges of Syria. David Petraeus syria military challenges People often ask, why aren't you reading about what it is you're working on right now? And the truth is, you only get three pages a night before your eyelids close. David Petraeus reading night people I will not ever run for political office, I can assure you of that. David Petraeus political office running If you look at casualties, you find countries that had much higher loss rates per capita than the US. Denmark comes to mind, the United Kingdom, they have suffered heavy losses at various points, the Germans as well. David Petraeus mind loss country Syria has allowed its soil to be transited by foreign fighters who have come from a variety of source countries in the Gulf area and in the - in North African countries.There are some signs that that may have been reduced somewhat in the last couple of months. We need to watch that a bit and see if that is the case. David Petraeus couple may country Iran, as we have already discussed, has carried out very, very harmful activities inside Iraq. Funding, trainings, arming and, in some cases, even directing the activities of the special groups associated with the Jaish al-Mahdi and the Sadr Militia. David Petraeus training iran iraq There is nothing I can do to undo what I did. I can only say again how sorry I am to those I let down and then strive to go forward with a greater sense of humility and purpose, and with gratitude to those who stood with me during a very difficult chapter in my life. David Petraeus i-am me gratitude life Leadership is an individual sport, one that has to be fine-tuned to each of the people that reports to you. Leaders also need to provide the direction, energy, encouragement and inspiration for each person who reports directly to the leader as well as for the overall organization. David Petraeus you leader leadership people Needless to say, innumerable challenges exist in all areas of governance, and much more needs to be done to help the Afghan government assume full responsibility for addressing the concerns of ordinary Afghan citizens. David Petraeus government responsibility challenges At a certain point, you have to take the rearview mirrors off the bus and focus forward, and that's what we've sought to do. David Petraeus forward you bus focus We need to learn from our experiences and take responsibilities for our actions and drive on. David Petraeus learn need drive take I considered our British comrades to rank with the finest men and women of any armed service in the world. And I know that my fellow American soldiers - and those of the other coalition countries under my command - valued very highly the professional expertise, capability, courage, and determination of our British partners on the battlefield. David Petraeus service women courage men But clearly, this is what this is about. It's about pushing the security bubble out. It's about rooting out every last guy, so that there's not even somebody who can fire a single, solitary RPG round from some little qalat out here. David Petraeus bubble security single fire
