So, these political activities will create friction in and of themselves, and in this environment of friction there’ll be additional violence. – John Abizaid
Being on the run, having to change the way that you do business, being unable to plan in a safe and secure environment, always looking over your shoulder, knowing that some day somebody’s going to knock on your door and it’s going to be your last. – John Abizaid
Every American soldier wants as much public support as he can possibly have. That’s the soldiers on duty in Iraq, and that’s me, as well. We fight better knowing that our people back home support us, back us, and understand what we’re doing. It’s hugely important. – John Abizaid
But all that having been said, you can’t, in a city of a million people like Karbala, or 5 million like Baghdad, you can’t be in all places at all times. – John Abizaid
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
But the truth of the matter is that there is there is an opportunity for them to participate in the economic and political future of the country and certainly in the security life of the country. – John Abizaid
I think you will see a lot of strains develop in the political process that will result in violence everywhere in the country – but it’s controllable, it’s workable and it will lead to a much better future for these people. – John Abizaid
In other words, for every 10 enemy you kill you bring on 20 new recruits to their anti-coalition cause then essentially you are working against yourself. – John Abizaid
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
As far as Zarqawi is concerned, there is a network of extremists; it’s not just Zarqawi. – John Abizaid
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
The power to prevent violence is a power that no police force seems to have anywhere in the United States. – John Abizaid
Well, the hardest thing to do, as we know from our own experience on 9/11 is protect everything all the time. – John Abizaid
You know as well as I do that counterinsurgency is a very nuanced type of military operation. – John Abizaid
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
You don’t build a new power plant in the United States overnight. It takes years to build. – John Abizaid
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
Well, the reports are correct that we’re conducting very robust military operations on the Afghan side of the border in areas where we think al-Qaida is operating and Taliban remnants are. – John Abizaid
I think what actually works best is local-level individual targeting of key leadership nodes. – John Abizaid
Nobody’s more mindful of the sacrifices of our troops than those of us that command them. – John Abizaid
Certainly our goal is to leave Iraq, but we can’t leave Iraq with our forces until we know that the Iraqi security forces are capable and efficient enough to defend the sovereignty of the nation. – John Abizaid
Undoubtedly, there are members of the former regime that are cooperating in some fashion and then there are extremists that are within Iraq that are cooperating with them. – John Abizaid
But I am satisfied that the information that we have that this is the work of Zarqawi, is accurate. – John Abizaid
