101 Quotes by John Abizaid

If there is anything that demonstrates to people the difference between what we stand for and what they stand for, it ought to be pretty apparent to them what it is,

Clearly, we understand that we've got an enemy that's in for the long term, al-Qaida and the associated groups that are aligned with it, ... We know that they've got a long-term strategy to fight, to gain ground, to gain influence. And it's very very clear that we've got to have the same sort of long term strategy to contest it. But the keystone to this strategy is helping the people in the region help themselves.

I don't know if I would make any comment about that other than to say that there is a lot of work against the insurgency,

I do think there is a general lack of understanding in the United States as to how it's going,

But as we move from this period of what many Iraqis regard as perceived occupation, we need to move towards one of partnership.

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.

But the key shift in focus will be from counter-insurgency operations to more and more cooperation with Iraqi security forces and to building Iraqi security capacity.

But clearly the fact that we've gone from zero Iraqi security forces on duty in May to up to 200,000 today is an enormous accomplishment, but it's not enough.

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.