John Abizaid
John Abizaid
John Philip Abizaidis a retired United States Army general and former U.S. Central Commandcommander, overseeing American military operations in a 27-country region, from the Horn of Africa, the Arabian Peninsula, to South and Central Asia, covering much of the Middle East. CENTCOM oversees 250,000 US troops. Abizaid succeeded General Tommy Franks as Commander, USCENTCOM, on July 7, 2003, and was also elevated to the rank of four-star general the same week. He was succeeded by Admiral William J. Fallon on...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionSoldier
Date of Birth1 April 1951
CountryUnited States of America
I do think there is a general lack of understanding in the United States as to how it's going,
I know you have a lot of work ahead of you. I will continue to work with you all the way.
In terms of comparison from six months ago, in terms of foreign fighters, I believe there are more foreign fighters coming into Iraq than there were six months ago, ... In terms of overall strength of the insurgency, I would say it is the same as it was.
In terms of overall strength of the insurgency, I would say it is the same as it was,
The enemy that brought us 9/11 continues to represent one of the greatest dangers to this nation,
And clearly we know that the vast majority of the insurgents are from the Sunni Arab community.
I don't believe Iran is a suicide state.
Nobody's more mindful of the sacrifices of our troops than those of us that command them.
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.
So, these political activities will create friction in and of themselves, and in this environment of friction there'll be additional violence.
You know as well as I do that counterinsurgency is a very nuanced type of military operation.
The power to prevent violence is a power that no police force seems to have anywhere in the United States.
But as we move from this period of what many Iraqis regard as perceived occupation, we need to move towards one of partnership.
As far as Zarqawi is concerned, there is a network of extremists; it's not just Zarqawi.