From the BBC, Thursday 11 September 2008, with the commander of US troops in Iraq, General David Petraeus:
In a BBC interview, Gen Petraeus said that recent security gains [in Iraq] were "not irreversible" and that the US still faced a "long struggle".
[...]
He said "the trends in Afghanistan have not gone in the right direction... and that has to be addressed".
Afghanistan remained a "hugely important endeavour", he said.
Earlier this week, President George W Bush announced a cut of 8,000 US troops in Iraq by February - with some 4,500 being sent to Afghanistan.
[...]
Leaving his post, he said there were "many storm clouds on the horizon which could develop into real problems".
[...]
He said he did not know that he would ever use the word "victory": "This is not the sort of struggle where you take a hill, plant the flag and go home to a victory parade... it's not war with a simple slogan."
Is that the whole story? No. I'm just here to give you the side of the story that John McCain won't.
You are, of course, welcome to read the whole thing.
(h/t: Harry Shearer, starting at about 41:35)
1 comment:
This is a perfect opportunity for Obama the next time he is accused of not wanting to "win".
"Hey, I just support our General and believe this is a war you will never be able to declare victory in. Our troops did their job (a job they should never have been asked by my opponent to do). They "won". In a way, though it's been made sport of, Bush was right when he said "mission accomplished". What can never been done in Iraq, as David Patraeus has said, is plant a flag and declare victory. I agree and don't understand why my opponent doesn't".
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