Anthony Cordesman
Anthony Cordesman
Anthony H. Cordesmanholds the Arleigh A. Burke Chair in Strategy at the Center for Strategic and International Studiesand is a national security analyst on a number of global conflicts...
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It's an essential part of the broader strategy. But you won't have a situation where Iraqi battalions come on line and U.S. troops leave the next week.
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The (United States) needs to stop issuing such nonsense as soon as possible. They have so little credibility that they can breed nothing but further distrust.
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Having a country stay in the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty that effectively is proceeding to defy it doesn't necessarily strengthen the treaty.
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They have begun to realize that when you focus only on the U.S. it gives the impression that the U.S. doesn't care about Iraqis.
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And to be perfectly blunt, I think only fools would bet the lives of other men's sons and daughters on their own arrogance and call this force a cakewalk or a speed bump or something that you can dismiss.
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Obviously every time you get a weakening of the coalition, it highlights the lack of international support for the U.S. mission.
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He has studied military tactics and counterinsurgency operations, but I don't think this is someone who sees himself as a commander. This is someone who sees himself as a stimulator.
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Serving soldiers develop a tremendous sense of obligation to their comrades, and are trained to see the mission through. They know the military and the risk, and they have already chosen to serve their country.
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I would call it a show of words.
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These are scarcely people you want to integrate into a national force. This would simply create sectarian or ethnic forces or divisions within the forces that already exist.
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America and its allies face many risks and problems in Iraq, but it is all too easy to snatch defeat from the jaws of uncertainty.
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The Yemeni central government has done what it can, but it is very weak. It is not a matter of the government not trying. But there are limits to it can do.
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Iraq might be a far easier opponent than its force strengths indicate. But it also is potentially a very serious military opponent indeed,
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You're watching the insurgents develop more sophisticated methods of attack, and more sophisticated IEDs. They're using shaped charges and anti-tank mines stacked together. They're using 500-pound bombs that can destroy any armored vehicle. They're using these so-called swarming attacks, firing several RPG rounds at one lightly armored vehicle.