Naval War College speech by GEN Abizaid

email | 11/22/05

[StoneGiant]

Naval War College speech by GEN Abizaid

Email received from the West Point “old grad” network…


Subject: General Abizaid - Commander, US Central Command (Middle East less Israel and Turkey)



General Abizaid spoke to the Naval War College last week. The audience was made up primarily of War College students who are mid-grade/senior military officers. The majority of these officers have served in the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan, so there was a real understanding of dynamics of the region. BS would not sell to this audience. Here is a short summary of General Abizaid's comments.

* He is amazed as he goes around the country and testifies before the Congress how many of our countrymen do not know or understand what we are doing or how we are doing. There are very few members of Congress who have ever worn the uniform (of our armed forces). He said that the questions he gets from some in Congress convince him that they have the idea that we are about to pushed out of Iraq and Afghanistan. There is no relation between this and the reality on the ground.

* As he goes around the region and talks to troops and junior officers he is very impressed by their morale and their achievements. They are confident that they are capable of defeating the enemy.

* You will never see a headline in this country about a school opening or a power station being built and coming on line, or a community doing well. Only the negative things will get coverage in the media. He told the mid-grade/senior officers to go to their local Lyons Clubs when they go home and tell the people what they are doing. If they don't get the word out, the American people will not know what is really happening.

* The insurgency is in four of 18 provinces in Iraq, not all 18. You do not hear about the 14 provinces were there is no insurgency and where things are going well. The insurgency in Afghanistan is primarily in Kandahar provience ( home of the Taliban) and in the mountain region on the Pakistani border. The rest of the country is doing well.

* Iraq now has over 200,000 soldiers/police under arms and growing. They are starting to eclipse the US/coalition forces. Their casualty rate is more than double that of the US. There are more than 70,000 soldiers under the moderate government in Afghanistan and growing.

* He predicted that the insurgencies in the four Sunni provences in northern/central Iraq and in Southwestern Afghinistan will be there for the foreseeable future, but they will be stabilized and become small enough so the moderate governments will be able to keep them under control.

* 2006 will be a transition year in Iraq and that will see the Iraqi forces take much more of the mission from the US forces. This is necessary to bring stability to Iraq. We need to be less in numbers and less in the midst of the people for the moderate Iraqi government to succeed.

* Our primary enemy is not the insurgency in Iraq and Afghanistan. It is Al Qaida and their ideology. We are at a period now that is similar to the 1920s where Communism and Nazism had not taken hold in Russia and Germany. The ideology of Al Qaida is out there and it has not taken hold in any country in the middle east. We need to make sure that it does not and we are doing that, but it will be a long problem with a long commitment.

* He said that we are focused on the things that we (Americans) have done wrong, like Abu Ghraib, and not talking about this enemy. We need to talk about this enemy. Al Qaida is all over the world. Their goal is to get the US out of the region and come to power in the Islamic countries of the region. From there their goal is to establish a Caliphate (under a single Islamic ruler) that goes from the Atlantic in North Africa to Indonesia in the Pacific. Fifty years after this happens their goal is to rule the rest of the world.

* Since Desert Storm in 1991 US forces have not lost any combat engagement in the region at the platoon level or above. Al Qaida has no beliefs that they can defeat us militarily. They see our center of gravity as being the will of the American People. That is influenced by the media and they are playing to that.

* They don't need to win any battles. Their plan is keep the casualties in front of the American people in the media for long enough that we become convinced that we can not win and leave the region. This would be tragic for our country.

* The battle against Al Qaida will not be primarily military. It will be political, ecomomic, and ideological. It will require the international communty to fight too. We must not let Al Qaida get hold in any country. It will result in our worse nightmare. Picture life in Afghanistan under the Taliban, that is what Al Qaida's ideology has as a goal.

* If you look at the geography (of Al Qaida) there is no place to put a military solution. They are networked and they are all over the world. They are a virtual organization connected by the internet. They use it to prosletize,recruit, raise money, educate and organize. They have many pieces that we must focus on: the propaganda battle in the media, safe houses, front companies, sympathetic members of legitimate governments, human capital, fighters and leaders, technical expertise, weapons suppliers, ideologically sympathetic non-government organizations (charities), financers, smugglers, and facilitators. A lot of their money comes from drugs.

* We are winning but we have got to maintain constant pressure over time with the international community and across the US government agencies. No one is afraid that we can't defeat the enemy. Our troops have the confidence, the courage, and the competence. We need the will of the American people to be sustained for the long haul.

 

[sunshine state]

bump!

[stocksthatgoup]

This is a great post copy should be sent to every politician and every MSM outlet.

[stocksthatgoup]

can you tell us when this speech was given?

[tarepeter]

NWC 84. My best educational experience. Opens an officers eyes to the political context of events of the day, with a dose of mil history, strategy, and policy. A great year.

[ntnychik]

Ping

[dk/coro]

Tarepeter, glad to hear that your had a good experience in your year there.

Mine was just the opposite, but it was before the core curriculum was torqued up.

I attended NWC in '65 -- just as Johnson called up the manning level in country to 525,000.

That year I was lied to by just about every senior officer that came to address us. I remember especially, Adm Eddie Outlaw reminding us that Tonkin Gulf was a wonderful was the finest training environment we could ever hope to have.

Sure! My old friend, Jerry Denton, might have a few thoughts about that idiocy. And, so it went.

Did the GWU caper; and the only part of the experience worth a dam was an opportunity to spend alot of time in the British Embassy working on my thesis on "the Impact of the British Demise East of Suez on U.S. Foreign Policy." That one made it to Rand Corp.

The only place I found the truth about SEA was on the handball court -- playing against Army Ranger Exchange Officers, just back from the Central Highlands. To a man, these gents told me we simply could not "get there from here" -- due to the lack of support for the RVN central government -- and the incredible corruption.

Long before my (3) SEA tours were complete -- including combat deployments as a member of the Tonkin Gulf Yacht Club -- the Rangers were proven right -- in spades.

In the aftermath of Adm. "Chick" Hayward's tenure as President of the War College, the moss was blown off the granite walls, and the country club started to pull its intellectual weight...At long last!

Glad you had the latter experience.

And, Happy Thanksgiving!

[Spirited]

A thank you bump.

[Mind-numbed Robot]

We need the will of the American people to be sustained for the long haul.

Much of that burden falls on places like Free Republic and conservative talk radio.

[Lancer_N3502A]

"We need the will of the American people to be sustained for the long haul"

You have it from 53% of the country sir. But I'm afraid I can't speak for the other 47% that make up the spineless and gutless cowards on the left.

[centurion316]

Since this won't appear in the Kansas City Star

[wita]

My father in law was at sea with Admiral Hayward when the Admiral was but an ensign, and then served with him again when he was the Captain of the carrier Point Cruz CVE 119. He remembered my father-in-law's name 20 years later. I and my father-in-law would be interested in the results of Admiral Hayward's tenure as President of the War College.

[Lacey]

The Army Chief of Staff emailed GEN Abizaid's summary remarks out today with the following comment:

This is as clear as it can be stated - please get these words out to all of the men and women in your organizations. I encourage you to personally carry this message to the American People. As Soldiers, we have the most credible voices in America. We need to lead the way. Thanks for your leadership and for all you have given.

Cindy and I send our very best wishes to each of you and your families as we serve together during another Christmas Season in the Long War.

With Warmest Regards,

GEN Schoomaker

[heavydpj]

I looked on the Naval War Colleges website for all the graduation speakers, and I didn't see Gen Abizaid there...
http://www.nwc.navy.mil/pao/L1/Speeches%20and%20Presentations.htm

Also, the CENTCOM website doesnt have the listed speech's transcript listed either (most COCOMS post transcripts for the GO's speeches etc for historical/research purposes)...

Lastly, their PAO denies he particpated in the 17 November graduation. Are you sure your facts are correct? DO you have a transcript available? The reason I ask is that there are several websites with the EXACT same posting (word for word). I think we do well enough without having to make stuff up...

[heavydpj]

Nice post...Did this come out on AKO? To every one on the different posts? It's not the "official" holiday message. Also, if the remarks attributed to General Abizaid are not correct, how can the e-mail be correct?

One last thing, the syntax of the message isn't typical of corresepondance coming out of his office....

Can you clarify? Perhaps "cut and paste" the entire message with headers?

[heavydpj]

Ok...one last bit of confusion...Looking at the imagery of the 2005 NWC Graduation, I don't see Gen. Abizaid at all. Nor do I see him in the Strategy Symposium held a few weeks earlier. Can you double check your source? There may be an integrity issue here.

[AxelPaulsenJr]

bump

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

This Email was discussed on CSPAN Washington Journal this morning with Brian Lamb hosting and entertaining callins from Military and Contractors serving time in Iraq and asking for their opinions on the Media's reporting of events in Iraq and their personal opinions on the situation in Iraq....a very good program.

Watch for a replay...which would seem very lilely.

See this for their PDF copy of the email:

Notes from a Student at the Naval War College on Army General Abazaid's Recent Speech

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

fyi

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Unholy Alliance : Radical Islam and the American Left

And a very good review:

*********************************

Vastly Illuminating, September 25, 2004

Reviewer:

Kat Bakhu (Albuquerque, NM United States) - See all my reviews

I had long wondered why people on the Left had the propensity to speak more positively about people who would slit their throats than they do about their own country, which affords them more freedom and opportunity than anywhere else. David Horowitz has answered that question thoroughly and convincingly in his Unholy Alliance. Where I felt bewildered and confused, I now feel crystal clear. Unholy Alliance is such a great book.

It begins with the leftist movements at the beginning of the 20th Century, and works its way up to the present day, exploring the anti-American attitude of these movements in detail. Horowitz shows that the enemies of the US back then are largely the same group today, operating under the same misperceptions, making the same mistakes, and pursuing the same impossible utopia.

Individual chapters are included on the Patriot Act (I was persuaded that it is a GOOD thing); the democratic flip-flop on Iraq once G.W. Bush implemented what they agreed with Clinton needed to be done; the driving components of the current anti-war movement; as well as chapters on individual personalities who are major spokespeople of the Left. Horowitz covers a lot of ground, and he covers it concisely and clearly. Unholy Alliance is richly informative without ever being boring or plodding.

This book is so illuminating that I simply cannot do justice to it here. I love people who reason so clearly that they help me get my own reasoning clear. Horowitz is just that type of person! In the terrain of mindless clichés (no-blood-for-oil, etc.), he is a breath of real fresh air.