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Islamic militancy could yield world war: U.S. general
Reuters ^ | 11/17/06 | Scott Malone

Posted on 11/17/2006 8:18:07 PM PST by Starman417

CAMBRIDGE, Massachusetts (Reuters) - The top U.S. general in the Middle East said on Friday that if the world does not find a way to stem the rise of Islamic militancy, it will face a third world war.

Army Gen. John Abizaid compared the rise of militant ideologies, such as the force driving al Qaeda, to the rise of fascism in Europe in the 1920s and 1930s that set the stage for World War Two.

"If we don't have guts enough to confront this ideology today, we'll go through World War Three tomorrow," Abizaid said in a speech titled "The Long War," at Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government in Cambridge, outside Boston.

If not stopped, Abizaid said extremists would be allowed to "gain an advantage, to gain a safe haven, to develop weapons of mass destruction, to develop a national place from which to operate. And I think that the dangers associated with that are just too great to comprehend."

Abizaid said the world faces three major hurdles in stabilizing the Middle East region: Easing Arab-Israeli tensions, stemming the spread of militant extremism, and dealing with Iran, which Washington has accused of seeking to develop nuclear bombs.

"Where these three problems come together happens to come in a place known as Iraq," said Abizaid, who earlier in the week warned Congress against seeking a timeline for withdrawing U.S. troops from the country that is wracked by insurgent and sectarian violence.

"The sacrifice that is necessary to stabilize Iraq, in my view, must be sustained in order for the region itself to become more resilient," Abizaid said.

A week after President George W. Bush's Republicans took a drubbing in congressional elections largely because of voter anger over the Iraq war, Abizaid said the United States had underestimated the challenge of preparing Iraq security forces to stabilize the violent country.

"We thought we could go from U.S.-led to Iraqi-led without having to pay the price of the transition, in terms of manpower and resources, etc.," Abizaid said. "Now we realize we have to invest heavily in this transition so you can bring them up faster."

In testimony to congressional committees on Wednesday, Abizaid rejected calls to either boost U.S. troop levels to quell the violence or to start a phased withdrawal from Iraq.

He said the level of violence there was "unacceptably high" and said the 140,000 U.S. forces currently deployed there should focus on training Iraqi units.

Lawmakers from both parties criticized Abizaid's comments as showing the Pentagon had not developed a new, effective plan for the Iraq situation.


TOPICS: Foreign Affairs; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: abizaid; iraq; islam; war
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1 posted on 11/17/2006 8:18:10 PM PST by Starman417
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To: Starman417
"The top U.S. general in the Middle East said on Friday that if the world does not find a way to stem the rise of Islamic militancy, it will face a third world war."

Catch up, General. We're already there.

2 posted on 11/17/2006 8:21:45 PM PST by sageb1 (This is the Final Crusade. There are only 2 sides. Pick one.)
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To: Starman417

"Could"???? Does anyone other than
meatheaded lazy brained craven
DemoWussies, think that it can be
avoided??


3 posted on 11/17/2006 8:22:39 PM PST by NickatNite2003 (From the Man from Hope" to the wife who snarls "Abandon All Hope!")
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To: Starman417
General, Sir, this is a world war. A low level war, but a world war, nonetheless. What you seem to be referring to is a world war between states, and that is quite unlikely. What, Indonesia, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia on one side and the U.S. China, Russia, Japan, on the other? Let's get real, SIR!
4 posted on 11/17/2006 8:22:41 PM PST by Revolting cat! (Who invented rock and roll hiccups?)
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To: Starman417
The man is telling the plain truth that our gutless elected leaders will not acknowledge.

VDH wrote a column that said not to blame Rumsfeld for a bad plan in Iraq. He had sought to apply lessons from Viet Nam where we would skip our getting bogged down in military conflict and instead training and equipping the Iraqi military to take over their country. Obviously they did a poor job out of the gates but there is no solution other than to keep getting the Iraqis up to scratch.
5 posted on 11/17/2006 8:23:26 PM PST by misterrob (Jack Bauer/Chuck Norris 2008)
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To: Starman417

We are already in it.


6 posted on 11/17/2006 8:23:47 PM PST by Mad_Tom_Rackham (Democracy: The worst form of government, except for all the others.)
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To: Starman417
"Abizaid said the world faces three major hurdles in stabilizing the Middle East region: Easing Arab-Israeli tensions, stemming the spread of militant extremism, and dealing with Iran, which Washington has accused of seeking to develop nuclear bombs."

He forgot the 4th. Our leftist MSM and our Dhimmicrats.

7 posted on 11/17/2006 8:23:50 PM PST by sageb1 (This is the Final Crusade. There are only 2 sides. Pick one.)
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To: Starman417

Duh!!

At least he said it.


8 posted on 11/17/2006 8:55:59 PM PST by Right Wing Assault ("..this administration is planning a 'Right Wing Assault' on values and ideals.." - John Kerry)
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To: Starman417

If we pull out of Iraq prematurely, we will go back there the third time.


9 posted on 11/17/2006 8:59:53 PM PST by MinorityRepublican (Everyone that doesn't like what America and President Bush has done for Iraq can all go to HELL)
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To: Revolting cat!
"What you [the general] seem to be referring to is a world war between states, and that is quite unlikely."

I disagree. Before this global war is finally over (it will be many years and perhaps even several generations in length), the war indeed will be fought - at times - between states.

The coming conflict between Iran and Isreal and/or the United States is a prime example.

Also, as horrible as it is to contemplate, one of these days very soon the hezzies are going to set off a nuke in a Western city. When they do, all bets are off and states WILL be involved.
10 posted on 11/17/2006 9:09:53 PM PST by Skywarner (The U.S. Armed Forces... Producers of FREEDOM for over 200 years!!)
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To: Revolting cat!

YEah, when this thing goes hot it's not going to be troops dying by the tens of thousands in a meat grinder in Flanders' Fields. It's going to be hundreds of thousands or millions going up in a few milliseconds in the furnace of a nukular chain reaction.


11 posted on 11/17/2006 9:13:42 PM PST by ichabod1 (Democracy = Anarchy)
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To: Starman417
>"Abizaid said the world faces three major hurdles in stabilizing the Middle East region: Easing Arab-Israeli tensions,"

Oh, that's an easy one to solve!

Either wipe out the Jews, or wipe out the rabtards.

I vote rub out the rabtards. They haven't EVER contributed anything positive to anyone EVER! (They claim a few things, but upon closer inspection, you find they actually "borrowed" it from another civilization!)

12 posted on 11/17/2006 9:26:31 PM PST by rawcatslyentist (When true genius appears, know him by this sign: all the dunces are in a confederacy against him.)
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To: Starman417

I agree. We will have another world war. It will be horrible and more killed than in any before. I hope we win but I am not sure. There will be nuclear war. Maybe we won't get hit but it may take the mushroom cloud to wake this country up. I think about 15 percent of citizens will flee to Canada and be traitors. It is going to be bad. Hold your children while you can and those yet to be born may very well be on the front line. I really do expect this.


13 posted on 11/17/2006 9:27:09 PM PST by therut
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To: Starman417
The enemy's center of gravity is the American public. It's been that way for almost 4 decades. They're banking on people here to carry on the fight in America. The jihadis are in this for the long haul.

Unless they can make this clear to the bliss ninnies, they'll continue to serve the jihadi cause.

14 posted on 11/17/2006 9:27:23 PM PST by spunkets
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To: Right Wing Assault

--Duh!! At least he said it. --

Abizaid is retiring soon; he and others should keep this up. It's essential for military men to advocate the concept that this is a war to be won, not a "situation to be solved" like Namby-Pamby Pelosi says.

There's been enough brainwashing of U.S. college students by the Whored Churchills and Chomskys of the world.


15 posted on 11/17/2006 9:45:00 PM PST by rfp1234 (I've had it up to my keyster with these leaks!!! - - - Ronald Reagan)
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To: Starman417

I live up here in MA, and on the evening news they showed the demonstrators outside the forum.

Snotty-nosed 20-something liberals who know all that goes on in the world and feel qualified to open their pie-holes to let us all know what SHOULD be done.

Sometimes listening to high school and college students just plain pisses me off.


16 posted on 11/17/2006 9:50:28 PM PST by rlmorel (The US Media...Where you get Million Dollar Words From people with a Ten Cent Fart for a brain.)
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To: Starman417

How can you have a World War when most of the World has already surrendered?
We're gonna have to call it something else this time.


17 posted on 11/17/2006 10:09:06 PM PST by SWAMPSNIPER
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To: Starman417

Cut all this talk crap, Sir, and go out and kill the enemy before they kill us. Ps 144


18 posted on 11/17/2006 10:52:03 PM PST by rusureitflies?
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To: MinorityRepublican

bttt


19 posted on 11/18/2006 12:23:32 AM PST by expatguy (http://laotze.blogspot.com/)
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To: Starman417; Rokke
In testimony to congressional committees on Wednesday, Abizaid rejected calls to either boost U.S. troop levels to quell the violence or to start a phased withdrawal from Iraq.

Characteristically, Reuters failed to reproduce the key testimony of General Abazaid. When Senator McCain questioned him regarding a solution to our dilemma in Iraq often advocated by McCain, the insertion of more American troops, Abazaid responded as I heard him on CNN International, "we could put in another 20,000 troops but that would have only a temporary effect." The general elaborated later that the United States could not sustain an additional 20,000 troops in Iraq!

In other words, American military manpower is so attenuated they cannot sustain even 20,000 more troops in Iraq!

To those of you on these threads who grandiosely advocate the invasion of Iran or the invasion of Syria or the bombing of this or the bombing of that, take heed: the catastrophic misadventure in Iraq has brought America militarily to its knees in the area of conventional war. The frightening truth is that against the greatest threat to the existence of America since the fall of the wall, the acquisition by Iran of the bomb, we are out of conventional military options.

So poor, dear General Abazaid is left with the option of going before Congress and testifying that we cannot withdraw--because that would be catastrophic--and we cannot go the other way, that is to increase or force, because we just don't have the horses. In other words, everything is just exactly perfect the way it is.

The pity is the American people before the last election didn't have the opportunity to hear General Abazaid tell them just how we have it exactly right in Iraq.


20 posted on 11/18/2006 1:07:04 AM PST by nathanbedford ("I like to legislate. I feel I've done a lot of good." Sen. Robert Byrd)
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