With malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in, to bind up the nation's wounds, to care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow and his orphan, to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves and with all nations.
... Iraqis saw, day by day, the efforts by American troops to avoid hurting civilians. Initially, Iraqis saw that as an American weakness, but in the long run they recognized it as a sensibility rarely seen in the Middle East. This will have long term consequences for relations between the United States and Iraq.
Bingo! This is called "winning the peace". The purpose of war isn't simply "victory". The purpose of war is a new peace built upon a different political reality than that which existed prior to the start of hostilities. THIS is what we've been doing in Iraq.
Iraq is a keystone state in the Middle East. By changing the political culture there the entire game changes. We've already seen results in Lebanon. BTW, we absolutely HAVE to make sure Lebanon doesn't regress. Syria is desperately trying to strangle the child in the crib. We can't let them succeed.
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... Iraqis saw, day by day, the efforts by American troops to avoid hurting civilians. Initially, Iraqis saw that as an American weakness, but in the long run they recognized it as a sensibility rarely seen in the Middle East. This will have long term consequences for relations between the United States and Iraq.
Bingo! This is called "winning the peace". The purpose of war isn't simply "victory". The purpose of war is a new peace built upon a different political reality than that which existed prior to the start of hostilities. THIS is what we've been doing in Iraq.
Iraq is a keystone state in the Middle East. By changing the political culture there the entire game changes. We've already seen results in Lebanon. BTW, we absolutely HAVE to make sure Lebanon doesn't regress. Syria is desperately trying to strangle the child in the crib. We can't let them succeed.
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