shamsery
30-05-05, 07:23 PM
"We control the air, the sea and the ground militarily,"
General Abizaid told, and in conventional terms, he's unquestionably right.
From its headquarters near the huge new U.S. airbase in Qatar, Centcom's military reach stretches in every direction: To the west, the U.S. Navy's 5th Fleet has its base in Bahrain; to the north, the aircraft carrier USS Harry Truman and its task force are steaming on patrol in the Persian Gulf; to the east, more than 17,000 troops are working to stabilize postwar Afghanistan; to the south, about 1,000 troops are keeping a lid on the Horn of Africa. And to the northwest lies the bloody battlefield of Iraq, where nearly 150,000 of Abizaid's soldiers are fighting a determined insurgency.
For all of America's military might, the Long War that has begun in the Middle East poses some tough strategic questions.
What is the nature of the enemy?
If the United States is so powerful, why is it having such difficulty in Iraq?
What will victory look like, in Iraq and elsewhere in the Islamic world?
And how long will the conflict take?
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A26054-2004Dec25.html
Gen. John Abizaid probably commands the most potent military force in history. The troops of his Central Command are arrayed across the jagged crescent of the Middle East, from Egypt to Pakistan, in an overwhelming projection of U.S. power. He travels with his own mini-government: a top State Department officer to manage diplomacy; a senior CIA officer to oversee intelligence; a retinue of generals and admirals to supervise operations and logistics. If there is a modern Imperium Americanum, Abizaid is its field general, wrote David Ignatius.
Read how he has replied to the above question.
He thinks, Achieving Real Victory Could Take Decades.
General Abizaid told, and in conventional terms, he's unquestionably right.
From its headquarters near the huge new U.S. airbase in Qatar, Centcom's military reach stretches in every direction: To the west, the U.S. Navy's 5th Fleet has its base in Bahrain; to the north, the aircraft carrier USS Harry Truman and its task force are steaming on patrol in the Persian Gulf; to the east, more than 17,000 troops are working to stabilize postwar Afghanistan; to the south, about 1,000 troops are keeping a lid on the Horn of Africa. And to the northwest lies the bloody battlefield of Iraq, where nearly 150,000 of Abizaid's soldiers are fighting a determined insurgency.
For all of America's military might, the Long War that has begun in the Middle East poses some tough strategic questions.
What is the nature of the enemy?
If the United States is so powerful, why is it having such difficulty in Iraq?
What will victory look like, in Iraq and elsewhere in the Islamic world?
And how long will the conflict take?
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A26054-2004Dec25.html
Gen. John Abizaid probably commands the most potent military force in history. The troops of his Central Command are arrayed across the jagged crescent of the Middle East, from Egypt to Pakistan, in an overwhelming projection of U.S. power. He travels with his own mini-government: a top State Department officer to manage diplomacy; a senior CIA officer to oversee intelligence; a retinue of generals and admirals to supervise operations and logistics. If there is a modern Imperium Americanum, Abizaid is its field general, wrote David Ignatius.
Read how he has replied to the above question.
He thinks, Achieving Real Victory Could Take Decades.