thedrifter
05-11-06, 07:55 AM
May 10, 2006
Zinni on Iraq: ‘We’re not withdrawing’
By Gordon Lubold
Times staff writer
Don’t count on the U.S. ever withdrawing completely from Iraq, a retired Marine general said Tuesday.
Anthony Zinni, the four-star who commanded U.S. Central Command before retiring in 2000, said when the U.S. commits forces to a country now, it means a long-term commitment. Iraq is no different.
“It isn’t World War I anymore; we don’t come home anymore,” he said. Zinni said he doesn’t rule out a drawdown of U.S. forces in Iraq at some point — he insists that shouldn’t happen now anyway — but the idea that the situation in Iraq will change enough to allow all U.S. troops to ultimately go home is simply wrong.
“We’re not withdrawing,” he said.
Zinni, whose call sign in the Marine Corps was “The Godfather,” was in Washington touting his new book, “Battle for Peace: A Frontline Vision of America’s Power and Purpose.” Zinni, a straight talker who has been often critical of the way the war on terrorism has been fought, spoke at the Council on Foreign Relations, a think tank in Washington.
Zinni has long called for a more-comprehensive approach to solving problems in the Middle East that doesn’t solely rely on the military. He is regarded as having built close working relationships built on trust with leaders across the region during the time he was Central Command commander.
Zinni said the current focus of U.S. policy — to build up the Iraqi Security Force as a “small version of ourselves” — is a mistaken approach. To bring security and stabilization to Iraq doesn’t necessarily mean building a massive army there as much as building specific skills among the Iraqi troops to combat each element of the insurgency. He said the problems in Iraq really stem from about 24,000 Sunni insurgents, former Baathists, foreign fighters and others.
“Each one of those requires a different approach,” he said.
Zinni wants to see a group created that could organize all the ideas people have to fix the problems in Iraq and move those ideas forward. First, he said, it’s important to figure out “what the hell is going on in Iraq” since there seem to be so many disparate viewpoints. Some reports say things are going well, some say they’re going awfully.
“We’ve got to get a clear picture done by some assessment group as to what the situation is,” he said. “Every report … paints a different picture,” Zinni said.
Zinni on Iraq: ‘We’re not withdrawing’
By Gordon Lubold
Times staff writer
Don’t count on the U.S. ever withdrawing completely from Iraq, a retired Marine general said Tuesday.
Anthony Zinni, the four-star who commanded U.S. Central Command before retiring in 2000, said when the U.S. commits forces to a country now, it means a long-term commitment. Iraq is no different.
“It isn’t World War I anymore; we don’t come home anymore,” he said. Zinni said he doesn’t rule out a drawdown of U.S. forces in Iraq at some point — he insists that shouldn’t happen now anyway — but the idea that the situation in Iraq will change enough to allow all U.S. troops to ultimately go home is simply wrong.
“We’re not withdrawing,” he said.
Zinni, whose call sign in the Marine Corps was “The Godfather,” was in Washington touting his new book, “Battle for Peace: A Frontline Vision of America’s Power and Purpose.” Zinni, a straight talker who has been often critical of the way the war on terrorism has been fought, spoke at the Council on Foreign Relations, a think tank in Washington.
Zinni has long called for a more-comprehensive approach to solving problems in the Middle East that doesn’t solely rely on the military. He is regarded as having built close working relationships built on trust with leaders across the region during the time he was Central Command commander.
Zinni said the current focus of U.S. policy — to build up the Iraqi Security Force as a “small version of ourselves” — is a mistaken approach. To bring security and stabilization to Iraq doesn’t necessarily mean building a massive army there as much as building specific skills among the Iraqi troops to combat each element of the insurgency. He said the problems in Iraq really stem from about 24,000 Sunni insurgents, former Baathists, foreign fighters and others.
“Each one of those requires a different approach,” he said.
Zinni wants to see a group created that could organize all the ideas people have to fix the problems in Iraq and move those ideas forward. First, he said, it’s important to figure out “what the hell is going on in Iraq” since there seem to be so many disparate viewpoints. Some reports say things are going well, some say they’re going awfully.
“We’ve got to get a clear picture done by some assessment group as to what the situation is,” he said. “Every report … paints a different picture,” Zinni said.