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I think no commander ever is going to come out and say, 'I'm confident that we can do this.
David Petraeus
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David Petraeus
Age: 71
Born: 1952
Born: November 7
Former Director Of The Central Intelligence Agency
Military Officer
Politician
New York City
New York
David Howell Petraeus
Ever
Come
Going
Think
Thinking
Commander
Commanders
Confident
More quotes by David Petraeus
Let's remember that the reason we are there is that we have vital interests in Afghanistan, hugely important national interests, as do the other countries involved.
David Petraeus
Every civilian's death diminishes us, collectively.
David Petraeus
The fact is that Iran doesn't want to see the Taliban come back any more than do most Afghan citizens.
David Petraeus
Reconciliation is what takes place, of course, at higher levels. President Karzai has been very clear about the red lines for reconciliation, accept the constitution, lay down their weapons, cut their ties with al Qaeda and essentially become productive or at least participating members of society in that regard.
David Petraeus
I did a week-long assessment in 2005 at (then Defense Secretary Donald) Rumsfeld's request. Following our return, I told him that Afghanistan was going to be the longest campaign of what we then termed the long war.
David Petraeus
Afghanistan has other enormous challenges as well, including a political system that is still very much developing, although there has been some progress in the past several years.
David Petraeus
Fighting in cities is a totally different endeavor than obviously fighting out in the open.
David Petraeus
Syria has allowed its soil to be transited by foreign fighters who have come from a variety of source countries in the Gulf area and in the - in North African countries.There are some signs that that may have been reduced somewhat in the last couple of months. We need to watch that a bit and see if that is the case.
David Petraeus
After being married for over 37 years, I showed extremely poor judgment by engaging in an extramarital affair.
David Petraeus
There [in Afghanistan] is also a growing insurgency threat from al-Qaida, the Taliban and other extremist elements, some of which comes from the tribal areas of Pakistan, as well as from the Northwest Frontier province and Baluchistan.
David Petraeus
I'm living the dream.
David Petraeus
Political progress will only take place if sufficient security exists.
David Petraeus
The question is always how you get the number of troops needed. They do not have to be coalition forces. We also have to expand the training program for the Afghan National Army and the national police, in particular. and Defense Secretary Robert Gates has already announced support for a significant increase in the Afghan army.
David Petraeus
We cleared many of their towns and cities and rural areas of al-Qaida Iraq and other insurgents.
David Petraeus
US Ambassador to Iraq Ryan Crocker and I have repeatedly sought to emphasize that the progress in Iraq is fragile and also, possibly, reversible.
David Petraeus
I will not ever run for political office, I can assure you of that.
David Petraeus
If you look at casualties, you find countries that had much higher loss rates per capita than the US. Denmark comes to mind, the United Kingdom, they have suffered heavy losses at various points, the Germans as well.
David Petraeus
Iraq has gone from being on the brink to being on the mend, and it clearly has some big advantages.
David Petraeus
The art of coalition command - whether it is here in Afghanistan, whether it was in Iraq or in Bosnia or in Haiti - is to take the resources you are provided with, understand what the strengths and weaknesses are and to employ them to the best overall effect.
David Petraeus
The task [in Afghanistan] is to reduce civilian casualties while still not hesitating to respond to enemies who are trying to kill our soldiers.
David Petraeus
