American - Soldier | June 23, 1932 - May 30, 2008
We need to go to the niceties of approaching the U. N. and let them have a chance to take it over, but we should set some sort of date and begin to move out and leave it to whoever takes over.
William Odom
ChanceGoNeedOverBeginLeave
Once we destroyed the Saddam regime, we knew there was going to be a civil war.
WarCivil WarGoingDestroyedKnew
Second, recent polls over there show that the majority of Iraqis want us to leave precipitously.
WantOverLeaveUsShowMajority
It was not in our interest to enter Iraq in the first place.
PlaceFirstInterestOurFirst Place
It was, however, in the interest of Osama bin Laden for us to destroy a secular Arab leader; it was very much in the interest of the Iranians because they wanted revenge against Saddam Hussein for Iraq's invasion in 1980.
LeaderRevengeDestroyAgainstUs
Therefore, once U.S. forces leave, it is almost inevitable that an anti-Western, anti-U.S. regime will arise.
InevitableWillLeaveAlmostForces
In fact, it struck me when we invaded last year that if we did it without European and East Asian support, we were risking losing our alliance in Europe in exchange for Iraq, and that is a very undesirable exchange.
LosingSupportMeYearEuropeAsian
But I would make it unambiguously clear that we are going to withdraw, and if Iraq falls into civil war and if all these unhappy things occur, we're just going to have to accept them.
WarUnhappyAcceptCivil WarGoing
The whole notion of land property rights in the Arab world is different from that in Europe.
WorldLandEuropeRightsProperty
So the idea that you could put Kurds, Shiite Arabs, and Sunni Arabs in a nice, liberal, federal system in Iraq in a short amount of time, six months or a year, boggles the mind.
TimeMindShortYearYouNice
While people out there on the spot certainly have to be held accountable for what they've done personally, the chain of command responsibility for this strikes me as just as important and should be dealt with.
ResponsibilityPeopleMeDoneOut
I don't think that the war serves U.S. interests. I think Osama bin Laden's interests and the Iranian interests are very much served by it, and it's becoming a huge drain on our resources both material and political.
WarThinkPoliticalResourcesMuch
Copyright © 2024 QuotesDict William Odom quotes