Team Infidel
Forum Spin Doctor
New Haven (CT) Register
November 29, 2007 By Mary E. O'Leary
NEW HAVEN — The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, in addressing a political science class at Yale University Wednesday, refused to speculate on how long the United States would keep troops in Iraq given the continuing lack of political reconciliation by the Maliki government.
“I don’t think there is a clear answer to that,” said Navy Adm. Mike Mullen when asked about troop withdrawals, one day after two ranking GOP senators said the United States should consider pulling financial support from Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki unless there is political progress by January.
“I think (Iraqi leaders) have got to move. There is a window of opportunity that they have right now that clearly wasn’t there a year ago,” Mullen said, although he was pleased by reconciliation he said is occurring among factions in provinces.
Mullen, as he did before being confirmed as President Bush’s senior military adviser last month, continued to give the highest priority to a political solution in Iraq and tied success of the current troop surge to that outcome.
The admiral said major challenges at the strategic level for the United States are dealing with “radical jihadist extremists” and availability of weapons of mass destruction.
“Actually, it is the convergence of those two things which has truly alarming potential for me,” he said.
He said he was encouraged peace talks are resuming on the Middle East, and that stability there is tied to vital United States interests.
But, he told students, America has to remain cognizant of those “ungoverned spaces,” where lack of government has opened up fertile ground for terrorists, such as northern Africa.
Mullen, 60, said the United States, in ranking global hot spots, usually looks east and west, but he thinks the country needs to expand that.
“More and more we need to look north and south and looking at the potential partnerships, the emerging countries, the economic engines that are south of us in our own hemisphere, as well as the challenges that are there with some of the leadership ... pushing hard against the United States and what we stand for. We need to be mindful of that.”
Later he confirmed he was talking about the Venezuelan-Bolivian-Cuban alignment.
Mullen said the United States will be engaged globally “as far out as I can see,” beyond Iraq and Afghanistan. But maintaining stability in the world also means being able to respond to pandemics and natural disasters.
“To the degree that we ignore parts of the world, that’s in my view an increasing risk against the stability that our engagement ought to provide,” Mullen said.
The chairman stressed the importance of understanding cultures and values of other peoples in working for peace, particularly growing powers like China.
“A peacefully rising China can be a great economic engine and boon to the globe. On the military side, their strategic shift is clearly toward the navy and the air force, away ground forces, so it does beg the question, ‘What is their long-term strategic goal?’” Mullen said.
He said there are lessons to be learned from the Iraq war, particularly the need to plan for peace and sending enough troops initially to execute a victory.
“I’m also constantly reminded that it isn’t just about the military. ... The military can provide the security. ... But that is not sufficient to get where you want to go, the economic piece or the political piece,” Mullen said.
He said the United States is “not the necessarily the most patient country in the world.”
“We make a decision where we like to get in and get it done and get out, but these interventions take seemingly decades, not short periods of time,” Mullen said.
Mullen’s opening remarks to students was a pitch on joining the Navy and opportunities and challenges it presented to him over his four-decade career.
November 29, 2007 By Mary E. O'Leary
NEW HAVEN — The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, in addressing a political science class at Yale University Wednesday, refused to speculate on how long the United States would keep troops in Iraq given the continuing lack of political reconciliation by the Maliki government.
“I don’t think there is a clear answer to that,” said Navy Adm. Mike Mullen when asked about troop withdrawals, one day after two ranking GOP senators said the United States should consider pulling financial support from Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki unless there is political progress by January.
“I think (Iraqi leaders) have got to move. There is a window of opportunity that they have right now that clearly wasn’t there a year ago,” Mullen said, although he was pleased by reconciliation he said is occurring among factions in provinces.
Mullen, as he did before being confirmed as President Bush’s senior military adviser last month, continued to give the highest priority to a political solution in Iraq and tied success of the current troop surge to that outcome.
The admiral said major challenges at the strategic level for the United States are dealing with “radical jihadist extremists” and availability of weapons of mass destruction.
“Actually, it is the convergence of those two things which has truly alarming potential for me,” he said.
He said he was encouraged peace talks are resuming on the Middle East, and that stability there is tied to vital United States interests.
But, he told students, America has to remain cognizant of those “ungoverned spaces,” where lack of government has opened up fertile ground for terrorists, such as northern Africa.
Mullen, 60, said the United States, in ranking global hot spots, usually looks east and west, but he thinks the country needs to expand that.
“More and more we need to look north and south and looking at the potential partnerships, the emerging countries, the economic engines that are south of us in our own hemisphere, as well as the challenges that are there with some of the leadership ... pushing hard against the United States and what we stand for. We need to be mindful of that.”
Later he confirmed he was talking about the Venezuelan-Bolivian-Cuban alignment.
Mullen said the United States will be engaged globally “as far out as I can see,” beyond Iraq and Afghanistan. But maintaining stability in the world also means being able to respond to pandemics and natural disasters.
“To the degree that we ignore parts of the world, that’s in my view an increasing risk against the stability that our engagement ought to provide,” Mullen said.
The chairman stressed the importance of understanding cultures and values of other peoples in working for peace, particularly growing powers like China.
“A peacefully rising China can be a great economic engine and boon to the globe. On the military side, their strategic shift is clearly toward the navy and the air force, away ground forces, so it does beg the question, ‘What is their long-term strategic goal?’” Mullen said.
He said there are lessons to be learned from the Iraq war, particularly the need to plan for peace and sending enough troops initially to execute a victory.
“I’m also constantly reminded that it isn’t just about the military. ... The military can provide the security. ... But that is not sufficient to get where you want to go, the economic piece or the political piece,” Mullen said.
He said the United States is “not the necessarily the most patient country in the world.”
“We make a decision where we like to get in and get it done and get out, but these interventions take seemingly decades, not short periods of time,” Mullen said.
Mullen’s opening remarks to students was a pitch on joining the Navy and opportunities and challenges it presented to him over his four-decade career.