After Being Married For Over

I Am Neither A Pessimist Nor An Optimist. I Am A Realist, And The Reality In Iraq Is That It Has Been Very Hard And It Continues To Be Hard.

The Task [in Afghanistan] Is To Reduce Civilian Casualties While Still Not Hesitating To Respond To Enemies Who Are Trying To Kill Our Soldiers.

Even The Interior Ministry In Riyadh Was Hit. Since Then, The Saudis Have Employed A Very Intelligent And Comprehensive Approach To Counter Al-qaida, Including Precise Operations Based On Good Intelligence, Changes In Their Corrections Facilities, Superb Strategic Communications Programs And A Host Of Other Initiatives - All Of Which, Together, Have Helped Saudi Arabia Achieve Impressive Results In Their Fight Against Extremists.

Don't Forget Yemen, Where There Are Also Extremist Elements, As We Saw Recently.

There Are Some Ideas That Will Translate From Iraq To Afghanistan And There Are Many That Will Not. The First Lesson Of Counterinsurgency, In Fact, Is That Every Situation Is Truly Unique, Has Its Own Context, Its Own Specific Set Of Factors - And You Have To Understand That Context In Enormous Detail To Be Able To Craft A Sound And Comprehensive Approach.