I Am Not A Politician, And I

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.

There Is No Military Solution To The Challenges Of Syria.

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.

The President And I Sat Down In The Oval Office, And He Expressed Very Clearly That What He Wants From Me Is My Best Professional Military Advice.

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.