There Is No Military Solution To The

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.

The Progress In Iraq Is Still Fragile. And It Could Still Be Reversed. Iraq Still Faces Innumerable Challenges, And They Will Be Evident During What Will Likely Be A Difficult Process As The Newly Elected Council Of Representatives Selects The Next Prime Minister, President, And Speaker Of The Council.

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."

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.

I Think Putin Wants To Recreate As Much Of The Soviet Union As He Can Through A Variety Of Different Means. He's Invaded Parts Of Georgia, Took Crimea, Southeastern Ukraine, Bases In Other Countries.