April 25, 2008
“Washington ought to ignore the inevitable op-ed urgings to ‘explain ourselves better’ to Moscow; or to be careful not to ‘feed the Kremlin’s paranoia’ or ‘push it into the corner’; or to be therapeutic and gentle in light of Russia’s traumatic historic memories; or to constantly reinvent progressively larger and juicier ‘carrots’ for the Kremlin–as if the street-smart and tough-as-nails former KGB men who run Russia today (and sit on its fabulous wealth, to boot) could be ‘induced’ to deviate from their vision of what is good for Russia (and themselves) by Washington’s proffers."
--Leon Aron, director, Russian studies, American Enterprise Institute, Russian Outlook, January 16, 2008
“Opponents of engagement would prefer that disputes form the basis of U.S.-Russia relations an unstable foundation, upon which sustainable cooperation, peace and security cannot be built. But the proper approach is to recognize these differences, not ignore them, and fully engage Russia. We should abandon incendiary rhetoric, avoid lecturing and move away from personality-driven policies. We can recognize Russia’s shortcomings, but this should not preclude us from strong diplomatic engagement in pursuit of our own interests. We must work together to manage regional conflicts in North Korea and Iran. It’s doubtful we can solve these problems without Russian help.”
--Lee H. Hamilton, director, Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars; former chairman, House Foreign Affairs Committee, keynote address at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace event on ”200 Years of U.S.-Russian Diplomatic Relations,” September 24, 2007
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Eye Still on the Ball
“Adverse developments in Iraq will be (and will look to be) increasingly a function of the Obama Team taking their eye off of the ball and rushing to declare mission accomplished. Yes, in such a scenario the Iraqis should bear most of the blame, but the part that is due to U.S. action or inaction will be Obama's responsibility. And it will matter. Iraq is at the center of a region that every president since Jimmy Carter has identified as vital to our national security. Iraq is next door to, and the playground for mischief from, the most thorny national security challenge the United States faces: a nuclear-weapons-seeking Iranian regime. These inconvenient facts mean that if the Iraqi situation demands more focused and costly U.S. attention, it will likely get it. At that point, what sort of domestic coalition will be available for President Obama's Iraq policy?”
—Peter Feaver, director, Triangle Institute for Security Studies; former director for defense policy and arms control, National Security Council, “Obama’s Iraq Speech: Another Missed Opportunity,” Foreign Policy, August 3, 2010
“Iraq is a strategically important place in the Middle East, just by its geographic location, by its population, by the influence it's had in the Middle East for a long time. So neighboring countries from around the Middle East have an interest inside of Iraq.
“But I will tell you that I think Iraqis themselves are nationalistic in nature, and that's why it's important. A strong Iraq will defend itself against interference from outside countries, and I think as we build a strong Iraq and as we continue to build a strong security mechanism and as we continue to help them economically and diplomatically, that will make it less likely of others from the outside being able to interfere.
“Now, for the vacuum as we see today, again, I remind everyone is that we still have a significant presence here, and we are not going to—we will not allow undue maligned influence on the Iraqi government as they attempt to form their government. What we're trying to do is provide them the space and time for them to do that, and we will continue to do that post 1 September. We'll still have a significant civilian presence, and again, we'll still have 50,000 troops on the ground here to ensure that this government can be formed by the Iraqis. And that all the other nations respect their sovereignty as they go about forming their government.”
—General Ray Odierno, commander of U.S. forces in Iraq, interview, “This Week” with Christiane Amanpour, August 8, 2010
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