Home
Authors
Tags
App
Get QuoteDark Inspirational Quotes App
" The formulation of sound national policy requires finding the right overarching concepts. "
David Petraeus
Right
Finding
Concepts
Related Quotes:
" We all have to strive to learn what motivates us, learn from our experiences, and what feels right and what feels wrong. There's a strong component over the years to having formal processes that help to identify lessons that need to be learned, and actions that need to be taken. In other words, how do you find the big idea? "
David Petraeus
You
Words
Strong
" Central to achieving progress in Afghanistan - and to setting the conditions necessary to transition security tasks from the international community to the Afghan government - is increasing the size and capability of ANSF. "
David Petraeus
Community
Government
Progress
" There is nothing I can do to undo what I did. I can only say again how sorry I am to those I let down and then strive to go forward with a greater sense of humility and purpose, and with gratitude to those who stood with me during a very difficult chapter in my life. "
David Petraeus
I Am
Life
Sorry
" Ungoverned spaces in the Islamic world will be exploited by people who wish us ill. They will not be contained. "
David Petraeus
People
Us
Wish
" The situation in Iraq was dire at the end of 2006, when President George W. Bush decided to implement the surge and selected me to command it. Indeed, when I returned to Baghdad in early February 2007, I found the conditions there to be even worse than I had expected. "
David Petraeus
Me
Situation
President
" The central problem in Syria is that Sunni Arabs will not be willing partners against the Islamic State unless we commit to protect them and the broader Syrian population against all enemies, not just ISIS. "
David Petraeus
Protect
Enemies
Against
" As you will recall, soon after the 9/11 attacks, an international coalition led by the United States conducted an impressive campaign to defeat the Taliban, al Qaeda, and other associated extremist groups in Afghanistan. "
David Petraeus
Impressive
Campaign
Defeat
" Being in combat is not unending high-five moments. "
David Petraeus
Moments
Unending
Being
" I think carpet bombing is an absolutely tremendous idea if the enemy accommodates you by laying himself out like a carpet in the middle of the desert without any civilians or infrastructure around him. Sadly, the Islamic State has learned that that is a losing proposition and does not accommodate us in that way. "
David Petraeus
Way
Desert
Enemy
" Well, the oil, the oil spot, if you will, is a, is a term in counterinsurgency literature that connotes a peaceful area, secure area. So what you're trying to do is to always extend that, to push that out. "
David Petraeus
Literature
Peaceful
Push
" The bottom line is that Daesh's defeat requires not just hammering them on the battlefield but, simultaneously, revived political reconciliation with Sunnis. "
David Petraeus
Political
Line
Defeat
" Even before the missteps that I've had, I was never going to run for office. My family is adamantly opposed to it, and frankly, my politics don't necessarily work for the primaries of either of our parties. "
David Petraeus
Office
Family
Work
" I think it's reality that Iran is going to have influence in Iraq. All elements of Iraq accepted that. "
David Petraeus
Influence
Iran
Reality
" Items of interest will be located, identified, monitored, and remotely controlled through technologies such as radio-frequency identification, sensor networks, tiny embedded servers, and energy harvesters - all connected to the next-generation internet using abundant, low-cost, and high-power computing. "
David Petraeus
Connected
Will
Tiny
" Reconciliation is what takes place, of course, at higher levels. President Karzai has been very clear about the red lines for reconciliation, accept the constitution, lay down their weapons, cut their ties with al Qaeda and essentially become productive or at least participating members of society in that regard. "
David Petraeus
Down
Society
Place
" When I was commander of Central Command, obviously we were very concerned about the developments in Yemen, the developments in Somalia and elsewhere, in Africa and so forth. But the al Qaeda senior leadership is under unprecedented pressure. "
David Petraeus
Senior
Africa
Pressure
" I think no commander ever is going to come out and say, 'I'm confident that we can do this.' "
David Petraeus
Out
Think
Say
" The fact is that Iran doesn't want to see the Taliban come back any more than do most Afghan citizens. "
David Petraeus
Back
Want
Fact
" If you're asked, you've got to serve - put aside any reservations based on campaign rhetoric... and figure out what's best for the country. "
David Petraeus
Country
You
Got
" I've truly tried to be apolitical. "
David Petraeus
Apolitical
Tried
Truly
" In all of our efforts, we continue to emphasize the importance of inclusivity and transparency on the part of the Afghan government and leadership, especially in linking nascent local governing institutions to the decision-making and financial resources in Kabul. "
David Petraeus
Leadership
Local
Government
" The proximate cause of Iraq's unraveling was the increasing authoritarian, sectarian, and corrupt conduct of the Iraqi government and its leader after the departure of the last U.S. combat forces in 2011. "
David Petraeus
Cause
Last
Government
" We will win again in Iraq; I do think that Iraq can definitely be handled. I think that it can be kept intact. "
David Petraeus
Kept
Win
Again
" The process to resolve post-Islamic State issues will be difficult and intense. "
David Petraeus
Difficult
State
Will
" Needless to say, innumerable challenges exist in all areas of governance, and much more needs to be done to help the Afghan government assume full responsibility for addressing the concerns of ordinary Afghan citizens. "
David Petraeus
Challenges
Responsibility
Government
" The Pakistani Army, the Frontier Corps, the Frontier Scouts and Police have carried out quite impressive counter-insurgency operations. "
David Petraeus
Impressive
Police
Operations
" After being married for over 37 years, I showed extremely poor judgment by engaging in an extramarital affair. "
David Petraeus
Years
Engaging
Judgment
" Setting aside moral considerations, those who flirt with hate speech against Muslims should realize they are playing directly into the hands of al-Qaeda and the Islamic State. The terrorists' explicit hope has been to try to provoke a clash of civilizations - telling Muslims that the United States is at war with them and their religion. "
David Petraeus
Speech
Hands
War
" Beyond Iraq, I am also profoundly worried about the continuing meltdown of Syria, which is a geopolitical Chernobyl. Until it is capped, it is going to continue to spew radioactive instability and extremist ideology over the entire region. "
David Petraeus
Going
Beyond
I Am
" It wasn't just Shia that would go to Tehran and see the commander of the Quds Force and others and the legitimate government leaders. It was also Kurdish leaders and Sunni Arabs who would even link up with Qassim Suleimani, the commander of the Quds Force - maybe not in Tehran but in Turkey or somewhere else. "
David Petraeus
Somewhere
See
Others