President Obama has said that our aspirations should be realistic. We are not going to turn one of the poorest countries in the world, that was plunged into 30 years of war, into an advanced, industrialized, Western-style democracy. What we want to achieve is Afghanistan's capacity to secure and govern itself.
David PetraeusIraq has gone from being on the brink to being on the mend, and it clearly has some big advantages.
David PetraeusI think no commander ever is going to come out and say, 'I'm confident that we can do this.
David PetraeusThe fact is that Iran doesn't want to see the Taliban come back any more than do most Afghan citizens.
David PetraeusIf you look at casualties, you find countries that had much higher loss rates per capita than the US. Denmark comes to mind, the United Kingdom, they have suffered heavy losses at various points, the Germans as well.
David PetraeusThe question is always how you get the number of troops needed. They do not have to be coalition forces. We also have to expand the training program for the Afghan National Army and the national police, in particular. and Defense Secretary Robert Gates has already announced support for a significant increase in the Afghan army.
David Petraeus