The Iraqi government and most Iraqis understand that they have to bring back the Sunni Arab 20, 25 percent of the population. It won't work with these Shia militias running amok in these areas.
James Franklin JeffreyNATO is in our national security interests. And, yes, we pay a lot for it, but, when we had Afghanistan, NATO troops were by our side from almost all of the NATO members. And they put their life and treasure on the line for us.
James Franklin JeffreyI know that presidents often have really bad phone conversations. What they usually don't do is go out and talk about it. That gets to my point about doing some damage on the periphery of our core policies.
James Franklin JeffreyAt the end of the day, it is what Donald Trump does or doesn't do as crises come up and as he tries to advance his agenda. He can hurt it on the margins by this kind of talk. That's my view. He could help it with a different approach to our allies and friends and our foes.
James Franklin JeffreyPresidents always - not always, but often have bad conversations with counterparts. They just don't go out and embarrass their counterpart by talking about it. They find other ways to work it out.
James Franklin JeffreyOptimism is in short supply in the Middle East, but what I do think is the administration needs to step up its act. We should use military strikes against ISIS when they threaten the Shia areas or Baghdad. We need to accelerate very rapidly, and we have ways to do it, aid to the Syrians, and we need to be more active, with results, not simply inputs. That is absolutely important right now, because people are questioning our will, not our capabilities.
James Franklin Jeffrey