Freedom's Truth

Iraqi Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari said Monday that two years would be "more than enough" to establish security in his country.

"This is not the time to fall back." - Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari

"Success for the coalition should not be defined as domestic tranquility in Iraq. Other democracies have had to contend with terrorism and insurgencies for a number of years, but they have been able to function and eventually succeed." - Donald Rumsfeld

"We're not going to win against the insurgency. The Iraqi people are going to win against the insurgency. That insurgency could go on for any number of years. Insurgencies tend to go on five, six, eight, 10, 12 years." - Donald Rumsfeld

"The people of Iraq today are in the early stages of their struggle to build a multiethnic democracy. Ultimately, it will be up to the Iraqi people, not the United States, not the coalition, to rebuild and secure their country. The mission of our coalition is to create an environment where the Iraqis themselves can contain and ultimately defeat their insurgency." - Donald Rumsfeld

"It's his war." - Senator Feinstein, calling it President Bush's war.

"Iraq is George Bush's Vietnam." - Senator Edward Kennedy

"The enemy can't win. The enemy can grab headlines, they can try to break our will. But there's no way the United States military in either Afghanistan or Iraq is going to be pushed into the sea." - General John Abizaid

"When I talk to my commanders in the field ... you get a clear sense of confidence and progress. And what is most encouraging to me ... is that Iraqi commanders were confident. They knew their capabilities were increasing, they were engaging more frequently and steadily in combat. They are not ready to stand alone yet, but they will be." - General John Abizaid

Lt. Gen. John R. Vines, the No. 2 U.S. officer in Iraq: if a new Iraqi government drafts a constitution that gains wide acceptance, "my assessment is the insurgency could dwindle down very quickly." Mentioning that insurgents are paid money for specific attacks, General Vines said "we believe that this insurgency is driven in large measure by money."

"They [the insurgents] have not been able to expand their support base across Iraq, nor have they attracted a broad following. They have not prevented the growth of Iraqi security forces, even with almost daily attacks. They've lost their safe haven in Fallujah, and have not been able to reconstitute another one. They've also not sparked sectarian violence although they work at it every day. ... Perhaps most importantly, they have not stopped political and economical development in Iraq." - General Casey

"The terrorist groups have revealed their purpose, which is creating sectarian strife, and stand in the way of the political process and building the new Iraq," - Abdul Aziz Hakim, leader of SCIRI

"I believe there are more foreign fighters coming into Iraq than there were six months ago," -Gen. John Abizaid

"There's no question there's an enemy that still wants to shake our will and get us to leave. ...They try to kill and they do kill innocent Iraqi people, women and children because they know that the carnage that they reap will be on TV and they know that it bothers people to see death. And it does. It bothers me. It bothers American citizens. It bothers Iraqis." - President Geroge W. Bush

"Sunni Arab and al Qaeda gangs agree on one thing; their biggest enemy is the Iraqi police. The cops have become the major threat to the anti-government forces. ... In the last week, there was a major attack on a police station. Over a hundred men took part in the attack, which was defeated by the police and army alone. At least ten of the attackers were killed, and 40 were captured. Many of the enemy wounded got away. Thus over half the attacking force was killed, wounded or captured. The anti-government forces are desperate to show they are more powerful than the police, and nothing does that better than taking, and pillaging, a police station. This latest defeat makes the enemy appear weaker, and encourages more Iraqis to actively side with the police. During the recent attack, the police received 55 calls from civilians around the police station, to report the attack and demand reinforcements. Some Iraqi civilians were seen firing, from their homes, at the men attacking the police stations." -Strategy Page

“The Iraqi people and their freely elected government … are determined to face down those who would destroy their hopes. They are determined to carry out a political process that will lead to a free and democratic Iraq. And we believe that the region, and indeed the world, will be more secure when that day is realized." - Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice

"I think the president really needs to tell the American public tomorrow that the main battle in Iraq is now no longer domestic insurgents, it is Zarqawi led foreign extremists. The administration has been afraid of doing that for some time for fear they would be blamed for not keeping them out, but it doesn't matter the US public needs to know who they are fighting and it needs to have a enemy to rally against, and hell would have trouble making a greater piece of evil shit then Zarqawi, so use him damn it. ... The administration needs to focus on the real evil in Iraq." - jmc1969