Nobody's more mindful of the sacrifices of our troops than those of us that command them.

You know as well as I do that counterinsurgency is a very nuanced type of military operation.

But the key shift in focus will be from counter-insurgency operations to more and more cooperation with Iraqi security forces and to building Iraqi security capacity.

We'll try to include Iraqi officers in our staffs. We will do everything we can to empower Iraqi security forces to stand up on their own and operate where they can alone.

So, these political activities will create friction in and of themselves, and in this environment of friction there'll be additional violence.

But clearly the fact that we've gone from zero Iraqi security forces on duty in May to up to 200,000 today is an enormous accomplishment, but it's not enough.

Morale is good; troops are confident; leaders are capable.

And so I think that if the person has the funds, the network, and the equipment to do this, and also the experience, which is the key factor, then they can be quite deadly.

You don't build a new power plant in the United States overnight. It takes years to build.

Everybody needs to understand that I learned Arabic from the United States Army as a second language. I never spoke it at home.

Undoubtedly, there are members of the former regime that are cooperating in some fashion and then there are extremists that are within Iraq that are cooperating with them.

Control yourself every passing second and make sure that no unit of time is being wasted

I have not done enough for effect." Horace Greeley

An uncomfortable marriage can not bear the strain of the death of a beloved donkey.

Stephanie had no problem doing what shewas told, just so long as she was given a good reason why sheshould.

It's fun to get together and have something good to eat at least once a day. That's what human life is all about-enjoying things.

When I first did the book on gasoline stations, people would look at it and say, Are you kidding or what? Why are you doing this? In a sense, that's what I was after: I was after the head-scratching.

It is an unfortunate human failing that a full pocketbook often groans more loudly than an empty stomach.

I do cardio, but I don't like it as much. I'd rather do weights.

Conscience is the voice of the soul, the passions are the voice of the body. It is strange that these voices often contradict each other?

The state is captive to vested interests.