The First Official Statements Of

I Did A Week-long Assessment In 2005 At (then Defense Secretary Donald) Rumsfeld's Request. Following Our Return, I Told Him That Afghanistan Was Going To Be The Longest Campaign Of What We Then Termed "the Long War."

The Islamic State Fighters In Mosul Are Dead Men Walking And I Think They Increasingly Know It.

I Am Neither A Pessimist Nor An Optimist. I Am A Realist, And The Reality In Iraq Is That It Has Been Very Hard And It Continues To Be Hard.

The Sunni Arabs Began To Realize That They Had Made A Huge Mistake By Not Voting In The Election Of 2005 And By Not Being Part Of The New Iraq. They Had Reasons For This: They Were Effected By The Disestablishment Of The Military And By De-baathification (the Dismantling Of Saddam Hussein's Party) In Winter 2007-2007. They Increasingly Recognized That Their Future Lay In Being Part Of The Solution Rather Than A Continuing Part Of The Problem.

When You Enlisted Into The Armed Forces You Swore To Support And Defend A Constitution That Did Not Yet Fully Apply To You. You Chose To Endure The Same Sacrifices As Your Fellow Comrades In Arms To Preserve The Freedom Of A Land That Was Not Yet Fully Yours. You Accepted That You Might Have To Pay The Ultimate Price On Behalf Of A Nation To Which You Did Not Fully Belong. Now, You Will Officially Become Citizens Of The United States, A Country To Which Each Of You Has Already Borne True Faith And Allegiance In Your Hearts And Your Deeds.