You’d expect that Gen. John Abizaid, commander of the U.S Central Command, would have guarded opinions to give to talk-show host Hugh Hewitt. But you would expect to be able to glean some unexpected insight into what the US military sees happening in the Middle East.
Here are the take-aways for me.
- Abizaid does not seem to be raising any red flags over the sectarian violence (or civil war, if you prefer) in Baghdad. “[W]e're confident [we] can, over time, move Baghdad in the right direction.”
- “[W]e've got to keep the flow of natural resources moving through the Straits of Hormuz, the Suez Canal, and the Babel Mandeb, which take an awful lot of air and naval power.” Hmm.
- “I think a nuclear armed Iran in the region is very, very unstabilizing for the region. It would create a regional problem with all of the other major countries, such as Saudi Arabia and Egypt. It would certainly create a problem for the Turks... And certainly, it creates a problem for Israel.”
- “I also see a growing problem with Iran's internal stability, as people there become less and less satisfied with the quality of life that their government's given them.”
- “And you certainly will see continued instability in places where the extremists continue to operate, such as in Pakistan and Saudi Arabia. In many ways, the long term health and prosperity of Pakistan and Saudi Arabia are bigger strategic problems for us, and we need to do all we can to help the legitimate governments there fight against the extremists the way that they've been doing.”
In this view, the two problems are Sunni and Shia extremism, and the significant risks are the extremist threats to Pakistan and Saudi Arabia. The other big problem is the idea of Iran possessing nuclear weapons.
It’s a different view than the MSM template of Bush Lied and the Mess in Iraq.
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