George Casey Quotes (27 Quotes)

Look, you guys read the polls just like I do. And this is a terror campaign. And they are trying to create the impression that we and the Iraqis cannot succeed in Iraq,

Army ... in bad shape.

It got down to about 20 degrees by 4 a.m., but judging by the amount of ice we laid down, it looks like we got through okay. But it was a very long night.

There are people in Iraq out to stop progress, and as you saw here today, they can't,

No, it's not a setback. I mean, unit readiness is going to fluctuate. And it is such a small number. And at this stage, I'm not concerned about small numbers,

I think that's entirely possible, senator, ... I mean, as we've looked at this, we've looked for the constitution to be a national compact, and the perception now is that it's not, particularly among the Sunni.

a couple of years, for sure.

Now this constitution has come out, and it didn't come out as the national compact that we thought it was going to be. And there's division there, ... And that caused the situation to change a little bit.

A year from now, if there are not more battalions at level one I will be concerned. Right now, I am not. I am concerned about level two and we are making very good progress there,

We say we make progress relentlessly in little steps a day at a time. And we just keep taking little steps. And every once in a while, you get to see what happens when all those little steps yield something.

We fully recognize that Iraqi armed forces will not have an independent capability for some time, because they don't have the institutional base to support them,

I share your concern about our Army's operational readiness and force protection posture,

It is important for the American people to understand that we should not be afraid of this fight, ... This is a tough fight. Their armed forces members are committed to this. The Iraqis are committed to this.

Before the Senate panel, the generals warned that defeating the insurgency would take time. Success in Iraq will require patience and will, ... To be sure the next couple of months are going to be tough.

To be sure the next months will be difficult because our enemies also realize what's at stake, ... They're already challenging the referendum process with increased terror attacks to create the impression that attempts at progress are futile and that Iraq can never become a modern democratic society. They are attacking the will of the Iraqi people, and they are attacking the will of the coalition publics. They are failing in Iraq.

When asked by the Senate Armed Services Committee whether the situation could worsen in Iraq if the constitution were approved but with a large Sunni no ... I think that's entirely possible.

This constitutional referendum and whether it is supported by the Sunnis to a large degree, I think, is something that we just have to watch to see how that comes out. So until we're done with this political process here, with the referendum and the elections in December, I think it's too soon to tell.

We've looked for the constitution to be a national pact, and the perception now is that it's not.

Over the past several months, I have received reports of serious physical abuse of detainees by ISF (Iraqi Security Forces).

We have built enough Iraqi capacity where we can begin talking seriously about transitioning this counterinsurgency mission to them,

The people of Iraq think of themselves as Iraqis, and people are not interested necessarily in seeing the fragmentation of the country. And I don't see that happening.

Next year, at this time, I'll be much more concerned about it. Right now, I'm not,

The referendum on the constitution and the elections at the end of December are the most important aspects of what we're doing now.

Increased coalition presence feeds the notion of occupation. It contributes to the dependency of Iraqi security forces on the coalition, ... It extends the amount of time that it will take for Iraqi security forces to become self-reliant. And it exposes more coalition forces to attacks.

Fighting insurgencies is a long-term proposition, and there's no reason that we should believe that the insurgency in Iraq will take any less time to deal with.

When I checked in the morning, the ice was nice and clear, not milky. That usually means that the ice layer was solid enough to do the job.

We certainly do expect that there is some infiltration of the police and ... the military forces, ... But we don't see it in the way that would render these forces incapable.