Abizaid: Only luck has kept al-Qaida from attacking U.S.

Abizaid: Only luck has kept al-Qaida from attacking U.S.
The Associated Press
Posted : Thursday Nov 1, 2007 6:21:01 EDT

PITTSBURGH — The conflict in the Middle East could take 25 to 50 years to subside and luck is all that has kept al-Qaida from attacking the U.S. again, according to retired Army Gen. John Abizaid.

“It’s going to be hard, it’s going to be long, it’s going to be arduous, dangerous, bloody and expensive,” Abizaid said Wednesday. “But, on the other hand, I do believe it’s workable, provided that we have conversations like this and understand the dynamics that are at play out there. And it’s not so one-dimensional as to be all-Iraq all the time.”

The former commander of U.S. forces in the Middle East made his comments at Carnegie Mellon University. Abizaid stepped down in March as the longest-serving commander of U.S. Central Command. He retired from the Army in May and now is at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University.

The rise of Sunni extremism, burgeoning Shiite extremism, the Arab-Israeli conflict and the world economy’s dependency on Mideast oil will keep Americans in the Middle East for a long time, he said.

“I’m not saying this is a war for oil, but I am saying that oil fuels an awful lot of geopolitical moves that political powers may have there,” Abizaid said. “And it is absolutely essential that we in the United States of America figure out how, in the long run, to lessen our dependency on foreign energy.”

He reiterated comments made in September that the U.S. needs to do a better job of coordinating economic, political and diplomatic means so the conflict can move from a military to a political issue.


Rest of article at: http://www.armytimes.com/news/2007/11/ap_abizaid_071101/