Daniel P. Bolger Quotes
Defining the enemy defined the war.
So far as the Iraq government was concerned the important enemy were the minority Sunni Muslims who had dominated the Shiites before the American Invasion. For America the enemy was Al Qaeda and the terrorists as well as the Sunnis. We ended up fighting Sunnis and even Shiites as the definition of the enemy changed with time.
Daniel P. Bolger, Historian & Military Officer, Why We Lost, 2014
Sourced by: Eigen's Political and Historical Quotations
At the time the President denied that he had decided to invade Iraq. Skelton saw the “handwriting on the world.”
At the time, some House Republicans had taken an untenable and unpopular position and forced the government to shut down by not passing laws authorizing the expenditures. He had been asked his advice for President Obama who seemed to be winning this particular political squabble.
Under this interpretation of Islamic law – Sharia – virtually anything regardless of how sinful or immoral under normal circumstances is morally permissible if Islam is being defended from attack. Not all Muslim theologians agree with this principle. See {589498}. There was a similar perversion of theological logic used by Christian Popes during the Crusades.
The Security Counsel was meeting it the Situation room at the White House
Daniel P. Bolger of Aurora, Illinois is an author, historian, and retired Lieutenant General of the United States Army. He currently holds a special faculty appointment in the Department of History at North Carolina State University, where he teaches military history.