Peter Bergen Quotes

The high probability is if American forces withdraw from Afghanistan and if no alternative international arrangement is made that then the historic contests between the regions and the sects will reappear, the Taliban will re-emerge, and a very complicated and maybe chaotic situation will develop.

Without U.S. troops, Afghanistan, like Iraq, could descend into chaos.

I think a weakened, fragmented, chaotic Iraq, which could happen if this isn’t done carefully, is more dangerous in the long run than a contained Saddam is now.

As brutal as Saddam Hussein was, it was a mistake to just eliminate him. The same is true for Moammar Gadhafi and for Libya, which is now a failed state.

As was true in Iraq and Libya, the United States has no credible government or leader able to bring order, security, and freedom to the people of Syria if Assad is overthrown.

If Hamas were destroyed and gone, we would probably end up with something much worse. The region would end up with something much worse.

There is little doubt that an unstable Syria will destabilize the whole Middle East.

But I would make it unambiguously clear that we are going to withdraw, and if Iraq falls into civil war and if all these unhappy things occur, we're just going to have to accept them.

They want to derail peace because they want to plunge Northern Ireland back into armed conflict.

If Sudan starts to crumble, the shock waves will spread.

Iraq is falling apart.

By 2007, Iraqi society had completely collapsed.

Instead, we did take our eye off the ball. We decided, instead of finishing the job in Afghanistan, to go into Iraq. And today, unfortunately, if you look at the situation on the ground, it is a mess.

Civil war? What does that mean? Is there any foreign war? Isn't every war fought between men, between brothers?

If the American military begins to withdrawal, there will be no need for these armed groups.

Some leaders think time will solve the problem. Their hope is that Assad's regime will ultimately fall from the heavy toll of the horrors it has spawned. From past experience with such regimes, this scenario is unlikely to happen.

We in the West walked away from Afghanistan at the end of the Cold War and left it as a country devastated socially and armed to the teeth. If we do that again, there will be consequences.

When the war of the giants is over the wars of the pygmies will begin.

When Ukrainians kill Ukrainians, I believe this is as close to a civil war as you can get.

If India wants her bloodbath, she shall have it.

My own prediction is that the Iraqis will all fly at each other’s throats and that there will be a bad slump in the administration that will continue until someone strong enough to dominate the country emerges, or, alternatively, until we have to step in and intervene.

The war of the giants is over. The quarrels of the pygmies have begun.

If the [Sunni] majority gets riled, it will act – a matter that could lead to the complete annihilation of the [Shiite] minority.

The U.S. military will be stepping into a morass. Iraq presents as unpromising a breeding ground for democracy as any in the world. It has never really known democracy or even legitimate, centralized rule for any great duration.

Civil wars tend to spread to neighboring countries. That’s what history shows.