John R. Allen

Afghanistan is going to be here a long time, and what's critical is that Afghanistan's relationship with its neighbors are, to the maximum extent they can be, constructive and operationally useful. ↗

— John R. Allen

#constructive #critical #extent #going #here

Al Qaeda has come back. Al Qaeda is a resilient organization. But they're not here in large numbers. But al Qaeda doesn't have to be anywhere in large numbers. ↗

— John R. Allen

#anywhere #back #come #here #large

I can't spend a lot of time worrying about the numbers at home. I've got to focus on the mission. ↗

— John R. Allen

#focus #got #home #i #lot

I seek as much as I can to mitigate risk. ↗

— John R. Allen

#i can #mitigate #much #risk #seek

Planning is really the hallmark of any large military formation, and it's typically a weakness in new formations and new armies. ↗

— John R. Allen

#armies #formation #formations #hallmark #large

Protecting Afghan civilians is the cornerstone of our mission. ↗

— John R. Allen

#civilians #cornerstone #mission #our #protecting

There is a direct line relationship between what happened in Afghanistan in the work up to 11 September 2001 and what we're doing in Afghanistan today. ↗

— John R. Allen

#between #direct #doing #happened #line

We don't see that the Taliban ultimately can succeed, and it's a combination both of what the international community can do to support Afghanistan, not just in the short term, but over the long term. ↗

— John R. Allen

#both #combination #community #international #international community

We don't want the Taliban to put down roots, or the al Qaeda to put down roots in Afghanistan that can facilitate Afghanistan becoming - once again - a launching pad for international terrorism. ↗

— John R. Allen

#again #al #becoming #down #facilitate

You know, great powers don't get angry, great powers don't make decisions hastily in a crisis. ↗

— John R. Allen

#crisis #decisions #get #great #hastily