Joint Chiefs chair Mullen says US victory will come with time and ‘near-constant readjustment’
By APWednesday, March 3, 2010
Joint Chiefs chair: ‘Readjustment’ brings victory
MANHATTAN, Kan. — The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff says victory in Iraq and Afghanistan won’t come in one glorious battle.
Adm. Mike Mullen told a Kansas State University audience Wednesday that success in long wars will be determined by military and diplomatic powers, along with U.S. ally support.
Mullen says the U.S. will win “only over time” and “after near-constant reassessment and readjustment.”
He says commanders in ongoing operations in Afghanistan are taking a deliberate approach to minimize civilian casualties rather than using carpet bombing or missile strikes.
Mullen echoed Defense Secretary Robert Gates’s speech at Kansas State in November 2007. Both men said the U.S. must do more to encourage the use of “soft power” to resolve conflicts.
