I believe, Admiral, that it will be difficult, in the short-term, to determine the progress of the military side of this equation.

Mr. President, look at all options by which you may not need that full complement, and, Mr. President, look carefully at the rules of engagement, such that we minimize the injection of the U.S. GI right into the crossfire of sectarian…

This war has been mishandled. No one doubts that mistakes have been made in Iraq.

I think that we could know fairly soon whether we are going to have an Iraqi government that is truly committed to this overall process.

it seems to me that, again, from my glancing visit through that country last month, there is a lack of confidence among the other sects--other than the Shia--within this country, of the desire of the government to actually address issues…

I do believe at this point that our presence can help and is needed.

If these benchmarks are not received by the end of today, Senator McCain and I will be consulting on what will be the next step to obtain these benchmarks.

Clearly, this is not going to be something that we would like to continue for an extended period of time.

On the one hand, the increase of our troop levels, in the short term, is going to put additional strain on the Army and the Marine Corps force structure; in the mid-term, particularly, it is going to place a hardship on the rotational…

I do hope that you've had an opportunity to look through this.

A loss of this situation will implode that region into such strife.

You will work with your commanders to get the violence down.

I would like to give you a quote. There are many quotes, but one I would be interested in your response to.

We have a strategy and a plan for success in Iraq and we are broadly on track in achieving our goals.

I am grateful for your extraordinary service and personal sacrifice throughout your career.

So you disagree with the Secretary of Defense, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and Admiral Fallon that we had a failed policy?

In recent days the Secretary of Defense, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and General Abizaid's designated successor Admiral Fallon have all stated we are not winning and we had a failed strategy.

I believe it is abundantly clear that we are at a point in Iraq where we are going to have to succeed within in the coming months or we are going to have to experience catastrophic consequences associated with it.