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Army Chief: National Guard Vital in Long
War
Staff Sgt. Jim Greenhill |
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SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico, Aug. 28, 2007 - The
National Guard is making a vital contribution to
current wars and will continue to be integral as
the U.S. military enter a period of persistent
conflict, the Army chief of staff said here Aug.
26.
With the sixth anniversary of the Sept. 11,
2001, terrorist attacks fast approaching, Gen.
George W. Casey Jr. counseled citizen-soldiers
and -airmen to reflect on the future.
"We are at war. We are facing a period of
protracted conflict. ... Stop for a minute and
think about what's at stake here," he urged
those attending the National Guard Association
of the United States' 129th General Conference.
"What's at stake here in this war is the power
and the values of our civilization.
"What's at stake here is whether terrorism or
freedom charts the future.
"What's at stake here is nothing less than our
way of life."
As they have been since the First Muster of
1636, the nation's Minutemen are on the front
lines. "The men and women of the Army and Air
Guard are out there every day ... fighting to
ensure that the values and ideals upon which
this country is based aren't forgotten," Casey
said.
The comments came during an hour-long speech and
question-and-answer session that included a
sobering global geopolitical assessment.
"There (is) near unanimity among people who
think about the future -- intelligence
officials, academics, think tanks, people within
the Department of Defense -- that the next
decades will be ones of persistent conflict,"
Casey said. "We're in for a protracted period of
confrontation that is fueled by state and
non-state individual actors who are increasingly
willing to use violence to achieve their
political and ideological bents.
"We're seeing that now, and there is no reason
to believe that that is not going to continue."
Several trends are fueling conflict, he said.
These include:
-- Globalization. "Globalization has had
unquestionable positive impacts on prosperity
around the world," Casey said. "Unfortunately,
most of that has been north of the equator. The
people that are not beneficiaries of the
increased prosperity can become recruits for
some of these ideological groups or terrorist
networks."
-- Improved communications. "The same
connectivity and technological advances that are
boosting prosperity also now are being used by
terrorist organizations to export terror around
the world," Casey said.
-- Increased energy demand. "The competition for
energy is going to become more intense," Casey
said. "Because of rising middle classes in China
and India, for example, the demand for oil is
going to outstrip the supply and the resources
that are currently being dedicated to look for
new (deposits) and to look for alternatives
aren't going to be able to bridge the gap. We're
going to see increased competition for these
different resources and probably also a switch
to cleaner fuels like a move to natural gas.
Almost 60 percent of natural gas reserves happen
to be in three places: Russia, Iran and Qatar.
... What we're going to see is probably more
dependence on the Middle East."
-- Disasters. "Climate problems and natural
disasters are going to create more difficult
problems for the less-developed countries,"
Casey said.
-- Population growth. "Analysts are predicting
that some of these less-developed countries --
primarily South America, Africa, the Middle
East, South Asia and Southeast Asia -- are going
to almost double in population in the next 25
years," he said. "That's going to create a young
population that, again, is more vulnerable to
ideological terrorists."
-- Weapons proliferation. "The increased
proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and
their likely use by terrorist organizations" are
looming threats, Casey said. "Recent
intelligence estimates conclude that al Qaeda is
looking for weapons of mass destruction, and
there is no question that they will use them,
most likely against a developed country, if they
find them."
"What I see in the coming decades: You have a
propensity for conflict that will be fueled by
these local trends, and they'll likely be taken
advantage of by these global terrorist
organizations," Casey said.
Previously commander of Multinational Force
Iraq, Casey has been the Army chief of staff
since April 10. "How proud I am of the
contribution of the National Guard to this war
on terror over the past almost six years," he
said, repeatedly emphasizing his gratitude to
both the Army and the Air National Guard.
"I've seen firsthand the contributions. ... (The
National Guard) performed extremely well. ...
Half of the Guard and Reserve are combat
veterans. ... You continue to fill the role of
citizen, soldier and patriot: citizens most of
the time, soldiers some of the time, and
patriots all the time," he added.
"What will victory look like?" an audience
member asked.
"Unfortunately, there is not going to be a D-Day
invasion," Casey replied. "This is an
ideological confrontation. Frankly, it's not
going to be won until Muslim moderates achieve
success over Muslim extremists. Our job is to
keep Muslim extremist groups from prevailing in
the Middle East as well as from attacking our
country.
"It's not going to be a big battle; it's going
to be an ideological struggle that's going to
play out over the next several decades, not
unlike the Cold War. It'll be something that'll
gradually, over time, get better. But I can't
see that you're going to wake up one morning and
say, 'Boy, I'm glad that's over.' That's not
going to be the case at all." |
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