Our Appreciation - Forging Victory and Peace

General Pace, 16th Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (2005-2007).

Peter Pace

“… we have to maintain our focus on what objectives we want for the United States, and then we need to give ourselves a good, honest scrub about what is working and what is not working … to ensure that we get to the objective that we’ve set for ourselves.”

General David H. Petraeus’ charts to accompany the testimony on “Multi-National Force-Iraq”

U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates and U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice

Robert Gates

Robert Gates replaced Donald Rumsfeldt as Defense Secretary in December 2006. He was president of Texas A&M University and a serving member on the Iraq Study Group.

Gates was director of the CIA from 1991 to 1993 under George H.W. Bush, where he also served as a national security advisor.

Condoleezza Rice

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice believes in “Transformational Diplomacy” – the strategy of supporting emerging democracies, especially in the Middle East.

General David Petraeus, Commander of Multi-National Force – Iraq and U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Ryan Crocker delivered testimony about the war and the surge to Congress on September 10 and 11, 2007.

David Petraeus

General Petraeus, commanding general of the Multi-National Force in Iraq. He rewrote the Army’s field manual for counter-insurgency warfare – an essential part of our current strategy.

He has said that a political solution is the ultimate key to success in Iraq.

Ryan Crocker

Ambassador Ryan Crocker has an extensive and respected history in the Middle East as a State Depart- ment diplomat. In the past he has served in Lebanon, Afghanistan, Iran, and Qatar, and as our am-bassador in Pakistan in 2006. In 2004, he received the highest ranking as a “Career Ambassador.”

He once testified that: “It is no exaggeration to say that Iraq is, and will remain for some time, a traumatized country.”

Active Military

Our troops in Iraq have faced and over-come many obstacles over the past four years – from liberating a vast desert country under extreme conditions, to stabilizing and rebuilding that fractured country – while also fighting a lethal insurgency.

Our troops deserve our highest respect and appreciation. While we continue to live “the good life,” they “lay it on the line” every day for America – and us.

We cannot adequately show our deep appreciation for what they do.

Active military personnel

Iraqi Leaders

Iraqi President Jalal Talabani

Jalal Talabani, president of Iraq, has been a prominent Kurdish politician for many years and a strong supporter for Kurdish autonomy within greater Iraq. He was one of the original founders of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), one of the two powerful rival parties within the state. More recently, he was involved in the drafting of the Iraqi Constitution.

Nechirvan Idris Barzani, Prime Minister of the Kurdistan Regional Government

Nechirvan Idris Barzani is the leader of the other powerful Kurdish political party, the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP). He is also the Prime Minister of the Kurdish Regional Government. Barzani has been very successful in developing the Kurdish State as a secular pluralistic democracy, giving much attention to education and com-mercial development – a society open to diversity and change.

Tariq al-Hashimi, one of Iraq’s two Vice Presidents

Tariq al-Hashimi, a Sunni, is one of two vice presidents of Iraq. He is also a leader of the Iraqi Islamic Party, the most influential Sunni Muslim group. Death squads have murdered three of his siblings.

Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, the preeminent Shiite cleric – the most influential figure in Iraq today

Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani is the supreme Shia cleric in Iraq. Sistani has been influential in keeping Muqtada al-Sadr’s Mahdi Army from taking control of the Shia community through violence and intimidation. He prefers to gain power through the election process instead of violence.

Nuri al-Maliki, Iraq’s Prime Minister

Nuri al-Maliki, a Shiite, has been the Prime Minister of Iraq since May of 2006. He is also Secretary General of the powerful Islamic Dawa Party, a rival of al-Sadr’s Mahdi Army even though they have both benefited from uncomfortable alliances in the past.

Photo Credits: Jalal Talabani: www.prayerforiraq.org; Nechirvan Idris Barzani: www.krg.org; Tareq al-Hasheki: www.alhashemi.org; Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani: www.sistani.org