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Last update - 11:07 18/11/2006 US general: Islamic militancy could yield third world war By Reuters The top United States general in the Middle East said on Friday that if the world does not find a way to stem the rise of Islamic militancy, it will face a third world war. Army General John Abizaid compared the rise of militant ideologies, such as the force driving Al-Qaida, to the rise of fascism in Europe in the 1920s and 1930s that set the stage for World War Two. "If we don't have guts enough to confront this ideology today, we'll go through World War Three tomorrow," Abizaid said in a speech titled "The Long War," at Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government in Cambridge, outside Boston. Advertisement If not stopped, Abizaid said extremists would be allowed to "gain an advantage, to gain a safe haven, to develop weapons of mass destruction, to develop a national place from which to operate. And I think that the dangers associated with that are just too great to comprehend." Abizaid said the world faces three major hurdles in stabilizing the Middle East region: Easing Arab-Israeli tensions, stemming the spread of militant extremism, and dealing with Iran, which Washington has accused of seeking to develop nuclear bombs. "Where these three problems come together happens to come in a place known as Iraq," said Abizaid, who earlier in the week warned Congress against seeking a timeline for withdrawing U.S. troops from the country. "The sacrifice that is necessary to stabilize Iraq, in my view, must be sustained in order for the region itself to become more resilient," Abizaid said. A week after President George Bush's Republicans lost control of both houses of congress largely due to voter anger over the Iraq war, Abizaid said the U.S. had underestimated the challenge of preparing local security forces to stabilize Iraq. "We thought we could go from U.S.-led to Iraqi-led without having to pay the price of the transition, in terms of manpower and resources," Abizaid said. "Now we realize we have to invest heavily in this transition so you can bring them up faster." In testimony to congressional committees on Wednesday, Abizaid rejected calls to either boost U.S. troop levels or to start a phased withdrawal from Iraq. He said that the level of violence in Iraq was "unacceptably high" and that the 140,000 U.S. forces currently deployed there should focus on training Iraqi units. Lawmakers from both parties criticized Abizaid's comments as showing the Pentagon had not developed a new, effective plan for the Iraq situation. Bookmark to del.icio.us   Fight club Jerusalem camera catches brutal attack by Jewish teens on Arab youths. Unbrotherly behavior Rights group: Palestinian governments violate human rights in quest for control.   1.   voice in the wilderness 11:16  |  NR 18/11/06   2.   Islamic Militancy 11:32  |  Fritz 18/11/06   3.   How about American miltancy? 11:39  |  Petteri 18/11/06   4.   R U Trying to scare us 11:47  |  Arief Contractor 18/11/06   5.   The same thing happened in Vietnam 11:50  |  Natallie Durson 18/11/06   6.   Gen. Abizaid vs. Gen. Dannatt 13:29  |  George Goldman 18/11/06   7.   n1! the al quaida from ber sheeba 13:34  |  Hadrian 18/11/06   8.   I agree with the general 13:47  |  Nechama 18/11/06   9.   Criminals and Liars! 14:21  |  northern neighbor 18/11/06   10.   USA always need an ennemy... 14:24  |  northern neighbor 18/11/06   11.   Arabs know how to controll Arabs.A "strong" man will arise 14:31  |  PETER SM 18/11/06   12.   Time ot do something about Israel / Zionism? 14:36  |  David 18/11/06   13.   PETER SM from Australia 15:07  |  northern neighbor 18/11/06   14.   #12 THE BOY DAVID BLOWS AN UGLY TUNE !!! 15:11  |  paul harris 18/11/06   15.   vietnam not the same thing 15:12  |  YAAKOV II 18/11/06   16.   Deal with each problem on its own 15:26  |  Karam 18/11/06   17.   Nonsense Fritz! 15:38  |  Yosemite Sam 18/11/06   18.   Fritz: What`s Germany`s role? 15:39  |  George Goldman 18/11/06   19.   It it 1930: only the new threat does not come 15:48  |  Jeroen 18/11/06   20.   To Petteri #3 16:06  |  Natalie Ezra 18/11/06   21.   re: Nechama #8 16:10  |  Paulo 18/11/06   22.   Urgent action on Israel 16:22  |  Mike 18/11/06   23.   Hey Abizaid!!!! 16:34  |  Moe 18/11/06   24.   Duh, Really? 16:42  |  Jane 18/11/06   25.   abizaid... YOU DONT BELONG THERE... 16:43  |  Moe 18/11/06   26.   These talkbacks are useful 16:45  |  Steve G 18/11/06   27.   #2, #14 - Such blindness! 16:55  |  Maurice 18/11/06   28.   Unfortunately, in many ways, that war has started. One can 17:08  |  Nadav 18/11/06   29.   Paulo on Nechama 17:14  |  MI Quacker 18/11/06   30.   It is already a world war 17:19  |  Danite 18/11/06   31.   Petteri & Fritz 17:25  |  rich 18/11/06   32.   #12 Another Prat from GRATE brittin LOL 17:28  |  Ari ben Yisrael 18/11/06   33.   so correct. any other response is head in the sand or part 17:49  |  ralph 18/11/06   34.   The general was right 18:11  |  Bruce 18/11/06   35.   Danite le raciste 18:43  |  northern neighbor 18/11/06   36.   Steve G 18:52  |  northern neighbor 18/11/06   37.   @Arief whatever 19:18  |  heck 18/11/06   38.   Ari ben Yisrael 19:18  |  Another Prat 18/11/06   39.   To Natalie Ezra 19:26  |  JOe 18/11/06   40.   #10 Northern nighbour Make an enemy??!!?? 19:28  |  Jordan 18/11/06   41.   To David ,12 19:34  |  Jozef 18/11/06   42.   global danger 19:38  |  Honi 18/11/06   43.   Israel as reason for a third world war? 19:40  |  Johnny M. 18/11/06   44.   NO, Abizaid! 19:47  |  Samy 18/11/06   45.   northern neighbour 19:53  |  rich 18/11/06   46.   northern neighbour 19:54  |  rich 18/11/06   47.   Islamic Militancy 20:47  |  gregdn 18/11/06   48.   Finally, some sanity 21:21  |  Tali 18/11/06   49.   Northern Neighbor # P I agree. Good Point 21:22  |  Mark 18/11/06   50.   Halliburton needs militancy to yield profits! 21:27  |  Mark 18/11/06   51.   gregdn 21:29  |  rich 18/11/06   52.   @rich 21:46  |  heck 18/11/06   53.   NORTHEN neighbour.Come on mate look at your history. 21:51  |  PETER SM 18/11/06   54.   the general is right-not because 22:10  |  yahn goodey 18/11/06   55.   Israel`s Part in this 22:58  |  American 18/11/06   56.   To Natalie Ezra (Petteri #3) 08:14  |  Roobit 19/11/06   57.   to 31 (rich) 08:20  |  Roobit 19/11/06   58.   bizarre stuff / 35. Danite le raciste 08:23  |  Roobit 19/11/06   59.   52. @rich 08:26  |  Roobit 19/11/06   60.   Islamic Militancy 13:17  |  Chris Condon 19/11/06   61.   Spineless Chickens 13:59  |  Toth 19/11/06   62.   Words, but no traction 15:40  |  CommonSense 19/11/06   63.   Regarding #5 17:45  |  Ted 19/11/06   64.   more bs from the banksters army 19:21  |  wayne 19/11/06   65.   NOT GOOD.... 21:04  |  MIKE KATZ 19/11/06   66.   America already has dominance 22:23  |  Jay 19/11/06   67.   Israel 22:28  |  Jay 19/11/06   68.   Iraq 22:32  |  Jay 19/11/06   69.   IRAW WAR 23:26  |  romeo maione 19/11/06   70.   Let`s get our facts straight 00:58  |  Anon 20/11/06   71.   America and Israel on defense? 21:52  |  Rokha 28/05/08

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