Zbigniew Brzezinski

...A great deal of what is happening thus far in American Foreign Policy has been influenced by the ongoing conflict in Iraq. Now I would like to say very briefly that in my view, that war which was a war of choice is already a serious moral set back to the United States. A moral set back both in how we started, how it was justified, and because of some of the egregious incidents that have accompanied this proceeding. The moral costs to the United States are high. It's a political setback.

The United States has never been involved in an intervention in its entire history like it is today. It is also a military set back. "Mission Accomplished" are words that many in this administration want to forget.

While our ultimate objectives are very ambitious we will never achieve democracy and stability without being willing to commit 500,000 troops, spend $200 billion a year, probably have a draft, and have some form of war compensation.

As a society, we are not prepared to do that. It does tell you something. The Soviet Union could have won the war in Afghanistan too had it been prepared to do its equivalent of what I just mentioned. But even the Soviet Union was not prepared to do that because there comes a point in the life of a nation when such sacrifices are not justified. . .and only time will tell if the United States is facing a moment of wisdom, or is resigned to cultural decay. This certainly is the challenge.