U.S.-France military ties have always been good, except for a brief period when Rumsfeld sought payback over Iraq. And more generally, there's even an effort to mend fences at a political level.

I do not think the decision to invade [Iraq] was a mistake, ... I would agree with the Bush administration that Saddam was a nasty enough guy.

Such equipment in the hands of Iraq may pose a direct military threat to U.S. and coalition armed forces. We thus have raised the issue with the Russian government a number of times, including at senior levels, and particularly in the last two weeks.

One of the biggest differences in Baghdad, and throughout Iraq... is that the Iraqi military is doing really well, and they're taking over more pieces of the mission. The second biggest difference that I see [between now and three years ago] is the infrastructure issue.

I think that the idea that you can simply let that situation fester and demand the North Koreans make good on their nuclear weapons program -- and eliminate it prior to any negotiations -- is not a sustainable policy.

You're demanding that the political system produces a miracle. Any plan that envisions complete American withdrawal in such a period of time is still a prescription for strategic defeat.