Happening on the Hill

Eight months removed from the battlefield, retired Gen. John Abizaid remains a dedicated soldier. He visited Trinity in February as the Spring 2008 Distinguished Lecture guest after serving as the commander of the U.S. Central Command from 2003-07. He outlined four areas of concern for the United States and said all strategies will require this nation to be patient. “We are in a five-second sound bite culture,” he said during his talk at Laurie Auditorium. “This will take a long time. We need to bridge the cultural gaps because we don’t want a clash of civilization to develop.” The general also encouraged Trinity students to join the military or become involved in other service fields, saying, “This is the world’s greatest country. Only your service can keep the country great.”

He touched upon these four “broad issues” during his evening lecture and earlier in the day during a meeting with about 50 students:

• The rise of the Sunni Islamic extremists as exemplified by the al-Qaida coalition. The general noted that this group is highly networked in cyberspace and is not tied to a particular nation. He described them as rising in power and potentially very dangerous to the United States.
  
  
• The concurrent presence of the Shiite Muslims who occupy Iran. The general said this group wants to be a major power but appear to be on a “downward slope” in terms of influence.
  
  
• The Arab-Israeli conflict, which the general said has driven people to extremes and hopelessness. In such a climate, the general said al-Qaida “looks to have room to maneuver and will encourage instability at all costs.”
  
  
• The flow of oil is vital to the United States and is the basis of the economy of globalization, the general said.
  
  

To keep the four situations in perspective, the general said the United States should recognize an inability to control outcomes but an ability to shape it. He also said the struggles will be won by “good intelligence, not massive bombs.”  The war in Iraq has affected him – he said friends have been killed and his son-in-law was wounded – but he nevertheless said it was the right thing to do. 

The Trinity University Distinguished Lecture Series is made possible by an endowment gift from Mr. and Mrs. Walter F. Brown of San Antonio. For nearly 30 years, the Browns have made it possible for the University to bring the world’s preeminent statesman and scholars to campus, creating national visibility for Trinity and ensuring its global perspective. Among those who have appeared because of their generosity are former Secretaries of State Colin Powell and Henry Kissinger, former Prime Ministers John Major and Margaret Thatcher, retired Gen.  Norman Schwarzkopf, and former Sen. John Glenn.