Petraeus: Israel is -- has been, is and will be a -- an important strategic ally of the United States

Do you think Petraeus' comments at the Woodrow Wilson Institute this week will finally shut up the Waltsheimers, Brzezinskis, Rosenbergs and J Street-walkers and their whining that Israel is a burden to the U.S.?

Probably not.

Read the General's comments that appeared in the Kuwaiti News Service (KUNA):

Petraeus affirms strategic relation with Israel

WASHINGTON, April 14 (KUNA) -- General David Petraeus has affirmed the special and strategic relation between the United States and Israel.

In an address to Washington based think tank the "Woodrow Wilson Center" on Tuesday, the U.S. Army Commander of the Central Command said: "Israel is -- has been, is and will be a -- an important strategic ally of the United States".

Petraeus denied recent press reports claiming he expressed interests to relocate both Israel and Palestinian Territories from the European Command to his Central Command, saying "that's just not correct".

He down played these press reports saying "it said in one of these blog reports that got it all started that I had requested the addition of Israel and the Palestinian Territories to the Central Command area of responsibility".

Petraeus did not reiterate his early opinion expressed in Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on March 16th that the deadlocked Arab- Israeli peace process affect negatively the U.S.'s ability to advance its interests in the region.

Instead he hoped for progress toward a comprehensive Mideast peace process saying "I think rightly, seized on was the inclusion of the comment about insignificant progress or insufficient progress toward a comprehensive Mideast peace process".

"It did not say anything about settlements, didn't say anything about putting our soldiers at risk or something like that" Petraeus added referring to his early statement in the Senate.

Petraeus named several factors that influence regional instability within his command region that stretch from Egypt to Pakistan and from Kazakhstan to Yemen.

They are "militant Islamist movements; proliferation of weapons of mass destruction; ungoverned, poorly governed and alternatively governed spaces; insufficient progress toward a comprehensive Mideast peace process; significant sources of terrorist financing and facilitation; piracy; ethnic, tribal and sectarian rivalries; criminal activities, such as weapons, narcotics and human trafficking; uneven economic development and lack of employment opportunities; and lack of regional and global economic integration, " he said. (end)

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