American regret, Russian advance

During a Fox TV interview on Dec. 21, retired Gen. Raymond Odierno said that because of the "passive" strategy of U.S. President Barack Obama against terrorism, Russia had gained leadership in the Middle East.
The former U.S. Army Chief of Staff said it was "time for" the U.S. "to lead from the front, be aggressive at bringing nations together, be aggressive in our own policies and bring the capabilities of our government together to take action" and "reassert leadership."

"I believe this is a time of proactive leadership," Odierno, a commander who previously served in Iraq, Afghanistan and the Central Command, said in an indirect call on the new administration to be led by President-elect Donald Trump. Turkish people know his name from two occasions. He was the commander in charge of the troops who detained Turkish Special Forces in 2003 who were in Iraq as part of an international agreement, throwing hoods over them in a humiliating way. And in 2015 he was the army chief who gave a medal of merit to then-Turkish Army Chief and current Chief of Staff Gen. Hulusi Akar for his military cooperative leadership in the Syrian theater.

Odierno made the remarks in the wake of the Berlin attack, which killed 12 people and was claimed by the Islamic State of Iraq and Levant (ISIL), which has its roots in Iraq during the U.S.-led occupation - when Odierno was a part of it - but emerged in 2013 during the civil war in Syria.

One of the most important remarks in the interview with Odierno were the notion of "bringing nations together."

Former President George W. Bush could not manage to bring nations together; could not get the full support of its NATO ally Turkey, which borders Iraq; and applied more sanctions on Iran, which also borders...