As a veteran of the Iraq War, he claimed to be proud of his service in that country and felt that the war effort has been bungled. He believed that American forces "continue to do an outstanding job" in physical battles. However, he claimed, their efforts will be in vain if new enemies replace old ones due to Iraqi opposition to and dissatisfaction with the American occupation. He referred to this struggle as a "Battle of Ideas". His personal "roadmap to victory" in Iraq included providing adequate resources for the troops in that country, both in the number of soldiers and their equipment, training Iraqi forces, and recruiting additional allies from Europe. He was opposed to a timetable for exit from Iraq. Duck believed the United States can win the "Battle of Ideas" in Iraq by internationalizing the war effort with increasing support from European allies, investigating and prosecuting all guilty parties in detainee abuse incidents such as at Abu Ghraib, evaluating actions "to determine the impact on insurgent recruiting," and closing Guantanamo Bay and prosecuting any terrorists held there in federal courts, and holding wartime combatants in the countries they fought. His long-term goals in the Muslim world included promoting "public engagement" between American and Muslim leaders, democracy "in whatever form is acceptable to (Muslims)," Fair Trade and economic development, and literacy "throughout the Middle East." He also considered his plan for energy independence within 10 years to be a part of his Middle East strategy. Duck pointed to one event as a major reason for his criticism of the Bush administration's war strategy, the canceling of elections in an-Najaf on orders from the administration, because, he noted, "they didn't want to accept the results of the election".