Top 227 Quotes & Sayings by Donald Rumsfeld - Page 4

There are people who in large measure have information that we need . . . so that we can track down the weapons of mass destruction in that country.

With the press there is no "off the record.

We never believed that we'd just tumble over weapons of mass destruction in that country.

It's a difficult thing today to be informed about our government even without all the secrecy.

When starting at the bottom, be willing to learn from those at the top.

Look at me! I'm sweet and lovable!

Then there are three or four countries that have said they won't do anything. I believe Libya, Cuba and Germany are ones that have indicated they won't help in any respect.

As you know, you go to war with the army you have, not the army you might want or wish to have at a later time. Since the Iraq conflict began, the Army has been pressing ahead to produce the armor necessary at a rate that they believe - it's a greatly expanded rate from what existed previously, but a rate that they believe is the rate that is all that can be accomplished at this moment.

Beware when any idea is promoted primarily because it is "bold, exciting, innovative, and new." There are many ideas that are "bold, exciting, innovative and new," but also foolish.

I didn't advocate invasion...I wasn't asked.

We don't seek empires.We're not imperialistic.

A few. . . critics are the only people I ever heard use the phrase 'imminent threat.' I didn't, the president didn't.

A large number of people to begin crawling through those tunnels and caves looking for the bad folks.

What will follow will not be a repeat of any other conflict. It will be of a force and scope and scale that has been beyond what has been seen before.

The Cold War was a war, and we won it.

They may have had time to destroy them, and I don't know the answer.

I stand for 8-10 hours a day. Why is standing limited to four hours?

I am going to leave the future of Europe to the Europeans.

The press always wants to know how many people will be killed or how much it will cost, but the answers to those questions are not knowable.

It is unknowable how long that conflict [the war in Iraq] will last. It could last six days, six weeks. I doubt six months.

If there are people who yearn for the days when Saddam Hussein was in power, then I am not among them.

Is it likely that an aircraft carrier or a cruise missile is going to find a person?

It is hard to put a price on some things. What is the value of having prevented nuclear weapons from getting into the hands of a dictator like Saddam Hussein - or of Gadhafi?

The problem is the people who tend to be the best organized are the most radical and the most vicious.

I cannot give any assurances. I'm not in that business. I haven't been, and I don't intend to get into it. People who try to make predictions about things or assurances often find they're wrong.

And there is, I am certain, among the Iraqi people a respect for the care and the precision that went into the bombing campaign.

We do know that the Iraqi regime has chemical and biological weapons. His regime has amassed large, clandestine stockpiles of chemical weapons - including VX, sarin, cyclosarin and mustard gas. His regime has amassed large, clandestine stockpiles of biological weapons—including anthrax and botulism toxin, and possibly smallpox.

A terrorist can attack any time, any place using any technique and you can't defend everywhere against every technique at every moment.

The reality is that [Barack] Obama has some 15 countries in the current Libya coalition. President Bush put together close to 50 countries for the Afghan coalition, some 40 countries for the Iraqi coalition, more than 90 countries for the Proliferation Security Initiative and over 90 countries in the Global War on Terror.

When I served as US Ambassador to NATO in the 1970s, the center of gravity in Europe was France and Germany.

It is worth reminding that being president is a tough job for anybody, and particularly so in the information age. There's such a glut of information. Anything a president says or does is picked up on the Internet or the 24/7 news media and criticized almost instantly. Leaders persuade through their words and as such their words need to be measured and well chosen. It is a tough job.

Every country should be tired of going to war. War is a terrible thing. If I had been in Congress, as much as I would be inclined naturally to be supportive of a president, any president, I would have voted no, had the issue come to a vote.

If I know the answer I'll tell you the answer, and if I don't I'll just respond cleverly.

A president has to provide leadership to gain support.

There is no question but that when one is engaged militarily that there are going to be unintended loss of life.

"Do you have any regrets?" Of course I do.

A terrorist can attack at any time at any place using a range of techniques. It is physically impossible to defend at every time in every location against every conceivable technique of terrorism. Therefore, if your goal is to stop it, you cannot stop it by defense. You can only stop it by taking the battle to the terrorists, where they are and going after them.

After the German abstention at the UN, Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle commented that Germany doesn't always have to stand on the side of its traditional allies. Berlin can look for new partners all over the world.

There are a lot of things that are said by people in the military, or civilian life, or in the Congress, or in the Executive Branch, that are their views. And that's the way we live. We're a free people. And that's the wonderful thing about our country.

The worst thing you can do is allow a coalition to determine what your mission is.

NATO member states vary dramatically in their capability and in their political steadfastness.

Our goal is to defend the American people, and to eliminate Iraq's weapons of mass destruction, and to liberate the Iraqi people.

There's no debate in the world as to whether people have weapons of mass destruction... We all know that. A trained ape knows that.

General Boykin has requested that an inspector general review this matter. And I have indicated that if that's his request, I think it's appropriate.

Every president when he is elected has to live with the pluses and minuses his predecessor leaves, which includes benefits as well as burdens.

Sausage making and policy-making shouldn't be seen close-up.

We do have a saying in America: if you're in a hole, stop digging ..... erm, I'm not sure I should have said that.