On the one hand we want the Soviets to think that the situation might get out of hand, while on the other hand we want to persuade them not to let it get out of hand. The Soviets might stop without a major nuclear exchange. I don't believe they have an unlimited urge to escalate. I think they will be looking for excuses not to escalate.
More Quotes from Henry A. Kissinger:
Each group has what amounts to its own geographically concentrated militia ... Is it then possible to speak of a national army at all.Henry A. Kissinger
I believe -- and certainly from everything I've been told about him -- that he's an honorable enough man so that he will carry out his assignment with ability and with care.
Henry A. Kissinger
University politics are vicious precisely because the stakes are so small.
Henry A. Kissinger
It is not unreasonable for us to desire some options. Some Europeans, I know, believe it is necessary that we guarantee our own destruction to give them the assurances they claim they need. However, to deprive ourselves of options is to paralyze us. ... What do we mean by control of escalation
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The task of the leader is to get his people from where they are to where they have not been.
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To argue that a collapse of the US in Iraq would not have consequences is simply living in a dream world,
Henry A. Kissinger
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