Colin Powell Quotes (657 Quotes)

ways of talking to the various rebel leaders and is pleased that at least so far they've said they're not interested in violence any more and will put down their arms.

At the same time I think it is absolutely necessary that there be no confusion, no misunderstanding that if the Iraqis... do not comply, then there will be consequences and those consequences will involve the use of military force to disarm them through changing the regime.

Tell them that they are destroying their own desire and vision for a Palestinian state living side by side in peace with Israel behind secure and recognizable borders,

Hopefully a transfer will take place that will then allow Chairman Arafat to have the flexibility needed for movement around the occupied territories so he can take up his responsibilities once again to end the violence, end terrorism and to ... re-create functioning structures within the Palestinian Authority,

I try to be the same person I was yesterday.

In our conversation today, most of the time was spent not on esoteric subjects but practical aspects of security how to arrange for the transfer of responsibility for Gaza, the details of the transfer, what are the outstanding issues that have to be dealt with before we can go forward with this transfer,

Nobody is claiming that the level of violence is down where anybody could say it was either realistic or zero...But at the end of the day it is Mr Sharon who will make that judgment,

capture as much of that convergence as possible and to see what we are able to come to agreement on.

We know that Cuba has been doing some research with respect to biological offensive weapons possibly, and so we think that it is appropriate for us to point out this kind of activity,

They have blood on their hands from September 11 and from other acts against America in Kenya, Tanzania and Yemen,

We are hoping that the tribal sheikhs who have come to help with this situation will be able to talk to the people inside the town and say, 'Let's end this, let's bring this to a conclusion.'

I will make those points to them, that the policy does exist to protect them, ... One of the reasons for our presence in the region, and one of the reasons we fought the Gulf War was...to bring a new sense of security to the region. And for the past ten years they have enjoyed that security.

We do have an interest in making sure that West Africa doesn't simply come apart,

I think the major disagreements of the early part of the year -- to go to war or not to go to war -- that's over, ... What we have been debating the last several weeks is how best to create the peace -- not whether to go to war or not -- and how best to create a new government in Iraq that will be representative of its people and live in peace with its neighbors. I think we are all now agreed to that.

There are three issues in the campaign, but it all really boils down to leadership, ... What kind of leader do you want Do you want a commander-in-chief of the armed forces of the United States who will respect them and give them what they need to defend the nation properly.

The Palestinians must eliminate any doubt once and for all that they accept the legitimacy of Israel as a Jewish state, ... The Palestinians must end violence, stop incitement and prepare people for hard compromises ahead.

When I get to Jerusalem, I'll make a judgment as to how long I'll stay there, ... if circumstances permit.

The Bush administration has been hard at work on this for a number of months -- phone calls, emissaries, consultations with other world leaders have, I think, started to produce some results,

There is no way for him to misunderstand the message that the president gave yesterday and the message that I delivered some 10 weeks earlier,

Too often we act - ask our schools to be truant officers, our teachers to be truant officers, because we're giving them children who have, you know, they're not ready to learn. And if they're not ready to learn by the third grade, they know they're behind.

That's what happened, notwithstanding any cell phone reports to the contrary,

We discussed how it is necessary for all sides to move away from violence and incitement and how it is necessary to lift the siege as soon as possible so that economic activity can begin again in the region. The challenge is how to get the process started,

If you declare a war against the Palestinians and think you can solve the problems by seeing how many Palestinians can be killed, I don't know that leads us to anywhere, ... Right now, I'm not satisfied that both sides have thought through the consequences of the policies they're following.

The moment we find ourselves in now is a critical moment where we are being tested and where the Security Council of the United Nations and the international community is being tested,

We are still examining whether or not it was a specific violation of the sanctions policy and if it was, we will call that to the attention of the sanctions committee so that they can take a firm reaction with respect to China,

We must also deal with the grave and growing danger posed by the Iraqi regime of Saddam Hussein, ... The Iraqi regime can either disarm, or be disarmed. The choice is theirs -- but it can no longer be postponed.

There are no secrets to success. It is the result of preparation, hard work, and learning from failure.

Never neglect details. When everyone's mind is dulled or distracted the leader must be doubly vigilant.

CIA has also suggested that Mr. Goss and Ms. Harman dig a little deeper into the material they've been provided, and so I hope they will do that.

Never let your ego get so close to your position that when your position goes, your ego goes with it.

I wish it was possible for everything to be race-neutral in this country, but I'm afraid we're not yet at that point where things are race-neutral,

There is no magic calendar as to when they should go in, ... They should go in when they have the authority to do their job.

I was born in Harlem, raised in the South Bronx, went to public school, got out of public college, went into the Army, and then I just stuck with it.

Success is the result of perfection, hard work, learning from failure, loyalty, and persistence.

Everybody knows what Iraqi President Saddam Hussein should be doing, and if he isn't doing it and shows no indication he's doing it, I think we can present a strong enough argument for the second resolution that we put down,

I thought I would have an aneurysm. American GIs were not toy soldiers to be moved around on some sort of global game board.

The important thing is to be able to begin moving oil out of Iraq in due course in order to generate revenue for the Iraqi people.

Our policies have strengthened the security of neighbors of Iraq, and these are policies that we are going to keep in place, ... But we're always willing to review them to make sure that they're carried out in a way that does not affect the Iraqi people but does affect the Iraqi regime's ambition and ability to acquire weapons of mass destruction.

it might have been better for members of Congress who have heard these stories to ask us about the stories before going public with them so we don't make a difficult situation that much more difficult.

I can assure you that, if he doesn't comply this time, we'll ask the U.N. to give authorization for all necessary means, and if the U.N. is not willing to do that, the United States, with like-minded nations, will go and disarm him forcefully,

We've just begun our consultations, and I'm encouraged by what I've heard so far from the Security Council representatives that I have spoken to, ... but this is a consultation and it is a negotiation and we are just now starting to look at language, so I wouldn't want to prejudge what my Security Council colleagues will agree to.

We are very anxious to see the election for the Palestinian Authority president take place on the ninth of January,

The intelligence community has really looked hard at these vans, and we can find no other purpose for them,

You don't know what you can get away with until you try.

They did quite a bit of good work, but we also discovered that once defectors came out, they told us more information than the inspectors ever had found,

Each donor will find its own way to contribute, but whatever form your support may take, it must be substantial because Iraq's requirements over the next few years are very substantial.

We don't intend to attack North Korea, we don't have any hostile intent notwithstanding their claims,

an obligation to assist a NATO member who asks for help.

You should always be reluctant to use military power. I have been characterized as 'the reluctant warrior,'

China has a role to play and I hope China will play that role,