Donald Rumsfeld Quotes on Countries (69 Quotes)

The more troops you have, the more targets you have, and the more people you might get killed. The more troops you have, the more of an occupying power you are, the heavier footprint, the more force protection you need, the more logistics you need and the more intrusive you are on the people of that country.

I ... would recommend that some provision be made so that the senior leadership in that country and their families could be provided haven in some other country,

Inspectors do not have the duty or the ability to uncover terrible weapons hidden in a vast country. The responsibility of inspectors is simply to confirm evidence of voluntary and total disarmament. Saddam Hussein has the responsibility to provide that evidence, as directed, and in full.

There are any number of countries in the region that are aggressively developing chemical and biological capabilities and there are a number that are seeking to, or in fact developing nuclear capabilities. The numbers of ballistic missiles have grown dramatically in the last three, four, five years,

The policy of the United States has been in recent years to attempt to not engage the top two layers of that country, to try to say things and do things that reflect an understanding of the circumstances of the people of that country, and hope that the people of that country will have an opportunity to find ways to persuade the leadership of that country that it is going down the wrong road,

Our goal is to get large numbers of international forces from lots of countries, including those two,

It's a big world. There are lots of countries. He's got a lot of money, he's got a lot of people who support him, and I just don't know whether we'll be successful, ... Clearly, it would be highly desirable to find him and stop him and his key people and there are a lot of them. We're not looking for one person. We're looking for a whole crowd. And that's our intent and our intention. How can anyone know what the outcome is going to be until you get there

We are engaged in a test of wills. And to the extent that the American people are subjected to a constant series of negative things or disappointing things or problems as opposed to a balanced impression of what's taking place in that country, it has to be discouraging to anyone reading what is read or said.

Over time, it would be nice if NATO developed counter-terrorist capabilities, which don't exist at the present time as a NATO function. They do exist within NATO countries,

We believe we have made progress in eliminating defense sites around the country... but we cannot state with certainty that we destroyed the dozens of command and control and leadership facilities we selected.

The adjustments being announced are the recognition of the Iraqi people's progress in assuming added responsibility for their country.

Those of us in the United States and in other countries around the world, free countries, hope that the choices they make are choices toward a more open society, a more transparent society.

With each passing day, the Iraqi regime is losing control over more of the country,

I think what you are seeing is the Iraqi people, for the first time, wrestling with very tough, fundamental issues that are important to them, to their future, reflecting the history of the country. They've been proceeding in a very orderly, peaceful way,

Obviously I've always believed the sooner the constitution was completed, and sooner it was voted on, the greater the likelihood the Iraqi people would feel they have a stake in the country, and that they have an acceptable set of compromises that would protect them from each other,

I think that you can have a legitimate insurgency in a country that has popular support and has a cohesiveness and has a legitimate gripe. These people don't have a legitimate gripe,

The confusion of Iraqi officials is growing, ... Their ability to see what is happening on the battlefield, to communicate with their forces and to control their country is slipping away.

Twenty-five million people in Iraq are free, ... They've been liberated. The schools are functioning. There's a new interim constitution that protects the rights of women and will protect minorities and ethnic elements in that country. It's an advance for freedom.

have not done what the Pakistan government has done -- put troops along the border and prevent terrorists from escaping out of Afghanistan into their country.