Donald Rumsfeld Quotes (614 Quotes)

The F-8 pilot clearly put at risk the lives of 24 Americans, ... It was clear the pilot's intent was to harass the crew.

When there is damage done, it is not always exactly clear what caused the damage.

where you, the Iraq people, will choose your own leaders.

A growth in China's power projection understandably leads other nations to question China's intentions, and to adjust their behavior in some fashion.

problem that's faced by police forces in every major city in our country - that criminals infiltrate and sign up to join the police force.

Leave the President's family business to him. You will have plenty to do without trying to manage the First Family. They are likely to do fine without your help.

I don't think that I would characterize what's going on in Iran as a democratic system, ... I don't think I would say that it fits the principles that I've just indicated. I think there are an awful lot of people in Iran who feel that that small group of clerics that determine what takes place in that country is not their idea of how they want to live their lives.

Plan backwards as well as forward. Set objectives and trace back to see how to achieve them. You may find that no path can get you there. Plan forward to see where your steps will take you, which may not be clear or intuitive.

He will either deal with the problem of disarming or he will tell the world community that he is unwilling to -- and the next choice, as the president has suggested, is with the United Nations and the members of the Security Council,

increase the number of special operations forces available for missions worldwide, while expanding their capabilities in some key areas.

Our interest is not in trying him and punishing him, ... Our interest is in finding out what he knows.

They haven't stopped it and they're not going to win, ... The thought of their prevailing in this conflict is a terrible thought.

Secretary Powell and I agree on every single issue that has ever been before this administration except for those instances where Colin's still learning.

When you raise issues with the President, try to come away with both that decision and also a precedent. Pose issues so as to evoke broader policy guidance. This can help to answer a range of similar issues likely to arise later.

This country has gone in a short period from a haven for terrorists to a coalition ally in the war against terrorism, ... Freedom is clearly taking root in this country, and Afghanistan is on a path to become a model for freedom and moderation in the Muslim world.

This is an unusual situation. This regime has been in power for decades. These two individuals are particularly vicious individuals. They are now dead. We know that, ... They have been carefully identified. The Iraqi people have been waiting for confirmation of that. And they, in my view, deserved having confirmation of that.

Since the United States here has participated in developing Afghan security forces, led a group of coalition forces and took part in activities as a NATO member here, our reduction of forces will not influence the participation of the United States in rebuilding Afghanistan.

while it has to be a heart-wrenching thing for each of the families involved, our task is to try to help them and the country understand the importance of the work that's being done.

My personal belief is that today we have reached some progress. ... The meetings will continue later this week in Washington,

One always tries to help those that are grieving understand the importance of what their sons and daughters have been doing.

need to speed up the process by which Iraqis assume greater responsibility for their own security.

We have had a pattern of increasing the number of coalition forces during periods when there was an expectation that the insurgents and terrorists would like to try to disrupt the political process,

In some instances, people have been killed and in still other instances they've been wounded. And still others, we have reason to believe they might have escaped to another country. In other cases, we don't know where they are,

We do know that the Geneva Convention makes it illegal for prisoners of war to be shown and pictured and humiliated. And it's something that the United States does not do. And needless to say, television networks that carry such pictures are, I would say, doing something that's unfortunate.

Most of the 50 or so invitations you receive each week come from people inviting the President's Chief of Staff, not you. If you doubt that, ask your predecessor how many he received last week.

We need your help to capture the rest of them, ... We also need to get rid of foreign fighters, those from neighboring countries who are seeking to hijack your country for their own purposes.

You're thinking of Eurpoe as Germany and France. I don't. I think that's old Europe.

It was a decision that was made, ... and, in my view, was absolutely the right decision.

We now have people from ... two or three handfuls of countries ... and my first choice would be for many of those to end up back in their countries to be processed through their systems, ... We undoubtedly will end up processing them through the criminal justice system ... I suspect there will be some military commissions.

I think the only people who could conceivably be talking about a draft are people who are speaking from pinnacles of near-perfect ignorance.

The Secretary of Defense is not a super General or Admiral. His task is to exercise civilian control over the Department for the Commander-in-Chief and the country.

There is a great deal we can learn from this first war of the 21st century, but we cannot and must not make the mistake of assuming that terrorism is the only threat. The next threat we face may indeed be from terrorists, but it could also be cyber-war, a traditional state-on-state conflict or something entirely different,

In Washington, thousands of people marched in remembrance of the attacks and in tribute to troops fighting overseas. I wish we could say ... that we were gathering today to commemorate a danger that had long since past, ... But we cannot. The enemy, though seriously weakened and continuously under pressure, continues to plot attacks, and the danger they pose to the free world is real and present.

They're benefiting from the support of governments and from the support of nongovernmental organizations that are either actively supporting them with money, intelligence and weapons, or allowing them to function on their territory and tolerating, if not encouraging, their activities,

I don't know that he necessarily reflects the U.N., the center of gravity of the Security Council on any particular issue at any particular time,

Reduce the number of lawyers. They are like beavers - they get in the middle of the stream and dam it up.

Some parts of the administration have been slower to reach this point than others. In the midst of the May attacks, Vice President Dick Cheney famously said that the insurgency was in its last throes. ... Insurgencies tend to go on five, six, eight, 10, 12 years. Coalition forces, foreign forces are not going to repress that insurgency. We're going to create an environment that the Iraqi people and the Iraqi security forces can win against that insurgency.

I will answer that one question, ... The president has stated what the policy is, the secretary of state has stated it, and I have stated it. And it's all exactly the same, so I think the stories that have been playing are just inaccurate and mischievous.

We are confident that our friends here will make decisions that are appropriate to them and that is what we want them to do,

We're gonna turn the Iraqi election into a big pageant, ... It'll be huge, as big as my hair.

reminding participants of the sacrifices of this generation and of each previous generation that have so successfully defended our freedoms.

Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said he was confident the military campaign would be successful in removing Iraqi President Saddam Hussein from power. Things are going very well, ... the pressure is continuing on the Iraqi regime, and the regime will not be there in the period ahead.

It seems to me there's a mixture of good news and bad news, it's probably fairly accurate,

It's an unfortunate fact of war that inevitably innocent civilians are killed. This has been true throughout the history of warfare and it remains true even in this age of advanced technology and precision-guided munitions,

Australians and Americans share convictions as strong and independent people. And at this time our two countries could not be closer in our common values and attitudes towards the challenges the free world faces,

We are seeing history unfold, events that will shape the course of a country, the fate of a people and potentially the future of the region.

Many millions of people will believe them, despite the fact that they are so patently false.

We fully intend to find them and chase them to the ground and root them out, ... We certainly intend to find (bin Laden) and we're doing everything humanly possible to do that.

As allied forces (pushed) forward in both the European and Pacific theaters in World War II, the enemy's tactics, such as the cult of death among SS forces and the kamikazes in the Pacific, led to some of these bloodiest fighting of that war,

I don't know what the circumstances of the leadership of the country is, ... I don't think people in the country know. We haven't seen any evidence in recent days.