Latest Donald Rumsfeld Quotes from Interviews

Quotes about:

• 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.

  Donald Rumsfeld

  People, World, Debate

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

  Donald Rumsfeld

  People, Goal, Destruction

  Source: www.motherjones.com

• 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.

  Donald Rumsfeld

  Country, Military, Views

  "Idol Talk". www.motherjones.com. October 22, 2003.

• 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.

  Donald Rumsfeld

  Thinking, Matter, Reviews

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

  Donald Rumsfeld

  People, Hussein, Saddam

  Source: www.spiegel.de

• What is the value of having millions of people in Iraq not having a repressive regime? What is the value of having the Iraqi regime not shooting at UK and US aircraft almost every day? What is the value of the Iraqis having a free press? What is the value of the foreign minister of Iraq going to Paris, calling for an end of the Gadhafi regime and citing Iraq as a model, as an example, that in fact a freer political system can exist in that part of the world?

  Donald Rumsfeld

  Iraq, Paris, People

  Source: www.spiegel.de

• 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?

  Donald Rumsfeld

  Hands, Nuclear, Hussein

  Source: www.spiegel.de

• 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.

  Donald Rumsfeld

  Allies, Germany, Looks

  Source: www.spiegel.de

• At 78 years old, I am not surprised at much anymore. Germany has taken divergent positions before, so has France, so has England, so has the US.

  Donald Rumsfeld

  Taken, Years, Divergent

  Source: www.spiegel.de

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

  Donald Rumsfeld

  Europe

  Source: www.spiegel.de

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

  Donald Rumsfeld

  Europe, Germany, Ambassadors

  Source: www.spiegel.de

• In 2003, at the time I made my "Old Europe" comment, the center of gravity in NATO and Europe had long since shifted to the East. With the former Warsaw Pact countries joining NATO, the alliance has a different mix today. Some people were sensitive about my comment because they thought it was a pejorative way of highlighting demographic realities. Apparently they felt it pointed a white light at a weakness in Europe - an aging population. Europe has come some distance since World War II in becoming Europe.

  Donald Rumsfeld

  Country, War, Distance

  Source: www.spiegel.de

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

  Donald Rumsfeld

  Political, States, Members

  Source: www.spiegel.de

• 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.

  Donald Rumsfeld

  Country, War, Reality

  Source: www.spiegel.de

• If I look at the really important questions in [Middle East] region, I see Iran, where there is a strong desire for a freer society and where people are repressed by a small group of ayatollahs. I see Syria, where we can see a similar desire of the people to be free. These two countries fund Hezbollah and other terrorist organizations and are hurting our efforts in Afghanistan and have been extremely harmful in Iraq. Then I also see large, important countries such as Egypt and Saudi Arabia.

  Donald Rumsfeld

  Country, Strong, Hurt

  Source: www.spiegel.de

• 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.

  Donald Rumsfeld

  People, Cost, Answers

  Source: www.spiegel.de

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

  Donald Rumsfeld

  Regret, Courses

  Source: www.spiegel.de

• What is needed [to combat terrorism], in my view, is resolve, not retreat; courage, not concession. Rather than thinking in terms of an exit strategy, focus on a strategy for success.

  Donald Rumsfeld

  Thinking, Views, Focus

  Source: www.washingtonpost.com

• We [the USA] do have a big nation's problem. We have the problem of a nation that's got two oceans, oceans on either side. People come from all across the globe and want to live here and they want to work here and they want to invest here. And that's a good thing. And they make up this country. But as a people, we [americans] are not highly skilled in languages. We're not highly skilled in knowledge of other cultures. And that's a problem.

  Donald Rumsfeld

  Country, Ocean, Other Cultures

  Source: www.washingtonpost.com

• 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.

  Donald Rumsfeld

  People, Giving, Trying

  Source: www.washingtonpost.com

• The reality is that terrorists can attack any time at any minute, 24 hours a day, using a variety of techniques, in any place at all. And it's not possible to defend in every place, against every technique, against every conceivable approach. It means that you can't stop every terrorist attack. Innocent men, women and children are going to be killed if terrorists are determined to do it.

  Donald Rumsfeld

  Children, Mean, Reality

  Source: www.foxnews.com

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

  Donald Rumsfeld

  Technique, Moments, Terrorist

  Source: www.foxnews.com

• 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.

  Donald Rumsfeld

  Jobs, Media, Leader

  Source: www.spiegel.de

• A president has to provide leadership to gain support.

  Donald Rumsfeld

  Support, President, Gains

  Source: www.spiegel.de

• To gain support in U.S. Congress and from other nations requires clarity, an acceptable mission and an explicit outcome.

  Donald Rumsfeld

  Support, Outcomes, Gains

  Source: www.spiegel.de