Insurgency Quotes

• I think they're in the last throes, if you will, of the insurgency.

  Dick Cheney

  War, Stupid, Thinking

  www.foxnews.com. June 20, 2005.

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• Our military should spare no expense to ensure the safety of our troops, particularly as they confront a hostile insurgency and roadside bombs throughout Iraq.

  Christopher Dodd

  Military, Iraq, Safety

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• The most stupid mistake a counter-insurgency operation can make is alienating the population. If you alienate the population, you're finished.

  Meles Zenawi

  Mistake, Stupid, Population

  "Interview: Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi". Interview with Alex Perry, content.time.com. September 6, 2007.

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• Now that our troops are mired in a dangerous effort to defeat the insurgency and are also trying to help rebuild the country, Americans of all political persuasions simply want the United States to succeed and our troops to be as safe as possible.

  Harry Reid

  Country, Effort, Political

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• I think the central mission in Afghanistan right now is to protect the people, certainly, and that would be inclusive of everybody, and that in a, in an insurgency and a counterinsurgency, that's really the center of gravity.

  Michael Mullen

  Thinking, People, Would Be

  "Mullen on Taliban, mission in Afghanistan". "Meet the Press" with David Gregory, www.nbcnews.com. August 1, 2010.

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• Almost all Iraqis with any previous experience in the intelligence business are Sunni Arab, increasing the risk of penetration of the new intelligence apparatus by the insurgency.

  Wayne White

  Business, Risk, Penetration

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• Three years into the war, tens of thousands of American troops remain targets of a growing Iraqi insurgency.

  Jan Schakowsky

  War, Years, Growing

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• The Syrian regime is helping the insurgency in Iraq and allowing all kinds of militants to come in and out, and go to Iraq to attack random soldiers and innocent people.

  Walid Jumblatt

  Iraq, People, Soldier

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• The Government of Iraq also owes a debt to the American and coalition forces who are fighting the insurgency and helping put that country back together after decades of repression.

  Ike Skelton

  Country, Fighting, Government

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• If we want to build the Iraqis' confidence about our intentions in their country, if we want to stop adding fuel to the fire of insurgency and terrorism, we must clarify our intent.

  John Conyers

  Country, Fire, Fuel

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• The presence of American troops is fueling the insurgency in Iraq, as acknowledged by General Casey and numerous other experts, and is helping terrorist recruiters build their numbers across the globe.

  John Conyers

  Iraq, Numbers, Troops

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• But the key shift in focus will be from counter-insurgency operations to more and more cooperation with Iraqi security forces and to building Iraqi security capacity.

  John Abizaid

  Military, Keys, Focus

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• I am encouraged by the news today that United States special operations personnel found, identified and killed the terrorist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the operational commander of the al-Qaeda led insurgency in Iraq. Al-Zarqawi was the public face of the insurgency.

  Mike Fitzpatrick

  Iraq, Special, United States

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• We must support initiatives that provide clear, concrete measures and milestones that our troops need for defeating the insurgency, building up Iraqi security forces, and handing over Iraq to the Iraqi people.

  Sherrod Brown

  Building Up, Iraq, People

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• The administration needs to speak honestly with the American people. Exaggerating our progress in defeating the insurgency or in creating an Iraqi army paints a dangerous picture.

  Sherrod Brown

  Army, Creating, People

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• I don't know how you defeat an insurgency unless you have some handle on the number of people that you are facing.

  John McCain

  Numbers, People, Defeat

  "Official: 13,000-17,000 insurgents in Iraq" by Barbara Starr, www.cnn.com. February 9, 2005.

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• Rather than bring peace and harmony, the EU will cause insurgency and violence.

  Nigel Farage

  Violence, Causes, Harmony

  "Nobel Peace Prize awarded to European Union". www.bbc.com. October 12, 2012.

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• I think we may well have some kind of presence there over a period of time... The level of activity that we see today from a military standpoint, I think, will clearly decline. I think they're in the last throes, if you will, of the insurgency.

  Dick Cheney

  Military, Thinking, Levels

  "Larry King Live" with Larry King, transcripts.cnn.com. May 30, 2005.

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• There is no clear or meaningful difference between insurgency and civil war, or between national terrorism and civil war for that matter.

  Anthony H. Cordesman

  Meaningful, War, Civilization

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• Baghdad fell on April 9, 2003, Hussein and his regime were brought down, we declared "Mission Accomplished" and celebrated victory . . . and chaos erupted. We did not assert control and authority over the country, especially Baghdad. We did not bring with us the capacity to impose our will. We did not take charge. And Iraq did not in a few weeks magically transform itself into a stable nation with democratic leaders. Instead a raging insurgency engulfed the country.

  Colin Powell

  Country, Iraq, Leader

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• In any insurgency there will be people who are irreconcilable and who pose a clear and present threat to the U.S. and our allies.

  James G. Stavridis

  People, Allies, Threat

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• And that is that they went about systematically understanding how to disrupt and change a person's entire processes. And these Taliban - I'm not trying to say the Republican Party is the Taliban - no, that's not what we're saying. I'm saying an example of how you go about [sic] is to change a person from their messaging to their operations to their frontline message. And we need to understand that insurgency may be required when the other side, the House leadership, does not follow the same commands, which we entered the game with.

  Pete Sessions

  Party, Games, House

  "House Republicans promise Taliban insurgent tactics, blame Pelosi" by Johanna Neuman, latimesblogs.latimes.com. February 5, 2009.

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• The country [Afghanistan] faces enormous problems. There is a violent insurgency hampering the rule of law and developmental efforts.

  Khaled Hosseini

  Country, Law, Effort

  "Web Exclusive Interview: Kite Runner author Khaled Hosseini to Speak on Refugee Crisis at Event in Lafayette". Interview with Peter Crooks, www.diablomag.com.

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• [In response to the question "Do you think that you underestimated the insurgency's strength?"] I think so. I guess if I look back on it now, I don't think anybody anticipated the level of violence that we've encountered.

  Dick Cheney

  Thinking, Violence, Looks

  Dick Cheney's Remarks at the Gerald R. Ford Journalism Prize Luncheon Followed by Q&A, georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov. June 19, 2006.

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• But what counter-insurgency really comes down to is the protection of the capitalists back in America, their property and their privileges. U.S. national security, as preached by U.S. leaders, is the security of the capitalist class in the US, not the security of the rest of the people.

  Philip Agee

  America, Class, People

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