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Imagine, a September 11 with weapons of mass destruction. It's not 3,000. It's tens of thousands of innocent men, women and children.

Donald Rumsfeld

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Donald Rumsfeld
Age: 88 †
Born: 1932
Born: July 9
Died: 2021
Died: June 29
Author
Businessperson
Diplomat
Former U.S. Secretary Of Defense
Military Officer
Politician
Chicago
Illinois
Donald Henry Rumsfeld
Mass
Imagine
Tens
September
Women
Innocence
Children
Thousands
Men
Innocent
Destruction
Weapons

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And there is, I am certain, among the Iraqi people a respect for the care and the precision that went into the bombing campaign.
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Don't think of yourself as indispensable or infallible. As Charles De Gaulle said, the cemeteries of the world are full of indispensable men.
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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.
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You might be a cunning linguist, but I am a master debater.
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We know where they are. They are in the area around Tikrit and Baghdad.
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If you foul up, tell the President and correct it fast. Delay only compounds mistakes.
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I don't believe anyone that I know in the administration ever said that Iraq had nuclear weapons.
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Be able to resign. It will improve your value to the President and do wonders for your performance.
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Work continuously to trim the White House staff from your first day to your last. All the pressures are to the contrary.
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Arguments of convenience lack integrity and inevitably trip you up.
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Be precise. A lack of precision is dangerous when the margin of error is small.
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Control your time. If you're working off your in-box, you're working off the priorities of others. Be sure the staff is working on what you move to them from the President, or the President will be reacting, not leading.
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I think it's very useful for you folks (reporters) to try your damndest to be precise. And don't repeat things that are inaccurate if you can possibly avoid it. And when you see things that are inaccurate, knock them down -- because there's a bucket of it floating around.
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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.
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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
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Don't be a bottleneck. If a matter is not a decision for the President or you, delegate it. Force responsibility down and out. Find problem areas, add structure and delegate. The pressure is to do the reverse. Resist it.
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I am not going to give you a number for it because it's not my business to do intelligent work.
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Success tends to go not to the person who is error-free, because he also tends to be risk-averse. Rather it goes to the person who recognizes that life is pretty much a percentage business. It isn't making mistakes that's critical it's correcting them and getting on with the principal task.
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