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When cutting staff at the Pentagon, don't eliminate the thin layer that assures civilian control.

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
Control
Pentagon
Layer
Civilians
Eliminate
Layers
Staff
Thin
Assures
Cutting
Civilian

More quotes by Donald Rumsfeld

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There's another way to phrase that and that is that the absence of evidence is not the evidence of absence. It is basically saying the same thing in a different way. Simply because you do not have evidence that something does exist does not mean that you have evidence that it doesn't exist.
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There are things that we know, and there are things that we don't know. Then there are the things that we don't even know that we don't know. Those are the things that are the hardest.
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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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I don't know anybody that I can think of who has contended that the Iraqis had nuclear 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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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.
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Any country on the face of the Earth with an active intelligence program knows that Iraq has weapons of mass destruction.
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No terror state poses a greater or more immediate threat to the security of our people and the stability of the world than the regime of Saddam Hussein in Iraq.
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One of your tasks is to separate the 'personal' from the 'substantive.' The two can become confused, especially if someone rubs the President wrong.
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Don't divide the world into 'them' and 'us.' Avoid infatuation with or resentment of the press, the Congress, rivals, or opponents. Accept them as facts. They have their jobs and you have yours.
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Arguments of convenience lack integrity and inevitably trip you up.
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Don't 'over-control' like a novice pilot. Stay loose enough from the flow that you can observe it, modify, and improve it.
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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.
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A few. . . critics are the only people I ever heard use the phrase 'imminent threat.' I didn't, the president didn't.
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When I served as US Ambassador to NATO in the 1970s, the center of gravity in Europe was France and Germany.
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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.
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It is unknowable how long that conflict [the war in Iraq] will last. It could last six days, six weeks. I doubt six months.
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Treat each federal dollar as if it was hard earned it was - by a taxpayer.
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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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Napoleon was asked, Who do you consider to be the greatest generals? He responded saying, The victors.
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