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I didn't advocate invasion...I wasn't asked.
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
Invasion
Asked
Wasn
Didn
Advocate
More quotes by Donald Rumsfeld
We know where they are. They are in the area around Tikrit and Baghdad.
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Is it likely that an aircraft carrier or a cruise missile is going to find a person?
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There are known knowns there are things we know we know. We also know there are known unknowns that is to say we know there are some things we do not know. But there are also unknown unknowns - the ones we don't know we don't know.
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Being Vice President is difficult. Don't make it tougher.
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Well, so be it. Nothing's perfect in life, so you have an election that's not quite perfect. Is it better than not having an election? You bet.
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I'm glad you asked. It has nothing to do with oil, literally nothing to do with oil.
Donald Rumsfeld
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
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.
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Our task, your task... is to try to connect the dots before something happens. People say, 'Well, where's the smoking gun?' Well, we don't want to see a smoking gun from a weapon of mass destruction.
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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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Now, settle down, settle down. Hell, I'm an old man, it's early in the morning and I'm gathering my thoughts here.
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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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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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Be precise. A lack of precision is dangerous when the margin of error is small.
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Have a deputy and develop a successor. Don't be consumed by the job or you'll risk losing your balance. Keep your mooring lines to the outside world - family, friends, neighbors, people out of government, and people who may not agree with you.
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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.
Donald Rumsfeld
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.
Donald Rumsfeld
You go to war with the army you have, not the army you might want or wish to have at a later time.
Donald Rumsfeld
It's a difficult thing today to be informed about our government even without all the secrecy.
Donald Rumsfeld
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.
Donald Rumsfeld
