Quote

Pieces of intelligence, scraps of intelligence...you run down leads and you run down leads, and you hope that sometimes it works.

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
Running
Sometimes
Scraps
Scrap
Leads
Intelligence
Works
Pieces
Hope

More quotes by Donald Rumsfeld

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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.
Donald Rumsfeld
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The Cold War was a war, and we won it.
Donald Rumsfeld
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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.
Donald Rumsfeld
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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.
Donald Rumsfeld
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They may have had time to destroy them, and I don't know the answer.
Donald Rumsfeld
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Every country should be tired of going to war. War is a terrible thing. If I had been in Congress, as much as I would be inclined naturally to be supportive of a president, any president, I would have voted no, had the issue come to a vote.
Donald Rumsfeld
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[on Osama bin Laden] He is either alive and well or alive and not too well or not alive.
Donald Rumsfeld
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Don't necessarily avoid sharp edges. Occasionally they are necessary to leadership.
Donald Rumsfeld
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Many people around the President have sizeable egos before entering government, some with good reason. Their new positions will do little to moderate their egos.
Donald Rumsfeld
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It's a difficult thing today to be informed about our government even without all the secrecy.
Donald Rumsfeld
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If you develop rules, never have more than ten.
Donald Rumsfeld
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If there are people who yearn for the days when Saddam Hussein was in power, then I am not among them.
Donald Rumsfeld
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The United States isn't going to do anything that it's not capable of doing. And if we do something, we'll be capable of doing it.
Donald Rumsfeld
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In our system leadership is by consent, not command. To lead a President must persuade. Personal contacts and experiences help shape his thinking. They can be critical to his persuasiveness and thus to his leadership.
Donald Rumsfeld
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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.
Donald Rumsfeld
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Congress, the press, and the bureaucracy too often focus on how much money or effort is spent, rather than whether the money or effort actually achieves the announced goal.
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.
Donald Rumsfeld
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Simply stated, there is no doubt that Saddam Hussein now has weapons of mass destruction.
Donald Rumsfeld
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Is it likely that an aircraft carrier or a cruise missile is going to find a person?
Donald Rumsfeld
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I believe what I said yesterday. I don't know what I said, but I know what I think and I assume it's what I said.
Donald Rumsfeld