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The purpose of terrorism is to terrorize. It's to change the behavior of the people that are being terrorized.

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
Terrorism
Behavior
Purpose
Change
People
Terrorized
Terrorize

More quotes by Donald Rumsfeld

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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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I didn't advocate invasion...I wasn't asked.
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Simply stated, there is no doubt that Saddam Hussein now has weapons of mass destruction.
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Do you have any regrets? Of course I do.
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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.
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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.
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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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It is very difficult to spend federal (the taxpayers') dollars so that the intended result is achieved.
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The reality is that [Barack] Obama has some 15 countries in the current Libya coalition. President Bush put together close to 50 countries for the Afghan coalition, some 40 countries for the Iraqi coalition, more than 90 countries for the Proliferation Security Initiative and over 90 countries in the Global War on Terror.
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We don't seek empires.We're not imperialistic.
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[on Osama bin Laden] He is either alive and well or alive and not too well or not alive.
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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.
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Preserve the President's options. He may need them.
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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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If a person is determined to fight to the death, then they may very well have that opportunity.
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We'll have to deal with the networks. One of the ways to do that is to drain the swamp they live in. And that means dealing not only with the terrorists, but those who harbor terrorists. This will take a long, sustained effort. It will require the support of the American people as well as our friends and allies around the world.
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Don't do or say things you would not like to see on the front page of The Washington Post.
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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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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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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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