Donald Rumsfeld
21st United States Secretary of Defense, serving from 2001 to 2006, succeeded by Robert Gates.
Some have argued that the nuclear threat from Saddam Hussein is not iminent, that he is 5-7 years away from having a nuclear weapon. I would not be so certain.
It is pretty clear that the coalition can win in Afghanistan and Iraq in one way or another, but it will be a long, hard slog.
We do have a saying in America: if you're in a hole, stop digging ..... erm, I'm not sure I should have said that.
It's a difficult thing today to be informed about our government even without all the secrecy.
And there is, I am certain, among the Iraqi people a respect for the care and the precision that went into the bombing campaign.
Then there are three or four countries that have said they won't do anything. I believe Libya, Cuba and Germany are ones that have indicated they won't help in any respect.
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.
I don't know what the facts are but somebody's certainly going to sit down with him and find out what he knows that they may not know, and make sure he knows what they know that he may not know, and that's a good thing.
Oh, Lord. I didn't mean to say anything quotable.
Here in the Bush Administration, we're all grown-up enough to not let little things like Ivy League rivalries get in the way of work.
This war has been marked by so many lies and evasions that it is not right to have the war end with one last lie.
It is easier to get into something than to get out of it.
From Department of Defense news briefing, February 12, 2002 .
Here's what I can tell you about Don Rumsfeld. You're never going to get any credit. And you'll only know how well you're doing if he gives you more work. If that happens, you're doing fine.
…it seems to me that it's up to all of us to try to tell the truth, to say what we know, to say what we don't know, and recognize that we're dealing with people that are perfectly willing to, to lie to the world to attempt to further their case and to the extent people lie of, ultimately they are caught lying and they lose their credibility and one would think it wouldn't take very long for that to happen dealing with people like this.
Now, you're thinking of Europe as Germany and France. I don't. I think that's old Europe.
Pieces of intelligence, scraps of intelligence…you run down leads and you run down leads, and you hope that sometimes it works.
That just couldn't be any more wrong than spreading marmalade on a steaming pile of flapjacks.
Those who follow orders to commit such crimes will be found and they will be punished. War crimes will be prosecuted. And it will be no excuse to say, 'I was just following orders.' Any official involved in such crimes will forfeit hope of amnesty or leniency with respect to past action.
There will be good moments, and there will be less good moments.