quotations about the Iraq War
One of the hardest parts of my job is to connect Iraq to the war on terror.
GEORGE W. BUSH
interview with Katie Couric, CBS News, September 6, 2006
We conclude that the Intelligence Community was dead wrong in almost all of its pre-war judgments about Iraq's weapons of mass destruction.
PRESIDENT'S COMMISSION ON WMD
March 31, 2005
I am saddened that it is politically inconvenient to acknowledge what everyone knows: the Iraq war is largely about oil.
ALAN GREENSPAN
The Age of Turbulence
Five days or five months, but it certainly isn't going to last longer.
DONALD RUMSFELD
November 15, 2002
It is not too late to stop this war. We must march until there is a declaration of peace and reconciliation.
JESSE JACKSON
CNN, February 16, 2003
No. That's someone else's business. Quagmire is -- I don't do quagmires.
DONALD RUMSFELD
U.S. Department of Defense News Briefing, July 24, 2003
War is a form of terrorism. I know there are people who don't like to equate-- what was done-- you know on September 11th, 2001, they don't like to equate that with a war that the United States engaged in. Sure, they're different. But they're not different in the-- in the fundamental principal that drives the terrorists and that is, they're saying, we're going to kill a lot of people but it will be worth it. We're trying to do something. We're trying to accomplish something. They-- the terrorists are not killing people just for the sake of killing people, they have some end in mind. To show that the American empire is vulnerable or to make some point about American policy in the Middle East. But they have an end in mind. We are doing the same thing. I mean, as I say, the details are different, but we are willing to kill a lot of people for some political end that we have declared.
HOWARD ZINN
Bill Moyers interview, Jan. 10, 2003
As Iraqis stand up, we will stand down.
GEORGE W. BUSH
address at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, June 2005
The White House had concocted a fake letter from Habbush to Saddam, backdated to July 1, 2001. It said that 9/11 ring leader Mohammed Atta had actually trained for his mission in Iraq--thus showing finally that there was an operational link between Saddam and al Qaeda, something the Vice Presidents Office had been pressing CIA to prove since 9/11 as a justification to invade Iraq. There is no link.
RON SUSKIND
The Way of the World
As I have heard Bush say, only a wartime president is likely to achieve greatness, in part because the epochal upheavals of war provide the opportunity for transformative change of the kind Bush hoped to achieve. In Iraq, Bush saw his opportunity to create a legacy of greatness.
SCOTT MCCLELLAN
What Happened
Under Saddam Hussein, no al Qaeda. Under George Bush, al Qaeda. Under Saddam Hussein, relative stability. Under George Bush, instability. Under Saddam Hussein, about 30,000 deaths a year. Under George Bush, about 60,000 deaths a year. I don't get it. Why is it better to have George Bush the king of Iraq rather than Saddam Hussein?
MICHAEL BERG
interview, CNN, Jun. 8, 2006
Ridding Iraq of weapons of mass destruction. That was the whole idea, right? That‘s why we went. I am reluctant to let that fact disappear down the memory hole, because if -- as the war ends, or at least starts to end -- if, at this time, the history of the war is written as us going there to topple the regime of a bad man when that frankly isn‘t why we were told that we were going there -- Aren‘t we still at risk of making this horrific mistake again? And, aren‘t we letting the people who foisted the WMD idea on us, not many years ago, aren‘t we sort of letting them get away with it?
RACHEL MADDOW
The Rachel Maddow Show, Feb. 27, 2009
America has no choice but to continue our efforts in Iraq. A precipitous withdrawal will unquestionably lead to chaos, in my opinion, that would endanger the stability of the greater Middle East. If this occurs it would have significant adverse effects on the international community. Coalition and American force presence will be required at some level for the foreseeable future. Given the lack of a grand strategy we must move rapidly to minimize that force presence and allow the Iraqis maximum ability to exercise their sovereignty.
LT. GEN. RICARDO S. SANCHEZ
speech in Arlington, VA, October 12, 2007
I like to tell people when the final history is written on Iraq, it will look like just a comma because there is -- my point is, there's a strong will for democracy.
GEORGE W. BUSH
attributed, So Wrong for So Long: How the Press, the Pundits-- and the President-- Failed on Iraq
Iraq is sort of a situation where you've got a guy who drove the bus into the ditch. You obviously have to get the bus out of the ditch, and that's not easy to do, although you probably should fire the driver.
BARACK OBAMA
The Daily Show, Nov. 7, 2005
We don't want this war, this violence, and we're ashamed that the President of the United States is from Texas.
DIXIE CHICKS
statement at London concert, 2003
There is no doubt that the regime of Saddam Hussein possesses weapons of mass destruction. As this operation continues, those weapons will be identified, found, along with the people who have produced them and who guard them.
GENERAL TOMMY FRANKS
press conference, March 22, 2003
A few years ago -- I am sure all of you were shocked, as I was, with the revelation of American soldiers abusing prisoners in a strange place in a controversial war, Abu Ghraib in Iraq. And these were men and women who were putting prisoners through unbelievable humiliation. I was shocked, but I wasn't surprised, because I had seen those same visual parallels when I was the prison superintendent of the Stanford Prison Study. Immediately the Bush administration military said ... what? What all administrations say when there's a scandal. "Don't blame us. It's not the system. It's the few bad apples, the few rogue soldiers." My hypothesis is, American soldiers are good, usually. Maybe it was the barrel that was bad.
PHILIP ZIMBARDO
TED talk, Sep. 2008
Listen,as Commander-in-Chief, I grieve for any loss of life. And I stand in -- I send my deepest sympathies to the loved ones who grieve over the loss of a soldier, a loved one. But the cause is a good cause, because we will never forget the lessons of 9/11. This is a part of the war on terror. And the effect of what we have done in Iraq and what we're doing in Iraq will be a very positive effect on future generations of Americans, and that's very important for people to understand.
GEORGE W. BUSH
Armed Forces Radio, August 18, 2003
We kept our promise to remove all American troops from Iraq -- Iraqi cities. We kept our promise to end our combat mission last August and to reduce our forces in Iraq to 50,000. At the end of this month, we will keep our promise to remove our remaining troops from Iraq, which, when we came to office, numbered 140,000 American forces. Where I come from, where the President comes from, a promise made is a promise kept. And we are keeping our promise.
JOE BIDEN
remarks at event to honor U. S. and Iraqui service members, Dec. 1, 2011