2008.03.09 The core issue is not Jerusalem [cached] (Effi Eitam) One day we will expel you to Gaza from this house and from the national home of the Jewish people.
2007.04.19 President Bush Discusses the Global War on Terror in Tipp City, Ohio [cached] (George Bush) Another problem we had -- it's a long answer because it's a really important topic. Another problem we had was catch and release; we would -- the Border Patrol would catch somebody, say, from Mexico, they'd send them right back, but, say, from -- a lot of folks are coming from Central America. By the way, the reason why is because they want to put food on the table, and there are jobs Americans aren't doing. You know what I'm talking about. Some of you -- if you're running a nursery, you know what I'm talking about. If you've got a chicken factory, a chicken-plucking factory, or whatever you call them, you know what I'm talking about. People have got starving families and they want to come and work.
2006.10.04 MK Elon: Use U.S. aid to pay Arab families to leave Gaza [cached] (Rabbi Benyamin Elon) If we really want to be creative and courageous, the only solution is this: If, for 20 years, Israel itself went without U.S. foreign aid, it could be given to every family of the million refugees of the Gaza Strip. We must finally solve the problem of the refugees, which is the heart of the conflict. This money would be given to every family of the million refugees of the Gaza Strip region, and each family would emigrate with $100,000 dollars.
2006.08.14 President Discusses Foreign Policy During Visit to State Department [cached] (George Bush) The conflict in Lebanon is part of a broader struggle between freedom and terror that is unfolding across the region. So we've launched a forward strategy of freedom in the broader Middle East. And that strategy has helped bring hope to millions and fostered the birth of young democracies from Baghdad to Beirut.
2006.08.12 President's Radio Address [cached] (George Bush) The terrorists attempt to bring down airplanes full of innocent men, women, and children. They kill civilians and American servicemen in Iraq and Afghanistan, and they deliberately hide behind civilians in Lebanon. They are seeking to spread their totalitarian ideology. They're seeking to take over countries like Afghanistan and Iraq so they can establish safe havens from which to attack free nations.
2006.08.10 President Bush Discusses Terror Plot Upon Arrival in Wisconsin [cached] (George Bush) The recent arrests that our fellow citizens are now learning about are a stark reminder that this nation is at war with Islamic fascists who will use any means to destroy those of us who love freedom, to hurt our nation.
2006.07.30 [cached] (Condoleezza Rice) I think it's time to get to a cease-fire. We actually have to try and put one in place. I've made the point and I made the point in Rome that we want a cease-fire as soon as possible. I would have wanted to have a cease-fire yesterday, if possible. But the parties have to agree to a cease-fire, and there have to be certain conditions in place. Any cease-fire has to have circumstances that are going to be acceptable to the parties. We also have to realize that we cannot have a circumstance in which there is a return to the status quo ante, in which there is a zone in Southern Lebanon in which a terrorist can violate the Blue Line, and create the kind of devastating circumstances that we see today. And we would be not very responsible if we were not attending to those circumstances as well as working as urgently and as quickly as we can to get the fighting stopped.
2006.07.17 Transcript: Full Text of Bush's Private Exchange at G-8 Summit [cached] (George Bush) While Lebanon is beeing destroyed Bush : Gotta go home. Got something to do tonight. Go to the airport, get on the airplane and go home. How about you? Where are you going? Home? Bush : This is your neighborhood. It doesn't take you long to get home. How long does it take you to get home? Reply is inaudible. Bush : "Eight hours? Me too. Russia's a big country and you're a big country." At this point, the president seems to bring someone else into the conversation. Bush : It takes him eight hours to fly home.
2006.07.21 Special Briefing on Travel to the Middle East and Europe [cached] (Condoleezza Rice) I think we are beginning to see the outlines of a political framework that might allow the cessation of violence in a more sustainable way tied to 1559, tied to -- what is there in the G-8 statement. The elements are becoming quite clear. But I have no interest in diplomacy for the sake of returning Lebanon and Israel to the status quo ante. I think it would be a mistake. What we're seeing here, in a sense, is the growing -- the birth pangs of a new Middle East and whatever we do we have to be certain that we're pushing forward to the new Middle East not going back to the old one.
2006.07.15 President Bush and Russian President Putin Participate in Press Availability [cached] (George Bush, Vladimir Putin) PRESIDENT BUSH: I have shared with him my desires for our country, and he shared with me his desires for his. And I talked about my desire to promote institutional change in parts of the world like Iraq where there's a free press and free religion, and I told him that a lot of people in our country would hope that Russia would do the same thing... PRESIDENT PUTIN: We certainly would not want to have the same kind of democracy as they have in Iraq, I will tell you quite honestly. PRESIDENT BUSH: Just wait. PRESIDENT PUTIN: But it is true that we have discussed this issue at length, on the initiative of the President of the United States, and on my own initiative, as well. It is true that we assume that nobody knows better than us how we can strengthen our own nation. But we know for sure that we cannot strengthen our nation without developing democratic institutions, and this is the path that we will certainly take. But certainly, we will do this by ourselves.
2006.07.13 President Bush and German Chancellor Merkel Participate in Press Availability [cached] (George Bush) PRESIDENT BUSH: I'm looking forward to the feast you're going to have tonight. I understand I may have the honor of slicing the pig. PRESIDENT BUSH: And I guess that's about all -- we discussed a lot of things, in other words. And thank you for having me. I'm looking forward to that pig tonight. Q On both of these. Does it concern you that the Beirut airport has been bombed? And do you see a risk of triggering a wider war? And on Iran, they've, so far, refused to respond. Is it now past the deadline, or do they still have more time to respond? PRESIDENT BUSH: I thought you were going to ask me about the pig.
2006.07.02 PM Olmert says Israel won't allow humanitarian crisis in Gaza Strip [cached] (Ehud Olmert) I take personal responsibility for what is happening in Gaza. I want nobody to sleep at night in Gaza. I want them to know what its like True it's not comfortable for Palestinians to be without electricity But nobody has died of a lack of electricity. There is a little discomfort, so what? We won't create a humanitarian crisis
2006.06.11 Suicides 'acts of war' [cached] (Rear Admiral Harry Harris, commander Guantanamo) Commenting on the suicide of 3 prisoners in Guantanamo, held with no charges for some 4 years "They have no regard for life, either ours or their own. I believe this was not an act of desperation, but an act of asymmetrical warfare waged against us."
2006.06.11 Guantanamo suicides a 'PR move' [cached] (Colleen Graffy, the Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy) Commenting on the suicide of 3 prisoners in Guantanamo, held with no charges for some 4 years "a good PR move to draw attention"
2006.04.18 President Bush Nominates Rob Portman as OMB Director and Susan Schwab for USTR [cached] (George Bush) I say, I listen to all voices, but mine is the final decision. And Don Rumsfeld is doing a fine job. He's not only transforming the military, he's fighting a war on terror. He's helping us fight a war on terror. I have strong confidence in Don Rumsfeld. I hear the voices, and I read the front page, and I know the speculation. But I'm the decider, and I decide what is best. And what's best is for Don Rumsfeld to remain as the Secretary of Defense.
2006.02.26 'We Do Not Wish to Throw Them Into the Sea' [cached] (Ismail Haniyeh) We say: Let Israel recognize the legitimate rights of the Palestinians first and then we will have a position regarding this. Which Israel should we recognize? The Israel of 1917; the Israel of 1936; the Israel of 1948; the Israel of 1956; or the Israel of 1967? Which borders and which Israel? Israel has to recognize first the Palestinian state and its borders and then we will know what we are talking about
2005.12.12 President Discusses War on Terror and Upcoming Iraqi Elections [cached] (Goerge Bush) And the second decision, -- which was a very difficult decision for me, by the way, and it's one that I -- I didn't take lightly -- was that Saddam Hussein was a threat. He is a declared enemy of the United States; he had used weapons of mass destruction; the entire world thought he had weapons of mass destruction. The United Nations had declared in more than 10 -- I can't remember the exact number of resolutions -- that disclose, or disarm, or face serious consequences. I mean, there was a serious international effort to say to Saddam Hussein, you're a threat. And the 9/11 attacks extenuated that threat, as far as I -- concerned.
2005.12.10 President's Radio Address [cached] (George Bush) Under the act, law enforcement officers need a federal judge's permission to wiretap a foreign terrorist's phone or search his property. Congress also oversees our use of the Patriot Act.
2005.11.21 Vice President's Remarks on the War on Terror [cached] (Dick Cheney) One might also argue that untruthful charges against the Commander-in-Chief have an insidious effect on the war effort itself. I'm unwilling to say that...
2005.09.05 Barbara Bush: Things Working Out 'Very Well' for Poor Evacuees from New Orleans [cached] (Barbara Bush) What I'm hearing which is sort of scary is they all want to stay in Texas. Everyone is so overwhelmed by the hospitality. And so many of the people in the arena here, you know, were underprivileged anyway, so this -- this (she chuckles slightly) is working very well for them.
2005.09.02 President Arrives in Alabama, Briefed on Hurricane Katrina [cached] (George Bush) The good news is -- and it's hard for some to see it now -- that out of this chaos is going to come a fantastic Gulf Coast, like it was before. Out of the rubbles of Trent Lott's house -- he's lost his entire house -- there's going to be a fantastic house. And I'm looking forward to sitting on the porch. (Laughter.)
2005.09.02 President Remarks on Hurricane Recovery Efforts [cached] (George Bush) Here's what I believe. I believe that the great city of New Orleans will rise again and be a greater city of New Orleans. (Applause.) I believe the town where I used to come from, Houston, Texas, to enjoy myself -- occasionally too much -- (laughter) -- will be that very same town, that it will be a better place to come to. That's what I believe. I believe the great state of Louisiana will get its feet back and become a vital contributor to the country.
2005.08.14 Bush will "go on with life" [cached] (George Bush) "But whether it be here or in Washington or anywhere else, there's somebody who has got something to say to the president, that's part of the job," Bush said on the ranch. "And I think it's important for me to be thoughtful and sensitive to those who have got something to say." "But," he added, "I think it's also important for me to go on with my life, to keep a balanced life."
2005.05.31 President's Press Conference [cached] (George Bush) In terms of the detainees, we've had thousands of people detained. We've investigated every single complaint against the detainees. It seemed like to me they based some of their decisions on the word of -- and the allegations -- by people who were held in detention, people who hate America, people that had been trained in some instances to disassemble -- that means not tell the truth. And so it was an absurd report. It just is. And, you know -- yes, sir.
2005.05.24 Pelosi Delivers Speech to American Israel Public Affairs Committee [cached] (Nancy Pelosi) "There are those who contend that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is all about Israel's occupation of the West Bank and Gaza. This is absolute nonsense. In truth, the history of the conflict is not over occupation, and never has been: it is over the fundamental right of Israel to exist."
2005.05.05 Quotes of the campaign [cached] (George Galloway) This is for Iraq. This defeat that you have suffered and all the other defeats New Labour has suffered this evening is for Iraq. All the people who have been killed, all the lies you have told have come back to haunt you and the best thing that Labour can do is sack you. New Labour has plumbed new depths in this campaign
2005.05.01 The Way of the Commandos [cached] (Lieutenant Johansen) I know they use different means of interrogation, but I didn't expect them to raise a weapon at a detainee. I don't think they know the value of human life Americans have. If they shoot somebody, I don't think they would have remorse, even if they killed someone who was innocent.
0000.00.00 The Marines Have Landed [cached] (General William Westmoreland) The Oriental doesn't put the same high price on life as does the Westerner. Life is plentiful; life is cheap in the Orient. And as the philosophy of the Orient expresses it, life is not important.
2005.02.20 Meet the Press [cached] (Hillary Clinton) MR. RUSSERT: Then you would disagree with any call for immediate withdrawal of some troops or a specific timetable? SEN. CLINTON: Well, Tim, I understand the feelings behind that call. I mean, there is a lot of reason when we're back at home to argue about this policy. But at this point in time, I think that would be a mistake. I don't believe we should tie our hands or the hands of the new Iraqi government. Now obviously, as this government has stood up and takes responsibility, there may come a time when it decides for its own internal reasons that we should set such a deadline and withdrawal agenda. But right now I think it would be a mistake. We don't want to send a signal to the insurgents, to the terrorists that we are going to be out of here at some, you know, date certain. I think that would be like a green light to go ahead and just bide your time. We want to send a message of solidarity. And in addition, I would hope that at this point now, we could get more international support. It is not in anyone's interests, not, you know, the people in this region, in Europe or elsewhere around the world, for the Iraqi government to be brought down before it even can get itself together by violent insurgents. So it's not only U.S. commitment, I think and hope that there should be commitment from others as well.
2005.02.02 Marine General Is Told To Speak 'More Carefully' [cached] (Gen. James N. Mattis) Actually, it's a lot of fun to fight. . . . It's fun to shoot some people. I'll be right upfront with you, I like brawling... You go into Afghanistan, you got guys who slap women around for five years because they didn't wear a veil... You know, guys like that ain't got no manhood left anyway. So it's a hell of a lot of fun to shoot them.
2004.10.08 The Big Freeze [cached] (Dov Weisglass) You keep insisting on the wrong definition. The right definition is that we created a status quo vis-a-vis the Palestinians. There was a very difficult package of commitments that Israel was expected to accept. That package is called a political process. It included elements we will never agree to accept and elements we cannot accept at this time. But we succeeded in taking that package and sending it beyond the hills of time. With the proper management we succeeded in removing the issue of the political process from the agenda. And we educated the world to understand that there is no one to talk to. And we received a no-one-to-talk-to certificate. That certificate says: (1) There is no one to talk to. (2) As long as there is no one to talk to, the geographic status quo remains intact. (3) The certificate will be revoked only when this-and-this happens - when Palestine becomes Finland. (4) See you then, and shalom.
2004.10.05 Transcript: Vice Presidential Debate [cached] (John Edwards) IFILL: Senator Edwards, as we wrap up the foreign policy part of this, I do want to talk to you about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Today, a senior member of Islamic Jihad was killed in Gaza. There have been suicide bombings, targeted assassinations, mortar attacks, all of this continuing at a time when the United States seems absent in the peace-making process. What would your administration do?First of all, do you agree that the United States is absent? Maybe you don't. But what would your administration do to try to resolve that conflict? EDWARDS: Well, first of all, I do agree that we've been largely absent, not entirely absent, but largely absent from the peace-making process over the last four years. And let me just say a couple of preliminary things and then talk about where we are now. First, the Israeli people not only have the right to defend themselves, they should defend themselves. They have an obligation to defend themselves. I mean, if I can, just for a moment, tell you a personal story. I was in Jerusalem a couple of years ago, actually three years ago, in August of 2001, staying at the King David Hotel. We left in the morning, headed to the airport to leave, and later in the day I found out that that same day, not far from where we were staying, the Sbarro Pizzeria was hit by a suicide bomber in Jerusalem. Fifteen people were killed. Six children were killed. What are the Israeli people supposed to do? How can they continue to watch Israeli children killed by suicide bombers, killed by terrorists? They have not only the right to the obligation to defend themselves. Now, we know that the prime minister has made a decision, an historic decision, to unilaterally withdraw from Gaza. It's important for America to participate in helping with that process. Now, if Gaza's being used as a platform for attacking the Israeli people, that has to be stopped. And Israel has a right to defend itself. They don't have a partner for peace right now. They certainly don't have a partner in Arafat, and they need a legitimate partner for peace. And I might add, it is very important for America to crack down on the Saudis who have not had a public prosecution for financing terrorism since 9/11.And it's important for America to confront the situation in Iran, because Iran is an enormous threat to Israel and to the Israeli people.
2004.08.05 President Signs Defense Bill [cached] (George Bush) Our enemies are innovative and resourceful, and so are we. They never stop thinking about new ways to harm our country and our people, and neither do we.
2004.06.24 Interview of the President by Radio and Television Ireland [cached] (George Bush) Let me finish. Let me finish. May I finish? He said -- the United Nations said, disarm or face serious consequences. That's what the United Nations said. And guess what? He didn't disarm. He didn't disclose his arms. And, therefore, he faced serious consequences. But we have found a capacity for him to make a weapon. See, he had the capacity to make weapons. He was dangerous. And no one can argue that the world is better off with Saddam -- if Saddam Hussein were in power.
2004.06.17 President Discusses Economy, Iraq in Cabinet Meeting [cached] (George Bush) I always said that Saddam Hussein was a threat. He was a threat because he had used weapons of mass destruction against his own people. He was a threat because he was a sworn enemy to the United States of America, just like al Qaeda. He was a threat because he had terrorist connections -- not only al Qaeda connections, but other connections to terrorist organizations; Abu Nidal was one. He was a threat because he provided safe-haven for a terrorist like Zarqawi, who is still killing innocent inside of Iraq. ... There's a lot of people in the world who don't believe that people whose skin color may not be the same as ours can be free and self-govern. I reject that. I reject that strongly. I believe that people who practice the Muslim faith can self-govern. I believe that people whose skins aren't necessarily -- are a different color than white can self-govern.
2004.05.28 Settler Rabbi: Killing Civilians Permitted [cached] (Rabbi Dov Lior) chairman of the Council of Rabbis of Judea, Samaria and Gaza, issued the permission on May 18 as a formal ruling of halacha, or rabbinic law. "It is permissible for the Israel Defense Forces to attack in the course of warfare a civilian population that is ostensibly innocent of wrongdoing," Lior wrote. "The law of our Torah is to have mercy upon and save our civilians and our soldiers, and this is the true morality of the Torah of Israel, and one should not feel guilt out of the morality of unbelievers."
2004.04.20 President Bush: Information Sharing, Patriot Act Vital to Homeland Security [cached] (George Bush) Now, by the way, any time you hear the United States government talking about wiretap, it requires -- a wiretap requires a court order. Nothing has changed, by the way. When we're talking about chasing down terrorists, we're talking about getting a court order before we do so. It's important for our fellow citizens to understand, when you think Patriot Act, constitutional guarantees are in place when it comes to doing what is necessary to protect our homeland, because we value the Constitution.
2004.04.18 Meet the Press [cached] (John Kerry) MR. RUSSERT: On Thursday, President Bush broke with the tradition and policy of six predecessors when he said that Israel can keep part of the land seized in the 1967 Middle East War and asserted the Palestinian refugees cannot go back to their particular homes. Do you support President Bush? SEN. KERRY: Yes. MR. RUSSERT: Completely? SEN. KERRY: Yes.
2004.02.25 John Kerry Defends Israel's Security Fence [cached] (John Kerry) Israel's security fence is a legitimate act of self defense ... The fence only exists in response to the wave of terror attacks against Israel.
2003.11.07 Throw Full Weight of Washington Behind Middle East Peace Process [cached] (Wesley Clark) We should never question Israel's right to self-defense. Indeed, we must continue to provide Israel with the resources --- both financial and diplomatic --- to aid its search for peace.
2003.09.26 Is Bush's War in Iraq A "Brain Fart"? [cached] (Anthony Zinni) When we put [our enlisted men and women] in harm's way, it had better count for something, It can't be because some policy wonk back here has a brain fart of an idea of a strategy that isn't thought out.
2003.09.14 Israel 'considers killing Arafat' [cached] (Ehud Olmert) Israeli Deputy Prime Minister On Arafat: His expulsion is an option, his liquidation is another option. It is also possible to confine him to prison-like conditions.
2003.07.01 Hostages of the empire [cached] (Paul Bremer) We are going to fight them and impose our will on them and we will capture or... kill them until we have imposed law and order on this country ... We dominate the scene and we will continue to impose our will on this country.
2003.06.24 `Road map is a life saver for us,' PM Abbas tells Hamas [cached] (George Bush) God told me to strike at al Qaeda and I struck them, and then he instructed me to strike at Saddam, which I did, and now I am determined to solve the problem in the Middle East.
2003.05.04 Secretary Rumsfeld Interview with Wolf Blitzer, CNN [cached] (Donald Rumsfeld) And we're going to have as many people in there as we need for as long as we need them. We'll also have as few people as possible, but as many as are necessary, and we'll stay as short a time as is possible, but as long as is necessary.
2003.05.01 Rumsfeld Pays Visit to Postwar Iraq [cached] (Jay Garner) Damn fellas, we ought to be beating our chests every day, We ought to look in a mirror and get proud and stick out our chests and suck in our bellies and say:'Damn, we're Americans'
2003.05.01 President Bush Announces Major Combat Operations in Iraq Have Ended [cached] (George Bush) The liberation of Iraq is a crucial advance in the campaign against terror. We've removed an ally of al Qaeda, and cut off a source of terrorist funding. And this much is certain: No terrorist network will gain weapons of mass destruction from the Iraqi regime, because the regime is no more.
2003.04.30 We are not with you and we don't believe you [cached] (Vladimir Putin) Where is Saddam? Where are those arsenals of weapons of mass destruction, if indeed they ever existed? Perhaps Saddam is still hiding somewhere in a bunker underground, sitting on cases of weapons of mass destruction and is preparing to blow the whole thing up and bring down the lives of thousands of Iraqi people
2003.04.11 DoD News Briefing - Secretary Rumsfeld and Gen. Myers [cached] (Donald Rumsfeld) And, does that mean you couldn't go in there and take a television camera or get a still photographer and take a picture of something that was imperfect, untidy? I could do that in any city in America. Think what's happened in our cities when we've had riots, and problems, and looting. Stuff happens! But in terms of what's going on in that country, it is a fundamental misunderstanding to see those images over, and over, and over again of some boy walking out with a vase and say, "Oh, my goodness, you didn't have a plan." That's nonsense. They know what they're doing, and they're doing a terrific job. And it's untidy, and freedom's untidy, and free people are free to make mistakes and commit crimes and do bad things.
2003.03.23 President Discusses Military Operation [cached] (George Bush) One of the big concerns early on was the Southern oil fields. As you all remember, we had discussions about that. There was a lot of speculation about whether or not coalition forces would be able to get to the Southern oil fields in time, before -- so that Saddam Hussein wouldn't destroy them. As a matter of fact, I had frequently talked about the Southern oil fields -- or oil fields in general -- in my declaratory policy. Tommy Franks put a plan in place that moved on those oil fields quickly, and at least in the south, they are secure. And that is positive news for all of us.
2003.03.17 President Says Saddam Hussein Must Leave Iraq Within 48 Hours [cached] (George Bush) Intelligence gathered by this and other governments leaves no doubt that the Iraq regime continues to possess and conceal some of the most lethal weapons ever devised ... Today, no nation can possibly claim that Iraq has disarmed. And it will not disarm so long as Saddam Hussein holds power.
2002.12.05 Conditions Underlying Conflict Must Be Addressed, Armitage Says [cached] (Richard Armitage) Asked about Hezbollah, Armitage said that terrorist group "may be the A-team," while al-Qaida may be "actually the B-team." But Hezbollah is on the State Department's terrorist list "and their time will come," he said. "They have a blood debt to us ... and we're not going to forget it." With terrorist organizations, he said, "We're going to take them down one at a time."
2002.11.07 Netanyahu: As prime minister I'd work for solutions [cached] (Binyamin Netanyahu) The Palestinians don't have the right to determine their own leadership. I think that certain leaderships make themselves illegitimate. ... Does America have the right to intervene in the leadership of the Iraqi people? Do we say that the Iraqi people choose their own leadership? That's absurd. ... We don't choose the leaders, but we can say categorically whom we won't accept as their leaders. We cannot say whom we will accept.
2002.10.07 President Bush Outlines Iraqi Threat [cached] (George Bush) We know that Iraq and the al Qaeda terrorist network share a common enemy -- the United States of America. We know that Iraq and al Qaeda have had high-level contacts that go back a decade. Some al Qaeda leaders who fled Afghanistan went to Iraq. These include one very senior al Qaeda leader who received medical treatment in Baghdad this year, and who has been associated with planning for chemical and biological attacks. We've learned that Iraq has trained al Qaeda members in bomb-making and poisons and deadly gases. And we know that after September the 11th, Saddam Hussein's regime gleefully celebrated the terrorist attacks on America. Iraq could decide on any given day to provide a biological or chemical weapon to a terrorist group or individual terrorists. Alliance with terrorists could allow the Iraqi regime to attack America without leaving any fingerprints.
2002.10.01 Press Briefing by Ari Fleischer [cached] (Ari Fleischer) Again, the President has not made any decisions about military action or what military option he might pursue. And so I think it's impossible to speculate. I can only say that the cost of a one-way ticket is substantially less than that. The cost of one bullet, if the Iraqi people take it on themselves, is substantially less than that. The cost of war is more than that
2002.09.30 They're jumping in head first [cached] (Tom Lantos) My dear Colette, don't worry, you won't have any problem with Saddam, we'll be rid of the bastard soon enough. And in his place we'll install a pro-Western dictator, who will be good for us and for you.
2002.09.13 Secretary Rumsfeld's Media Roundtable With The BBC And Voice Of America [cached] (Donald Rumsfeld) When I hear the word evidence it conjures up a couple of things for me. One is that somebody is misguided and is looking for the kind of information that you could take into a court of law and prove beyond a reasonable doubt and that's one mindset kind of under Article 3 of our Constitution in the criminal justice system where the goal is to punish a person, which of course the goal is not here to punish anybody. The goal is to learn information and to have them disarm themselves of their weapons of mass destruction capabilities. There's no debate in the world as to whether they have those weapons. There's no debate in the world as to whether they're continuing to develop and acquire them. There's no debate in the world as to whether or not he's used them. There's no debate in the world as to whether or not he's consistently threatening his neighbors with them. We all know that. A trained ape knows that. All you have to do is read the newspaper.
2002.09.12 Marketing Iraq: Why now? [cached] (Andrew Card) Why did the Administration wait until September to make its case against Iraq?: From a marketing point of view, you don't introduce new products in August.
2002.07.08 The entire story in a drop of blood
[cached] (Ephraim Eitam) Israeli cabinet minister On Marwan Barghouti: Why are they interrogating him? Take him out to some grove and put a bullet in his head.
2002.05.02 The Palestinian Lone Star state [cached] (Dick Armey) house majority leader I'm content to have Israel grab the entire West Bank ... I happen to believe that the Palestinians should leave ... There are many Arab nations that have many hundreds of thousands of acres of land and soil and property and opportunity to create a Palestinian state
2002.03.05 Sharon: First we'll beat them badly, then we can negotiate [cached] (Ariel Sharon) The PA is behind the terror, it's all terror. Arafat is behind the terror. Our pressure is aimed at ending the terror. I don't expect Arafat to act against terror. ... It won't be possible to reach an agreement with them before the Palestinians are hit hard. Now they have to be hit. If they aren't badly beaten, there won't be any negotiations. Only after they are beaten will we be able to conduct talks. I want an agreement, but first they have to be beaten so they get the thought out of their minds that they can impose an agreement on Israel that Israel does not want ... They must be beaten: the Palestinian Authority, its forces, and the terrorists, if they aren't beaten there won't be any political horizon.
2002.02.12 DoD News Briefing - Secretary Rumsfeld and Gen. Myers [cached] (Donald Rumsfeld) Reports that say that something hasn't happened are always interesting to me, because as we know, 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. And if one looks throughout the history of our country and other free countries, it is the latter category that tend to be the difficult ones.
2002.02.08 Rumsfeld Explains Detainee Status [cached] (Donald Rumsfeld) Notwithstanding the isolated pockets of international hyperventilation, we do not treat detainees in any other manner than a manner that is humane
2002.01.31 Sharon regrets sparing Arafat [cached] (Ariel Sharon) In Lebanon, there was an agreement not to liquidate Yasser Arafat. In principle, I'm sorry that we didn't liquidate him.
2002.01.28 The return to `the Zionist entity' [cached] (Yasser Arafat) Arafat was asked why Palestinian terrorists plant bombs in Israeli marketplaces. "Because we don't have Phantom jets, like Israel used to bomb our refugees in Lebanon," he replied.
2001.10.25 Full text: 'My goal is to stop terrorism' [cached] (Donald Rumsfeld) USA Today interviewer: You mentioned that your goal was to topple the Taliban regime at a press conference a week or two ago. Do you still believe that's possible given the experience you've witnessed now after several weeks of bombing? US Defense Secretary Rumsfield: Has it really been several weeks? Has it been that long? Three weeks, I'll be darned. I'm really surprised. I was thinking it was something like 10 or 12 days, but it's been three weeks.
2001.10.02 Gen. Ze'evi Lived and Died by the Sword [cached] (Rehavam Ze'evi) Israeli tourism minister On Arafat: I don't say eliminate him physically, but send him with a one-way ticket to Tunis. If he resists and his capture requires his physical elimination, I'm not a vegetarian.
2001.09.16 The Vice President appears on Meet the Press with Tim Russert [cached] (Dick Cheney) There is--in the past, there have been some activities related to terrorism by Saddam Hussein. But at this stage, you know, the focus is over here on al-Qaida and the most recent events in New York. Saddam Hussein's bottled up, at this point, but clearly, we continue to have a fairly tough policy where the Iraqis are concerned.
2001.07.29 CNN Late Edition With Wolf Blitzer [cached] (Condoleezza Rice) But in terms of Saddam Hussein being there, let's remember that his country is divided, in effect. He does not control the northern part of his country. We are able to keep arms from him. His military forces have not been rebuilt. This has been a successful period, but obviously we would like to increase pressure on him, and we're going to go about doing that.
2001.02.24 Press Remarks with Foreign Minister of Egypt Amre Moussa [cached] (Colin Powell) [Saddam Hussein] has not developed any significant capability with respect to weapons of mass destruction. He is unable to project conventional power against his neighbors.
1998.03.02 Reasons Not to Invade Iraq [cached] (George Bush I, Brent Scowcroft) We were disappointed that Saddam's defeat did not break his hold on power, as many of our Arab allies had predicted and we had come to expect. President Bush repeatedly declared that the fate of Saddam Hussein was up to the Iraqi people. Occasionally, he indicated that removal of Saddam would be welcome, but for very practical reasons there was never a promise to aid an uprising. While we hoped that popular revolt or coup would topple Saddam, neither the U.S. nor the countries of the region wished to see the breakup of the Iraqi state. We were concerned about the long-term balance of power at the head of the Gulf. Trying to eliminate Saddam, extending the ground war into an occupation of Iraq, would have violated our guideline about not changing objectives in midstream, engaging in "mission creep," and would have incurred incalculable human and political costs. Apprehending him was probably impossible. We had been unable to find Noriega in Panama, which we knew intimately. We would have been forced to occupy Baghdad and, in effect, rule Iraq. The coalition would instantly have collapsed, the Arabs deserting it in anger and other allies pulling out as well. Under those circumstances, furthermore, we had been self-consciously trying to set a pattern for handling aggression in the post-cold war world. Going in and occupying Iraq, thus unilaterally exceeding the U.N.'s mandate, would have destroyed the precedent of international response to aggression we hoped to establish. Had we gone the invasion route, the U.S. could conceivably still be an occupying power in a bitterly hostile land. It would have been a dramatically different--and perhaps barren--outcome.
1996.12.05 "We Think the Price Is Worth It" [cached] (Madeleine Albright) CBS Reporter Lesley Stahl(speaking of post-war sanctions against Iraq): We have heard that a half million children have died. I mean, that's more children than died in Hiroshima. And - and you know, is the price worth it? US Ambassador to the UN Madeleine Albright: I think this is a very hard choice, but the price - we think the price is worth it.
1992.00.00 crappy little countries [cached] (Michael Ledeen) Every ten years or so, the United States needs to pick up some small crappy little country and throw it against the wall, just to show the world we mean business.
1992.00.00 "Free People Will Set the Course of History" [cached] (Colin Powell) Saddam Hussein is a terrible person, he is a threat to his own people. I think his people would be better off with a different leader, but there is this sort of romantic notion that if Saddam Hussein got hit by a bus tomorrow, some Jeffersonian democrat is waiting in the wings to hold popular elections. (Laughter.) You're going to get -- guess what -- probably another Saddam Hussein. It will take a little while for them to paint the pictures all over the walls again -- (laughter) -- but there should be no illusions about the nature of that country or its society. And the American people and all of the people who second-guess us now would have been outraged if we had gone on to Baghdad and we found ourselves in Baghdad with American soldiers patrolling the streets two years later still looking for Jefferson.
1984.03.20 Proclamation 5165 -- Afghanistan Day, 1984 [cached] (Ronald Reagan) Afghanistan Day will serve to recall the fundamental principles involved when a people struggles for the freedom to determine its own future and the right to be free of foreign interference. Let us therefore resolve to pay tribute to the brave Afghan people by observing March 21, 1984 as Afghanistan Day. Let us pledge our continuing admiration for their cause and for their perseverance, and lend our support to the Afghan refugees in Pakistan
1983.04.14 Former Israeli army chief drowns [cached] (Former Israeli deputy prime minister, Army Chief of Staff Raphael Eitan) When we have settled the land, all the Arabs will be able to do about it will be to scurry around like drugged cockroaches in a bottle.
1965.00.00 Harold Pinter: House of Commons Speech - October 2002 [cached] (Lyndon Johnson) Fuck your parliament and your constitution. America is an elephant. Cyprus is a flea. Greece is a flea. If these two fellows continue itching the elephant they may just get whacked by the elephants trunk, whacked good
