Max Cleland Quotations

We want George Bush to put up or shut up, ... Stand up to the plate and say, 'This is wrong. An attack on valorous service of a fellow American is wrong.' And he's behind it, and his campaign is behind it.

He was a true, honest-to-goodness statesmen and a real, real dear friend of mine. I mourn his loss. There are a lot of tears on the floor of the Senate today.

He has not suffered. He has not sacrificed for his country, and he doesn't understand those who have.

I think it's a little bit of gilding the lily,

I think it's what we need -- it's the air cover, air dominance vehicle of the 21st century,

The American consumer is not chopped liver, ... We ought to know about these things.

We gave you the authority to go after those who came after us,

We are running out of time. We need a strategy to win in Iraq or an exit strategy to leave.

This thing went south fast. One side defends, the other side finger-points, and you get nowhere.

Deployments have increased some 300 percent, and the military has been decreased by a third: Hello, good morning -- you can't keep that up forever, ... Sooner or later you're going to get people stressed out, spread too thin around the world, and they just won't put up with it anymore.

The Bush campaign is trying to define John Kerry now, but for my money, the defining moment was 35 years ago when both of these young men, graduating from Yale from favored families, had a defining moment in their lives, ... John choose to volunteer and serve his country and risk his life doing so. George Bush did not.

The Bush administration's plan for victory is not working,

The Bush administration needs to step up to the plate. It's time to face the truth. It's time for a strategy to win in Iraq or a strategy to get out,

Young men and women are dying and being blown up at the very moment the American people are going the other way,

I volunteered 35 years ago to go to Vietnam and the guy I was running against got out of going to Vietnam with a trick knee! I was an author of the homeland security bill, for goodness' sake! But I wasn't a rubber stamp for the White House. That right there is the epitome of what's wrong with American politics today!

Our mission is to go after Al Qaeda, not the Taliban. Right now, they are in Pakistan, not Afghanistan. We should go after them wherever they are.

I'm not going to be part of looking at information only partially. I'm not going to be part of just coming to quick conclusions. I'm not going to be part of political pressure to do this or not do that. I'm not going to be part of that. This is serious.

Being a soldier, fighting for this country, is neither Republican nor Democrat.

John Kerry's service did not end in Vietnam. It began there.

The commission had to subpoena the F.A.A. for documents, had to subpoena NORAD for documents and they will never get the full story. That is one of the tragedies. One of these days we will have to get the full story because the 9-11 issue is so important to America. But this White House wants to cover it up.

Someone once said, 'Adversity introduces a man to himself.' For some reason, that's scary, but most people discover that adversity does make them stronger.

Within the soul of each Vietnam veteran there is probably something that says "Bad war, good soldier." Only now are Americans beginning to separate the war from the warrior.