Donald Rumsfeld Coal Quotations

As conditions on the ground there permit and require, obviously the commanders on the ground will recommend that coalition forces and US forces pare down as responsibility is transferred to Iraqis,

Whatever is needed will be sent, and it won't be just U.S., ... It'll be coalition forces.

This country has gone in a short period from a haven for terrorists to a coalition ally in the war against terrorism, ... Freedom is clearly taking root in this country, and Afghanistan is on a path to become a model for freedom and moderation in the Muslim world.

The goal is to have the pressure be so great that Saddam Hussein cooperates, ... Short of that -- an unwillingness to cooperate -- the goal is to have the capabilities of the coalition so clear and so obvious that there is an enormous disincentive for the Iraqi military to fight against the coalition.

So I think we'll see the coalition forces being able to pare down,

Our hope is that as we build up Iraqi forces we will be able to relieve the stress on our forces and see a reduction in coalition forces over some period of time, probably post-Iraqi election.

an obligation to assist in providing security, and the coalition forces are doing that. They're patrolling in various cities. Where they see looting, they're stopping it.

I think that will save American lives and save coalition lives and be a great benefit to the Iraqi people to be free of that,

the sooner it is done, the fewer Iraqis that will be killed, the fewer Americans or coalition forces that will be killed.

The worst thing you can do is allow a coalition to determine what your mission is.

The Coalition of Iraqi forces have completed the move for all practical purposes from the north to the south. They are operating in one way or another in much, if not all, parts of the city at the present time.