Brent Scowcroft Quotations

Yes, Israel's our ally. But, are the Palestinians our enemy? No, they are not.

An idea can be as flawless as can be, but its execution will always be full of mistakes.

But figuring out Saddam Hussein was one our greatest mysteries. He marched to his own drummer and frequently as this unfolded he made decisions which were sometimes inexplicable to us and sometimes didn't look very smart.

You know, different people are going to react different ways. And I don't think we should be intolerable because people do things a little differently.

Many Sunnis, who are still stuck in the Saddam era mindset and believe Iraq belongs to them, are trying to prevent a new country from developing at all.

My point was that removing Saddam should not have been our highest priority. Fighting terrorism should have been our number one concern, followed by the Palestinian peace process.

So far the changes in the president in his second term have been mainly of a rhetorical nature.

Progress is only possible if the United States and its allies work together.

We must find out where the roots of terrorism lie.

After all, we didn't bring democracy to Germany in 1945; Hitler destroyed democracy there first.

America has never seen itself as a national state like all others, but rather as an experiment in human freedom and democracy.

First of all, I think the Saudis are deeply concerned about the collapse of negotiations between the Israelis and the Palestinians and the resumption of conflict.

But the central point is that any campaign against Iraq, whatever the strategy, cost and risks, is certain to divert us for some indefinite period from our war on terrorism.

But, if you believe we should go around the world overturning regimes to make little United States, I don't agree with that, because I don't think we're capable of doing that.

Europeans are familiar with terrorism and violence. We have not experienced a true conflict on our soil in a hundred years, and especially not one that involved 3,000 dead.

To sum up, the position we took was that since we didn't know the internal situation in Iraq nor Saddam Hussein, that our best bet was to take counsel from the people who did know him and who did deal with him.

The Europeans must finally understand the incredible shock triggered by the attacks of September 11.

The Iraqi elections were an important first step.

The Iraqis need help establishing a government. We have to provide them with security.

But there is scant evidence to tie Saddam to terrorist organizations, and even less to the Sept. 11 attacks.

I'm afraid that the United States is more isolated today than at any other time in my memory.

It is beyond dispute that Saddam Hussein is a menace.

Saddam is a familiar dictatorial aggressor, with traditional goals for his aggression.

Simply killing everyone who is already a terrorist today won't solve the problem.

The radical elements in Islam are very dangerous.

Saddam's ouster will not necessarily lead to the same result, since Iraq lacks democratic traditions. Democracy doesn't just consist of holding elections.

If Iraq were to descend into chaos, the Europeans would feel the effects just as much as we would.

The UN could help the Iraqi government get on its feet and help the United States withdraw a bit more.

Osama bin Laden is going after us to get us out of the region, so he can deal with the regimes that he sees in the region, or replace them with purists.

A colossal event is upon us, the birth of a New World Order.

Much of what we know about mathematics and trade comes from the Arabs. Then came stagnation, and now they're the West's whipping boy. This is a problem that cannot be solved overnight, and certainly not militarily.

The radical elements in Islam are very dangerous. They want to achieve a return to the Islamic purity of the Middle Ages.

Democracy doesn't just consist of holding elections.

We believe we are creating the beginning of a new world order coming out of the collapse of the U.S.-Soviet antagonisms.

Should you or any member of your staff require additional information concerning this matter, an oral briefing will be arranged for you at your convenience,

Only very gradually did we understand that we - like any other country - have clearly defined national interests.

His reaction was: 'Why would we want to be defended by you?'

I think a different first strike by the United States might have stopped what is going on now, but I think he may be getting the word,

I think privately a lot of people are cheering it who are not allowed to do so publicly.

The policy of detente with the Soviet Union, which was begun by President Nixon in 1972, was broadly seen by 1975 in bad shape, if not in tatters. In other words, were able to take advantage of the relaxed atmosphere to pursue the same goals they had.

(Saddam) took the first strike, that is against the radar sites in the south, as a sign that we really didn't have much stomach for this, and that he could get away and take advantage of it and maybe split the coalition further. So, he starts to fire off some missiles,

compelling evidence that Saddam Hussein had acquired nuclear-weapons capability.

A number of presidents since Nixon have come to office with negative views of the Chinese. They always end up supporting the thrust of the policy established by President Nixon.

After the Iran/Iraq war, Iraq had enormous reconstruction, issues and it was our hope that American business would be able to participate in that since Iraq is fundamentally a wealthy nation.

Indeed Saddam's goals have little in common with the terrorists who threaten us, and there is little incentive for him to make common cause with them.

I can't think of a single case where a bombing campaign alone has made a foreign leader change his mind,

I believe that everyone in the administration, and throughout the Arab world, thought he could not survive the defeat that he did, ... We underestimated his skill and ruthlessness.

An attack on Iraq at this time would seriously jeopardize, if not destroy, the global counterterrorist campaign we have undertaken,