Stephen Hadley Quotations

We're making progress, but we're not yet there. The Indians, hopefully, will have an opportunity from their end to see where we are, and we would expect those negotiations will continue by phone, document and the like, probably up to the president's visit.

We're making progress, but we're not yet there.

What the president has said is that we do not torture. And he said that while we need to be aggressive in the war against terror, we also have to do it in a way that complies with U.S. law, with U.S. treaty obligations and with the Constitution.

There are more serious leaders who are outstanding and not in custody than the three you described and I am sure that a number of those will not be part of the reconciliation process but again that is a decision that the Afghan government has the lead on,

We share with the Panamanians a goal of a stable hemisphere that is democratic, secure and prosperous,

We're confident, the president is confident, when Congress really understands the transaction they will conclude as he did, it's the right thing to do.

Seventy-seven senators from both sides of the aisle, the previous administration and foreign governments all believed, based on the same intelligence, that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction and posed an enormous threat,

Obviously, we didn't have the intelligence we needed in that particular instance. In some sense, those countries that pursue weapons of mass destruction in secret also learned an important lesson - that there are risks of that kind of behavior and that kind of activity.

Next week the president and Mrs. Bush will depart for South Asia. They will travel to India and Pakistan. This is the first trip of the president and Mrs. Bush to either country. They are very much looking forward to it.

Obviously there's an election coming up. We would like it to be free and fair. And a prerequisite of free and fair elections is that you don't beat up opposition candidates or opposition supporters and throw them in jail.

I worked with Scooter very closely. I will miss him as a colleague and as a friend.

If we don't get it on the trip, then we'll get it after the trip, because the parties are committed to make this relationship work in the civil nuclear area.

I dispute the premise, ... I think most people you talk to would say our relations with Japan, Korea and China have rarely been better.

China would do well to implement policies to correct its global trade imbalances, through expanding domestic demand, increasing market access for foreign goods and services, and adopting a flexible, market-based exchange rate for its currency.

I can tell you my recollection. My recollection is no, not here, not anyplace else.

I don't think you're going to see headline breakthroughs.

For those critics to ignore their own past statements exposes the hollowness of their current attacks.

The purpose of the summit is for the democratically elected leaders to get together and reaffirm the fact that there is really a shared vision for the hemisphere that is based on democracy and free markets and free trade.

I would say that is some real progress.

I think it is very important for any U.S. administration to be clear that America stands on the side of freedom and democracy and respect for individual rights.

I think the point that we need to emphasize here was, allegations now that the president somehow manipulated intelligence, somehow misled the American people are flat wrong.

It is planned as an opportunity for him to watch and learn a little bit about it. But, you know, who knows what he'll do? I have not asked him.

Palestinian President Abbas earned the trust of his people when he was elected on a platform of peace this past January. Now the Palestinian Authority must make good on that promise by fighting terrorism.

Our preference is to act through diplomacy in conjunction with friends and allies. ... Obviously, we retain the right to use force.

Our statements about the threat posed by Saddam Hussein were based on the aggregation of intelligence from a number of sources and represented the collective view of the intelligence community,

Our relationships are in good shape. This is not a trip where the president has to come with a deliverable or an initiative.

Suffice to say they didn't come to me. They didn't come to the NSC,

We've talked to the Europeans about it. It's clear if those negotiations fail, then we are agreed with the Europeans that the next step is to take the matter to the U.N. Security Council.

The answer is straightforward: We will stay as long as is necessary but not one day more.

will focus on his vision of a united trans-Atlantic community, working together to promote freedom and democracy, particularly in the broader Middle East.

We don't feel we are engaging the regime. Again, what we are doing is removing some objection to something the Europeans are doing.

We'll want to continue to have a dialogue on that issue to make sure that we continue to see that issue the same way.

We've listened to our critics and are already pursuing many of their proposals.

You know, we have learned to expect that big meetings tend sometimes to attract big crowds of demonstrators, ... The issues vary.

While we have to do what is necessary to defend the country against terrorists and to win the war on terror, the president has been very clear that we're going to do that in a way that is consistent with our values and that is why he has been very clear that the United States will not torture.

The president has been very clear we're doing that in a way that is consistent with our values and that is why he's been very clear that the United States will not torture.

The president believes that we must remember the clearest lesson of Sept. 11: that the United States of America must confront threats before they fully materialize.

The Pentagon is looking into them. To the extent that kind of behavior is inconsistent with our policy, it will be stopped.

We would like to get it before the trip. If we can, great. If we can't, we'll continue to negotiate it after the trip.

This summit is not about Hugo Chavez. We've had some long-standing concerns about the policy for his government. This is not news.

We think we're going to make progress on three of them.

There are questions raised in the Congress, and what this delay allows is for those questions to be addressed on the Hill. There's nothing to reopen.

We have seen those reports out of Pakistan. At this point, we are not in a position publicly to confirm that he is dead. But we're obviously -- if he is, that's a good thing for the war on terror.

The president's strategy affirms that the doctrine of preemption remains sound and must remain an integral part of our national security strategy. If necessary, the strategy states, under longstanding principles of self defense, we do not rule out the use of force before attacks occur, even if uncertainty remains as to the time and place of the enemy's attack.

While it will be a topic of discussion, you shouldn't expect any major new initiatives out of that,

We are every month at this point been able to turn over more territory to Iraqis.

The president's National Security Strategy charts the way forward along the path of confidence. It is a strategy of leadership. It is a strategy of partnership. It is a strategy that protects America's vital interests, reflects America's history and promotes America's highest ideals.

The president is very anxious to come to South Asia. He would be very anxious to meet with President Musharraf here in Pakistan.

finding new ways to support the new governments of Iraq and Afghanistan, advancing an Israeli-Palestinian settlement and spreading freedom and democracy to parts of the world that have known too little of both.

We all looked at the same intelligence, and most people -- on the intelligence -- reached the same conclusion.

What this means is that India, which has had a good record in safeguarding technology, but has largely stood out from outside the global nonproliferation arrangements, is moving inside those arrangements. It is adopting practices and procedures, export controls and other safeguards that are much more in line with the international community's efforts to police proliferation and avoid proliferation.

What happens if on September 7th of 2001, we had gotten one of the hijackers and based on information associated with that arrest, believed that within four days, there's going to be a devastating attack on the United States?

What the Congress and the companies are able to work out, we'll support and cooperate with so long as it does not involve a summary decision by the Congress that blocks this transaction.

We went from a summit that was supposed to bury the FTAA to a summit in which 34 countries actually talk in terms of enhanced trade. I would say that is some real progress.

We went from a summit that was supposed to bury FTAA, to a summit in which all 34 countries actually talked in terms of an FTAA. Recognizing there are challenges, that is some real progress.

We think, in the end of the day, China also faces a strategic choice: whether they are going to follow up the increasing amounts of economic freedom they're affording to the people and whether they are willing to respond to the inevitable demands of their people for political freedom as well.

We do not rule out the use of force before attacks occur, even if uncertainty remains as to the time and place of the enemy's attack.

Everybody understands the Sunnis need to be part of this process going forward and need to be part of this government. How that will sort out and get down is obviously for the Iraqis to decide.

At this point people are comfortable that the necessary precautions are in place but this is not a risk-free undertaking.

an issue of our intelligence, and obviously we need to do a better job of our intelligence.

Argentina is the host. Argentina has taken a strong hand in forming the agenda, and we will obviously want to support that. And the president will make a contribution on those topics.

The violence seems to be diminishing. They've stared into the abyss a bit. I think they've all concluded that further violence . . . is not in their interests.

The stop in the Slovak Republic is a nice opportunity for the president to remind Europe and the rest of the world of the progress we've made together in that part of the world,

The terror threatens all of us. You had seen terror attacks in Britain, in Spain, in Italy, in Turkey, in Russia, in Egypt, in Jordan, in Saudi Arabia. This is a threat, really, to the civilized world. We need to cooperate together to deal with this terror threat that threatens all of us. We are cooperating with a number of countries.

Some people say that the test of your principles is what you do when no one's looking.

Scooter Libby is a fine person. And he served the president and the vice president well,

roughly the same intelligence that the Clinton administration saw.

People recognize that it would be problematic for Chavez to be in the nuclear business.

One cannot let dangers grow to the point of imminent threat to the United States without taking action. And if other measures fail, obviously we retain to right to use force.

Action would have to be taken, ... Late Edition with Wolf Blitzer.

As part of that cooperation for our part, we comply with U.S. law. We respect the sovereignty of the countries with which we deal. And we do not move people around the world so that they can be tortured.

That U.N. Security Council resolution requires getting Syrian troops and intelligence officials out of Lebanon so that the Lebanese can have elections here this spring that are free and fair and free of outside influence.

This is going to be an issue, you know, it's a longstanding issue that we've had with China.

This is not going to get worked out before we get there, it's not going to get worked out while we're there. But we hope in a reasonable time afterwards to see this issue worked through and beef returned to the Japanese market.

This is not a trip where the president has to come with a deliverable or initiative, ... We've got a range of issues.

This is not a trip where the president has to come with a deliverable or an initiative.

This is actually the vehicle to bring India onto our page, in terms of proliferation policy.

They drew the conclusion that Saddam Hussein was a threat to peace, that he had weapons of mass destruction. They acted against him militarily in 1998,

The reporting we have is that the demonstrations and the violence associated with the cartoons has subsided. The president has made clear in a couple statements how he sees that whole issue. And I think it's very clear that he wants to go and that his Pakistani hosts want him to come. And therefore, we're going.

The relationship with China is extremely complex. We have areas of very positive cooperation with China.

There's an issue of finalizing the relevant agreement and then signing it. The framework basically allows access to facilities so as to facilitate cooperation between the forces of the United States and Romania,

It's also an opportunity to pay tribute to the people of the Slovak Republic, and also other countries in the region, for the right choices they made in pursuing democracy and freedom.

It's going to be an issue during this trip, it's going to be an issue after this trip. I don't think you're going to see, you know, headline breakers.

It's still something we're working on. Obviously, it has not moved as quickly as we would have liked.

The big opportunity to enhance prosperity in the region, of course, is the trade agenda, ... Because, as you know, through free trade and private investment the leverage you get in terms of economic growth and enhancing prosperity really dwarfs the impact of specific aid programs.

The two countries are working together on a range of global issues, including counter terrorism, nonproliferation, energy and the environment, and the expansion of economic and political freedom.

They were on the terrorist list and that is why they were taken into custody,

There was a meeting in Washington on that date. I did attend a meeting with him.

It's not deadlocked, ... We went from a summit which was supposed to bury FTAA to a summit ... in which all 34 countries actually talk in terms of enhanced trade and an FTAA.

That said, one of the things we've also made clear -- and the president was trying to make clear the other night -- is when President Putin says that he is committed to democracy, people will obviously watch and see how that is manifested in action.

The intelligence was clear in terms of the weapons of mass destruction.

The language is agreed. The vehicle by which it is going to get enacted by the Congress is still being worked.

Initial reports are encouraging. In the end of the day, it's going to be deeds, not words, that matter.

in a way that is consistent with our values and principles.

I point out that some of the critics today believed, themselves, in 2002 that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction. They stated that belief, and they voted to authorize the use of force in Iraq.

In terms of the administration and executive branch process, that process has been completed ... There's nothing to reopen. In terms of the CFIUS, process, it's been completed.

I think our judgment is: That is a credible claim. But I think that we are going to learn a lot more as the investigation goes forward.

His approach is to not to try and dominate but to participate as one of equals and listen, and that's what he did. At critical times he made his views obviously clear.

But I think one of the things we've all learned from that is that it is important, also, to be clear about dissenting opinions and make sure that dissenting opinions also are given visibility.

He served the president and the vice president well. There is now an indictment. And he is entitled to the benefit of the presumption of innocence,