Richard Holbrooke People Quotations

People in uniform are not sacrosanct. They don't have all the answers. The use of force is a political decision at its core, in terms of its objectives; then the military, as the experts, must be brought in to tell you how to do it.

I think Americans understand that in Afghanistan, unlike in Iraq and Vietnam, we are fighting an enemy allied with the people who attacked us on 9/11.

By the way, if you do your job on behalf of your country, you have meetings where you put your position forward strongly, and the other side does the same thing. And I've had plenty of meetings in my career that really were heated, people yelling at each other.

The United States supports the reintegration of people who have fought with the Taliban into Afghan society provided they: one, renounce al Qaeda, two, lay down their arms and renounce violence, and three, participate in the public political life of the country in accordance with the constitution.

We hope to make clear to president Milosevic and the people of Yugoslavia the extreme gravity of the situation,

one of the worst of the people in the region -- a racist, a separatist, a war criminal ...

I think this is a ridiculous outcome, ... These people are innocent and they should be freed immediately. They are not spies.

Three hundred thousand people dead and 2.5 million homeless, all because of Slobodan Milosevic.

The situation therefore remains fully as serious today as it was a week or two ago. We hope to make clear to President Milosevic and the people of Yugoslavia the extreme gravity of the situation.

These contacts were designed to find out if the people with whom the American officials met were in fact people who have the ability to influence and control all the people with the weapons.

People give money all the time, and I commend them for it, but you have to go a long way to find a gift that meant as much difference as this one.

I want to point out in the clearest possible terms that long-term peace and stability in the Balkans will not be possible as long as the current leadership in Belgrade is in power. And those people who have been indicted also should be brought to justice.

The key to this is prevention, ... People must know their status, they must be tested.

Our enemy is Al Qaeda and its allies, people who have publicly said they wish to attack the United States again, people who have publicly called on nuclear physicists and engineers to help them gain access to nuclear weapons, which, as the whole world knows, Pakistan has.