Donald Rumsfeld Quotes
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It is easier to get into something than to get out of it.
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Remember where you came from.
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Don't necessarily avoid sharp edges. Occasionally they are necessary to leadership.
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And it is not knowable if force will be used, but if it is to be used, it is not knowable how long that conflict would last. It could last, you know, six days, six weeks. I doubt six months.
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I'm not into this detail stuff. I'm more concepty.
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I stand for 8-10 hours a day. Why is standing limited to four hours?
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Don't do or say things you would not like to see on the front page of The Washington Post.
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If you foul up, tell the President and correct it fast. Delay only compounds mistakes.
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If you develop rules, never have more than ten.
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Osama bin Laden is either alive and well or alive and not too well or not alive.
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Leave the President's family business to him. You will have plenty to do without trying to manage the First Family. They are likely to do fine without your help.
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If in doubt, don't. If still in doubt, do what's right.
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Know that the amount of criticism you receive may correlate somewhat to the amount of publicity you receive.
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Those who follow orders to commit such crimes will be found and they will be punished. War crimes will be prosecuted. And it will be no excuse to say, 'I was just following orders.' Any official involved in such crimes will forfeit hope of amnesty or leniency with respect to past action.
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It is pretty clear that the coalition can win in Afghanistan and Iraq in one way or another, but it will be a long, hard slog. 16
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Secretary Powell and I agree on every single issue that has ever been before this administration except for those instances where Colin's still learning.
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It isn't making mistakes that's critical; it's correcting them and getting on with the principal task.
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We're so conditioned as a people to think that a military campaign has to be cruise missiles and television images of airplanes dropping bombs, and that's just false. This is a totally different war. We need a new vocabulary. We need to get rid of old think and start thinking about this thing the way it really is.
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Oh my goodness gracious, what you can buy off the Internet in terms of overhead photography. A trained ape can know an awful lot of what is going on in this world, just by punching on his mouse, for a relatively modest cost.
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I didn't advocate invasion…I wasn't asked.
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One of your tasks is to separate the 'personal' from the 'substantive.' The two can become confused, especially if someone rubs the President wrong.
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Then there are three or four countries that have said they won't do anything. I believe Libya, Cuba and Germany are ones that have indicated they won't help in any respect.
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If in doubt, move decisions up to the President.
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If you try to please everybody, somebody's not going to like it.