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FAVORITE
QUOTES
QUOTATIONS ABOUT WAR BY AMERICAN PRESIDENTS JIMMY CARTER AND GEORGE W. BUSH
PLUS COLIN POWELL, ROBERT BYRD, ANDREW MARLATT, ANSWER, NOAM CHOMSKY, DAVID FRUM, JOHN KEISLING, AND
MANY MORE
Collected by Gene Griessman, Ph.D., Editor, The AchievementDigest®
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CONTEMPORARY
QUOTES
“An uninformed individual is not entitled to an opinion.” Below are quotes from various points of view to help you
reach
an informed opinion. Editor
Colin Powell
"War should be the politics of last resort. And when we go to war, we
should have a purpose that our people understand and support."
(Secretary of State, former Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff)
The Vatican
"One can foresee the destabilization of the
entire Middle East because the more politicized Islamic masses, which
already harbor a deep hate for the West, will see it as an act of war
against Islam and against Arab and Muslim countries....The gravest
consequence of a war against Iraq, however, would be a flare-up of terrorism
against the United States and against allied Western countries."
(From an article in the journal Civilta Cattolica,
whose articles are approved by the Vatican's Secretariat of State--January
2003)
President Jimmy Carter
"...The heartfelt sympathy and friendship
offered to America after the 9/11 attacks, even from formerly antagonistic
regimes, has been largely dissipated; increasingly unilateral and
domineering policies have brought international trust in our country to its
lowest level in memory....."
“Even if…lies and trickery by Saddam Hussein
are exposed, this will not indicate any real or proximate threat by Iraq to
the United States or to our allies.
"With overwhelming military strength now deployed against
him and with intense monitoring from space surveillance and the U.N.
inspection team on the ground, any belligerent move by Saddam against a
neighbor would be suicidal….If Iraq does possess such concealed weapons, as
is quite likely, Saddam would use them only in the most extreme
circumstances, in the face of an invasion of Iraq, when all hope of avoiding
the destruction of his regime is lost….
"The cost of an on-site inspection team would be minuscule
compared to war, Saddam would have no choice except to comply, the results
would be certain, military and civilian casualties would be avoided, there
would be almost unanimous worldwide support, and the United States could
regain its leadership in combating the real threat of international
terrorism.”
(Excerpt from a statement from The
Carter Center, January 31, 2003)
Click
Here To See The Complete Text
David Frum
"An American-led overthrow of Saddam Hussein--and a replacement of the
radical Baathist dictatorship with a new government more closely aligned
with the United States--would put America more wholly in charge of the
region than any power since the Ottomans, or maybe the Romans."
(Frum is a former speechwriter for George W. Bush, and
the author of The Right Man. The Surprise Presidency of George W. Bush.
Random House, 2003, pp. 232, 233)
President George W. Bush
"When we make a pledge, we mean it. We keep our word, and what we
begin, we will finish." (April 15, 2003)
"I worry about a culture that devalues life and believe as your
president I have an important obligation to foster and encourage respect for
life in America and throughout the world." (August 2001.
President Bush explaining why he was refusing federal funds for research
that involves destroying human embryos. This quote is not about war per se,
but reveals President Bush's basic attitude. Ed.)
"Our nation is still somewhat sad, but we're angry.
There's a certain level of blood lust, but we won't let it drive our
reaction. We're steady, clear-eyed and patient, but pretty soon we'll
have to start displaying scalps."
(Comment to King Abdullah of Jordan, just prior to
the U.S. initiation of action against Afghanistan. Quote from Bob Woodward,
Bush At War, p. 168.)
"All told, more than 3,000 suspected terrorists have been
arrested in many countries. Many others have met a different fate. Let's put
it this way -- they are no longer a problem to the United States and our
friends and allies."
(State of the Union Address, January,
2003)
Noam Chomsky
"It's reasonably clear that the official reasons for the war cannot be taken
seriously. The Bush Administration is carrying out a serious assault
against the general population. They have to prevent people from
paying attention, and the only way anyone has ever figured out how to do
that is to terrify them with tales of monsters who are about to destroy us."
(Interview in The New Yorker, March
31, 2003, p. 79. Chomsky, who's internationally known as a linguist and
activist is a professor at M.I.T. Chomsky's comment on "the general
population" is a criticism of the administration's domestic policies. Ed. )
INTERNATIONALANSWER.ORG
"Borrowing a page from the nightmare of the Vietnam War
when a U.S. commander explained that U.S. soldiers were burning a peasant
village in order to save it from communism, the Bush/Cheney/Rumsfeld cabal
have decided to burn Baghdad to save it from the current Iraqi Government.
The world is in a state of Shock and Revulsion as the
murderous Bush Administration follows through on its promise to "Shock and
Awe" the Iraqi people by dropping thousands of bombs and missiles on their
capital, a city that is home to 4.5 million human beings.This horrific
unprovoked attack on a dense urban area must be understood as one of the
extreme terrorist acts of modern times. Cruise missiles launched from
submarines and air craft hundreds of miles away and 3,000 lb. bombs dropped
from 30,000 ft. up are the latest example of the Bush administration's
criminal resort to limitless violence and terrorism in order to achieve its
objectives of conquest and occupation. The hypocrisy of the war against Iraq
is extreme: the most powerful military in the world waging first strike war
with the most advanced weapons against an impoverished country on the
pretext that it someday may possess such weapons."
(Excerpt from newsletter of
InternationalANSWER, a coalition of anti-war groups)
John Brady Kiesling
"Our fervent pursuit of war with Iraq is driving us to
squander the international legitimacy that has been America’s most potent
weapon of both offense and defense since the days of Woodrow Wilson. We have
begun to dismantle the largest and most effective web of international
relationships the world has ever known. Our current course will bring
instability and danger, not security."
(Letter of resignation, Athens,
Thursday 27 February 2003; Kiesling was a career diplomat who has served
under four Presidents from Tel Aviv to Casablanca.
Click here to see the complete text.)
Ismar Schosch
"We hope the war will end the ruthless regime of Saddam Hussein, set the
stage for the formation of a more benign Iraqi government and advance the
resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. But in supporting our
troops on the field of battle, I feel compelled to state that I do not back
the policy of the American government that put them there. I lament
the absence of a debate in Congress authorizing this war. I dispute
the evidence linking Iraq to 9/11 and remain unconvinced of any imminent
threat that Hussein poses to American security....In choosing the path of an
unwarranted preemptive strike, the administration has damaged longstanding
bilateral relationships vital to the interests of the United States and
dismantled international structures designed to transcend the ravages of two
world wars."
(Ismar Schorsch is chancellor or the Jewish Theological
Seminary in NYC. The is a quote from the LA Times, March 22, 2003)
Why Did The Chicken Cross The
Road?
(The following selection is a clever piece
that we received recently. We do not know the author's name, and if you
know, please let us know. As you will quickly see, it is not a war
quote, but we have included it here because several of the principals in the
Iraq War are quoted. Ed.)
GEORGE W. BUSH: We don't really care why the chicken
crossed the road. We just want to know if the chicken is on our side of the
road or not. The chicken is either with us or it is against us. There is no
middle ground here.
COLIN POWELL: Now at the left of the screen, you clearly see the satellite
image of the chicken crossing the road.
HANS BLIX: We have reason to believe there is a chicken, but we have not yet
been allowed access to the other side of the road.
MOHAMMED ALDOURI (Iraq ambassador): The chicken did not cross the road. This
is a complete fabrication. We don't even have a chicken.
RALPH NADER: The chicken's habitat on the original side of the road had been
polluted by unchecked industrialist greed. The chicken did not reach the
unspoiled habitat on the other side of the road because it was crushed by
the wheels of a gas-guzzling SUV.
PAT BUCHANAN: To steal a job from a decent, hard-working American.
RUSH LIMBAUGH: I don't know why the chicken crossed the road, but I'll bet
it was getting a government grant to cross the road, and I'll bet someone
out there is already forming a support group to help chickens with
crossing-the-road syndrome. Can you believe this? How much more of this can
real Americans take? Chickens crossing the road paid for by tax dollars, and
when I say tax dollars, I'm talking about your money, money the government
took from you to build roads for chickens to cross.
MARTHA STEWART: No one called to warn me which way that chicken was going. I
had a standing order at the farmer's market to sell my eggs when the price
dropped to a certain level. No little bird gave me any insider information.
JERRY FALWELL: Because the chicken was gay! Isn't it obvious? Can't you
people see the plain truth in front of your face? The chicken was going to
the "other side." That's what they call it -- the other side. Yes, my
friends, that chicken is gay. And, if you eat that chicken, you will become
gay too. I say we boycott all chickens until we sort out this abomination
that the liberal media whitewashes with seemingly harmless phrases like "the
other side."
DR. SEUSS:
Did the chicken cross the road?
Did he cross it with a toad?
Yes, The chicken crossed the road,
But why it crossed, I've not been told!
DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR.: I envision a world where all chickens will be
free to cross roads without having their motives called into question.
GRANDPA: In my day, we didn't ask why the chicken crossed the road. Someone
told us that the chicken crossed the road, and that was good enough for us.
BARBARA WALTERS: Isn't that interesting? In a few moments we will be
listening to the chicken tell, for the first time, the heart-warming story
of how it experienced a serious case of molting and went on to accomplish
its life-long dream of crossing the road.
JOHN LENNON: Imagine all the chickens crossing roads in peace.
ARISTOTLE: It is the nature of chickens to cross the road.
KARL MARX
It was an historical inevitability.
VOLTAIRE: I may not agree with what the chicken did, but I will defend to
the death its right to do it.
CAPTAIN KIRK: To boldly go where no chicken has gone before.
FOX MULDER: You saw it cross the road with your own eyes! How many more
chickens have to cross before you believe it?
SIGMUND FREUD: The fact that you are at all concerned that the chicken
crossed the road reveals your underlying sexual insecurity.
BILL GATES: I have just released eChicken 2003, which will not only cross
roads, but will lay eggs, file your important documents, and balance your
checkbook - and Internet Explorer is an inextricable part of eChicken.
ALBERT EINSTEIN: Did the chicken really cross the road or did the road move
beneath the chicken?
COLONEL SANDERS: I missed one?
Bill Keller
"Maybe we're all a little too desperate these days for a
simple formula to explain how our safe world came unhinged. That, as much as
anything, may explain one of the more enduring conspiracy theories of the
moment, the notion that we are about to send a quarter of a million American
soldiers to war for the sake of Israel."
(Bill Keller is a
columnist for The New York Times. This is an excerpt from his
column of March 8, 2003.
Click here to read a longer
quote.)
Gary Hart
"The urgent necessity to disband terrorist networks abroad
and to secure the American homeland has been replaced by the Bush
administration's puzzling preoccupation with Saddam Hussein. He has become
George Bush's White Whale, an obsession that has cost us international
solidarity in eradicating terrorism, the goodwill of tens of millions of
people worldwide and the role of benign democratic world leader...."
(Gary Hart is a former U.S. Senator from
Colorado. He was co-chairman of the U.S. Commission on National Security.
Excerpt from an op-ed piece in The Washington Post, March 9, 2003)
Have We Been Misled? The
Use Of Poison Gas Against The Kurds At Halabjah
“...Blood agents were allegedly responsible for
the most infamous instance of chemicals in the (Iran-Iraq) war—the killing
of Kurds at Halabjah. Since the Iraqis have no history of using these two
agents (cyanogen chloride or hydrogen cyanide), and the Iranians do, we
conclude that the Iranians perpetrated this attack. It is also worth noting
that lethal concentrations of cyanogen are difficult to obtain over an area
target, thus the reports of 5000 dead at Halabjah are suspect..”
(U.S. Marine Corps historical document, FMFRP 3-203
Appendix B, p. 99)
Robert Byrd
"Today I weep for my country. No more is the image of
America one of strong, yet benevolent peacekeeper. ... Around the globe, our
friends mistrust us, our word is disputed, our intentions are questioned. We
flaunt our superpower status with arrogance....After war has ended the
United States will have to rebuild much more than the country of Iraq. We
will have to rebuild America's image around the globe."
(March 19, 2003 Robert Byrd is the ranking U.S. Senator
from West Virginia, and the oldest member of the U.S. Senate.)
ANDREW MARLATT
"Bitter after being snubbed for membership in
the "Axis of Evil", Libya, China and Syria today announced that they had
formed the "Axis of Just as Evil", which they said would be more evil than
that stupid Iran-Iraq-North Korea axis President Bush warned of in his State
of the Union address.
"Axis of Evil members, however, immediately dismissed the
new Axis as having, for starters, a really dumb name. "Right. They are just
as evil . . . in their dreams!" declared North Korean leader Kim Jong-il.
"Everybody knows we're the best evils . . . best at being evil . . . we're
the best."
"Diplomats from Syria denied they were jealous over being excluded, although
they conceded they did ask if they could join the Axis of Evil. "They told
us it was full," said Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
"An axis can't have more than three countries", explained
Iraqi President Saddam Hussein. "This is not my rule, it's tradition. In
World War II you had Germany, Italy, and Japan in the evil Axis. So, you can
only have three, and a secret handshake. Ours is wickedly cool."
"International reaction to Bush's Axis of Evil declaration was swift, as
within minutes, France surrendered. Elsewhere, peer-conscious nations
rushed to gain triumvirate status in what has become a game of geopolitical
chairs. Cuba, Sudan and Serbia announced that they had formed the "Axis of
Somewhat Evil", forcing Somalia to join with Uganda and Myanmar in the "Axis
of Occasionally Evil", while Bulgaria, Indonesia and Russia established the
"Axis of Not So Much Evil Really as Just Generally Disagreeable...."
To read the rest of Marlatt's
brilliant piece, click here.
(This satire has been widely
attributed to John Cleese, co-creator of
Monty Python's Flying Circus. Thanks to a reader who
identified the real author, and our sincere apologies to the talented
Andrew Marlatt. Marlatt is author of Economy of Errors, which
can be obtained at SatireWire.com--where this piece was originally
published.)
Howard Zinn
"There is no flag large enough to cover the shame of killing innocent
people."
(Howard Zinn is author of The People's History of
the United States.)
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