“I can’t
tell you if all 10 fingers are off the throat, but finger by finger
[Saddam’s grip is] coming off.”—President Bush, press
conference in Belfast, Northern Ireland, April 8.
“
We’re dealing with a country in which everybody has a weapon, and
when they fire them all into the air at the same time, it’s tough.”—Lt.
Gen. William S. Wallace, commander of US Army V Corps,
March 27, reported in Washington Post, April 12.
“
The Republican Guard is in full control. We have defeated
them; in fact, we have crushed them. We have pushed them outside the whole
area of the airport.”—Muhammad Said al-Sahhaf, Iraq’s
information minister, April 5, reported in New York
Times, April 6.
“
Don’t believe these invaders and these liars. There are none of their
troops in Baghdad.”—Said al-Sahhaf on Iraqi television,
reported in New York Times, April 8.
“
Iraq will not be defeated. ... Iraq has now already achieved
victory—apart from some technicalities.”—Mohsen
Khalil, Iraq’s ambassador to the Arab League, reported
by Associated Press in Ha’aretz Daily, Israel,
April 7.
“
The United States is going to leave Iraq with its tail
between its legs, defeated. It is a war we cannot win.
We do not have the military means to take over Baghdad,
and for this reason I believe the defeat of the United
States in this war is inevitable. Every time we confront
Iraqi troops we may win some tactical battles, as we did
for 10 years in Vietnam, but we will not be able to win
this war, which in my opinion is already lost.”—Scott
Ritter, former UN arms inspector, TSF Radio Lisbon,
Portugal, March 25, cited by Internet commentator
Andrew Sullivan.
“
I believe the Americans have so far been unable to capture
a single large locality because the Iraqis organized their
defense using the combat experience of the Soviet Army,
obtained during World War II.”—Retired
Col. Gen. Vladislav Achalov, former Soviet
deputy minister
of defense
(and recent military advisor to Saddam), Interfax-Military
News Agency, reported by Associated Press in
Moscow Times, April 7.
“
Opinions Vary on Worth of Hussein Dead or Alive”—Headline,
Dallas Morning News, April 9.
“
I picked up a newspaper today and I couldn’t believe
it. I read eight headlines that talked about chaos, violence,
unrest. ... And here is a country that’s being liberated,
here are people who are going from being repressed and
held under the thumb of a vicious dictator, and they’re
free. And all this newspaper could do, with eight or 10
headlines, they showed a man bleeding, a civilian, who
they claimed we had shot—one thing after another.
It’s just unbelievable how people can take that away
from what is happening in that country!”—Secretary
of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld, Pentagon
news briefing, April 11.
“
I appreciate their efforts, but I’m afraid it’s
not working. This feed-and-kill policy—throwing bombs
in Baghdad and throwing food at the people—is not
winning hearts and minds.”—Khaled
Abdelkariem, Middle East News Agency
correspondent, reported
in New York Times, April 5.
“
Peter Arnett is a professional correspondent and is known
for his coverage of the 1991 Gulf War. His presence is
a good thing.”—Salah
Nejm, news editor of Al Arabiya televison
in Dubai,
after signing
up Arnett,
who had been fired by NBC, reported
by Reuters, New York
Times,
April 5.
“
This war is going to prove that, despite precision bombing
and technology, there comes a time when you need heavy
tank divisions. ... The view that heavy tank divisions
are antiquated is about as correct as the predictions that
machine guns would make foot soldiers irrelevant in World
War I.”—Rep. Chet Edwards (D–Tex.),
whose district includes the Ft. Hood
Army post, reported by
Congressional Quarterly Weekly, April
5.
“
I figured the less classified sessions I go to, the better.”—Rep.
Raúl M. Grijalva (D–Ariz.),
opponent of the war, saying he
preferred to get his
information from
CNN, reported by New York Times,
April 5.
“
Had it been possible to know on March 20 that in just 17
days, US forces would have captured Baghdad’s international
airport, destroyed most of the Republican Guard, and secured
Iraq’s vital oil infrastructure, all at a cost of
fewer than 75 American lives, most people in this country
would have been elated at the prospect of seemingly overwhelming
military success.”—Editorial,
Washington Post, April 6.
“
In particular, my thought goes to Iraq and to all those
involved in the war that rages there. I think in a special
way about the defenseless civilian population that in various
cities is undergoing a hard test. May God want this conflict
to finish soon and to make space for a new era of forgiveness,
love, and peace.”—Pope
John Paul II, reported by Associated
Press,
Washington
Post,
April 7.
“
The UK media has lost the plot. You stand for nothing,
you support nothing, you criticize, you drip. ... If you
look at what fills newspapers now, it’s the equivalent
of reality TV—it’s superficial, there’s
very little news reporting, there’s very little analysis,
but there’s a lot of conjecture. The media thought
they were going to get a one-hour-45-minute Hollywood blockbuster,
and it’s not like that. War is a dirty, disgusting,
ugly thing, and I worry about it being dignified as infotainment.”—British
Air Marshal Brian Burridge, reported in London’s
Daily Telegraph, April 7.
“
Wars are human endeavors. While a person, a political party,
or a nation may decide that war is necessary, the animals
never do. Like civilians, they often become the victims
of war, but now the US military is deliberately putting
animals in harm’s way. ... There is no need to put
innocent animals at risk.”—People for the Ethical
Treatment of Animals, saying, “The US military is
using chickens, dogs, dolphins, pigeons, and sea lions
to fight the war against Iraq,” peta.org.
“
I do expect the UN to play an important role [in rebuilding
Iraq], and the UN has good experience in this area. ...
Above all, the UN involvement does bring legitimacy, which
is necessary—necessary for the country, for the region,
and for the people around the world.”—UN Secretary–General
Kofi Annan, press encounter,
April 7.
“
America’s New Vietnam”—Cover of French newspaper
Le Figaro’s weekly
magazine, reported by
London Times,
April 8.
“
We’ve gotten rid of him—I suppose that’s
a good thing.”—Howard Dean about Saddam Hussein,
at April 9 Children’s
Defense Fund forum
for Democratic Presidential
candidates,
reported
by
New York Times,
April 10.
“
US forces must prove that the incident was not a deliberate
attack to dissuade or prevent journalists from continuing
to report on what is happening in Baghdad.”—Robert
Menard, secretary–general of Paris–based
Reporters Without
Borders, on journalists
killed
at Palestine Hotel
in Baghdad, reported
by New York
Times, April 9.
“
There’s nothing sacrosanct about a hotel with a bunch
of journalists in it.”—Retired
Marine Corps Lt.
Gen. Bernard E.
Trainor, reported
by Washington
Post, April
9.
“
I’m a skeptic about the ability to transform Iraq
into a democracy in any realistic period of time. What’s
going to happen the first time we hold an election in Iraq
and it turns out the radicals win? What do you do? We’re
surely not going to let them take over. ... What’s
likely to happen is that the meanest, toughest ones will
rise to the top, at least for a couple of generations.”—Brent
Scowcroft, national
security advisor
to the first
President Bush,
speech in Oslo,
Norway,
April
8, reported by
New York Times,
April
9.
“
We are no longer in an era where one or two countries can
control the fate of another country.”—French
President Jacques
Chirac, press
briefing, after
a meeting with
UN commission
on refugees,
April
8.
“
I would say the war in Iraq is illegitimate. Self-defense
is how the US rationalizes the war on terror, but there
is no connection between that and the Iraq war. ... Kosovo
was illegitimate as well. It was legitimized in arrears
with UN resolutions, but there was no UN authority to commence
that campaign.”—Douglas Fraser, UN weapons inspector
and retired Canadian colonel, reported in London’s
Financial
Times, April
9.
“
None of the Old Testament prophets had a majority.”—Rev.
Robert
Edgar, former Democratic Congressman, now general secretary
of the National
Council
of Churches (which
opposed
the
Iraq war) on polls showing that most churchgoers
support the war, reported
by
Newhouse.com, April 9.
“
Credit Military Success to Clinton’s Policies, Not
Bush’s Defense Spending Spree”—Headline,
Philadelphia
Inquirer,
April
10.
“
I agree the French have behaved in ways ... that have been
very damaging to NATO. I think France is going to pay some
consequences, not just with us but with other countries
who view it that way, but I don’t think we want to
make the Iraqi people the victims of that particular quarrel.”—Deputy
Secretary
of
Defense
Paul
D.
Wolfowitz
to
Senate
Armed
Services
Committee,
April
10.
“
Predicting that the next war in Iraq would be a ‘cw’—for
my sake, now think ‘crushing win’—my early
2002 article established the baseline: ‘It was a cakewalk
last time,’ during the Gulf War. Granted, I’m
an incurable optimist, but even I could never have envisioned
the coalition controlling the enemy capital within three
weeks—less than half the time, with less than half
the US casualties, of the first Gulf War. ... Now is not
an occasion for gloating.”—Ken Adelman, who had
predicted “a cakewalk in Iraq,” Washington
Post,
April
10.
“
Everyone’s definition of ‘cakewalk’ is different,
and if Adelman’s is stretched to include a campaign
in which we so far have deployed 300,000 troops, spent
$70 billion, lost more than 130 servicemen and -women,
suffered hundreds of wounded, and killed many thousands
of Iraqis, that is his right.”—Philip H. Gordon
and Michael E. O’Hanlon, Washington Post, April 12.
(O’Hanlon
had predicted
as many
as 5,000
US military
dead and
20,000 wounded,
50,000 Iraqi
military killed,
50,000 Iraqi
civilian casualties.)
“
I have always disliked that term, and no one in the senior
leadership in this Administration, either civilian or military,
and certainly not the President, has ever thought that
war is anything other than a very dangerous thing.”—Wolfowitz,
on “cakewalk” prediction, NBC’s “Meet
the Press,” April
6.
“
I have no relationship with Saddam. The game is over, and
I hope peace will prevail. I hope the Iraqi people will
have a happy life.”—Iraq’s
ambassador to
the UN,
Mohammed Douri,
CNN, reported
in Washington
Post, April
10.
“
France, like all democracies, rejoices in the fall of the
dictatorship of Saddam Hussein.”—Chirac, in an
official communiqué issued
by his
office, April
10.
“
Al-Jazeera’s extended, uncensored, on-the-ground coverage
of the invasion has demonstrated, contrary to US and British
claims, that this has not been a bloodless, costless, and
clean war. ... Viewers in the United States would benefit
from an English–language television station that followed
the al-Jazeera commitment to democracy, debate, and accountability.”—Frances
S. Hasso, assistant professor, Gender and Women’s
Studies Program,
Oberlin College,
Long Island
Newsday, April
17.
“
I don’t want to speak about the past now. Now we should
think about how the military victory can be turned to help
the entire region.”—German
Chancellor Gerhard
Schroeder, April
11, reported
by New
York Times,
April 12.
“
A searching and independent assessment will be needed to
determine whether the defeat of the Iraqi military was
a landmark in warfare or simply a lopsided fight.”—Editorial,
New York
Times, April
12.
“
For France and Germany to announce that they would vote
against the United States in the Security Council was unprecedented
in itself. But this was dwarfed by their intense diplomatic
lobbying against American policy in far-flung capitals,
ignoring a half-century of alliance tradition—even
going so far as to create the impression among East European
leaders that cooperation with the United States in the
war might further complicate their entry into the European
Union. With an attitude of almost gleeful defiance, the
French and German foreign ministers invited their Russian
counterpart, the erstwhile NATO adversary, to stand beside
them in Paris while they publicly repudiated a top-priority
policy of their ally of half a century.”—Henry
Kissinger, San Diego Union–Tribune,
April 13.
“
Today, France and Germany are like pigeons who want to
snatch a bit of the prey killed by hawks. They want contracts
in the post–Hussein Iraq and are ready to work hard
to get them.”—Andrei
A. Piontkovsky,
Moscow think
tank director,
reported by
Los Angeles
Times, April
13.
“
In no other profession are there so many smug, arrogant
people with so little justification for being arrogant
as there are in journalism.”—Jack
Kelly, former
Marine and
Green Beret
and former
deputy assistant
secretary
of
the Air
Force, Washington
Times, April
13.
“
I would anticipate that the major combat engagements are
over because the major Iraqi units on the ground cease
to show coherence.”—Army
Maj. Gen.
A. Stanley
McChrystal,
Joint
Staff vice
director
for
operations,
Pentagon
news briefing,
April 14.
“
All the military lessons of Operation Iraqi Freedom hinge
on the answer to a single question: How representative
is Saddam’s regime of future adversaries?”—Loren
B. Thompson,
Lexington
Institute,
reported
by
Christian
Science
Monitor,
April
16.
“
The key conclusion we must draw from the latest Gulf War
is that the obsolete structure of the Russian armed forces
has to be urgently changed. The gap between our capabilities
and those of the Americans has been revealed, and it is
vast. We are very lucky that Russia has no major enemies
at the moment, but the future is impossible to predict,
and we must be ready.”—Vladimir Dvorkin, head
of the Russian Defense Ministry’s
official
think
tank,
reported
in Christian
Science
Monitor,
April
16.
“
The Republican Guard no longer serves in this country.
The Special Republican Guard no longer serves in this country.
The regular army in this country no longer functions. In
that respect, certainly, the decisive combat portion of
the campaign is finished.”—Army
Gen.
Tommy
R.
Franks,
commander,
Central
Command,
April
16,
reported
in
New
York
Times,
April
17.
“
Saddam is gone and good riddance. ... “There are German
and French soldiers in Afghanistan today. Does the President
want them to come home?”—Former
President
Bill
Clinton,
reported
in
New
York
Daily
News,
April
16.
“
We’re not dogs on a leash.”—Chief
UN
weapons inspector Hans Blix, whose inspectors want
to
go back to Iraq
but
say they
will
not
work
under
the
Americans,
reported by Associated
Press,
April 17.
“
We see no immediate role for Dr. Blix and his inspection
teams.”—Richard
Grenell,
spokesman
for
the
US
ambassador
to
the
UN,
reported
by
Associated
Press,
April
22.
“
A soldier would say to me, ‘Sir, excuse me, but I
cannot stay here because of the bombing. I fear for my
family. I’m sorry, sir.’ I would say, ‘Don’t
worry. God go with you. I will be joining you soon.’ ”—Col.
A.T. Said, Republican Guard, London’s
Daily
Telegraph,
April
17.
“
I still maintain that the campaign carried some very big
risks. I just know that in the 3rd Division commander’s
shoes, I would have felt very lonely on occasion, not having
a reserve force available to bail me out of trouble.”—Retired
Army
Gen.
Frederick
J.
Kroesen,
reported
in
Washington
Post,
April
18.
“
If he is alive, I would suggest he not pop his head up.”—Bush,
replying to question about Saddam dead or alive, press
conference
at
Ft.
Hood,
April
20.
“
The forces of internal security are considered among the
important apparatuses in Iraq. They are responsible for
protecting the security of the revolution internally; for
preserving stability; for protecting citizens and preserving
their lives and property from those breaching the law.
... They make certain justice and righteousness for all
is maintained.”—Textbook
for
sixth-grade
students
in
Iraq,
reported
by
New
York
Times,
April
20.
“
I think we were thoroughly inside the decision loop and
capability of the [Saddam] regime. We started the ground
war first, before the air war. So if you’re waiting
for the big air war to start, 38 days of air war ... didn’t
happen that way.”—Gen.
Richard
B.
Myers,
Chairman
of
the
Joint
Chiefs
of
Staff,
reported
by
Army
Times,
April
21.
“
The Defense Secretary should resign—now. Although
George W. Bush is ultimately responsible for the catastrophe
unfolding in Iraq, it is Donald Rumsfeld who is the Cabinet
member directly charged with planning and carrying out
the nation’s wars. ... [Rumsfeld and his colleagues]
have deceived the American people, misled US soldiers whose
lives are at risk, scorned the United Nations, and defied
international law.”—Editorial,
The
Nation,
April
21.
“
The impression that’s left around the world is that
we plan to occupy the country, we plan to use their bases
over the long period of time, and it’s flat false.
... The people peddling that stuff are wrong, and the people
writing it should check things out better.”—Rumsfeld,
on
press
report
that
US
wants
permanent
bases
|
