After the ’30s, we said, “no more Munichs.” And it got us in a lot of problems. Then we said, “No more Vietnams.” Now if we say, “No more Iraqs,” the next one won’t be an Iraq. It will be something different. You can’t learn lessons.
BRENT SCOWCROFTTo sum up, the position we took was that since we didn’t know the internal situation in Iraq nor Saddam Hussein, that our best bet was to take counsel from the people who did know him and who did deal with him.
More Brent Scowcroft Quotes
-
-
After all, we didn’t bring democracy to Germany in 1945; Hitler destroyed democracy there first.
BRENT SCOWCROFT -
Since the days of Peter the Great, Russians have been maybe Europeans who didn’t share in the enlightenment and the reformation, or are they Mongol Asians with the European veneer. And they’ve gone back and forth.
BRENT SCOWCROFT -
I think America has to do more than be a broker now. Because both the Palestinians are weak and Israel is very weak.
BRENT SCOWCROFT -
Democracy doesn’t just consist of holding elections.
BRENT SCOWCROFT -
It’s not for nothing that the Iranians are known as rug merchants. They are.
BRENT SCOWCROFT -
To sum up, the position we took was that since we didn’t know the internal situation in Iraq nor Saddam Hussein, that our best bet was to take counsel from the people who did know him and who did deal with him.
BRENT SCOWCROFT -
The radical elements in Islam are very dangerous.
BRENT SCOWCROFT -
America is stronger than any state probably since the Roman Empire. But we can’t do what used to be done with that kind of strength.
BRENT SCOWCROFT -
The art of diplomacy is to take an opportunity and turn it into something.
BRENT SCOWCROFT -
We have not been forthcoming about explaining a security relationship for the region, in which Iran can feel secure and thus maybe willing to do something.
BRENT SCOWCROFT -
America has never seen itself as a national state like all others, but rather as an experiment in human freedom and democracy.
BRENT SCOWCROFT -
Who is the guarantor, if there is one, of a more stable world? It’s the United States.
BRENT SCOWCROFT -
Information technology has politicized the world’s population.
BRENT SCOWCROFT -
If Iraq were to descend into chaos, the Europeans would feel the effects just as much as we would.
BRENT SCOWCROFT -
If you look back at the first Gulf war, the Arabs sent forces, they sent money. So their interests in Iraq are clear, but they’re nowhere to be seen now. Why? Because right now, it’s dangerous to be seen as supporting the United States.
BRENT SCOWCROFT