But, if you believe we should go around the world overturning regimes to make little United States, I don’t agree with that, because I don’t think we’re capable of doing that.
BRENT SCOWCROFTAfter all, we didn’t bring democracy to Germany in 1945; Hitler destroyed democracy there first.
More Brent Scowcroft Quotes
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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 -
Europeans are familiar with terrorism and violence. We have not experienced a true conflict on our soil in a hundred years, and especially not one that involved 3,000 dead.
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America wants to work with friends, with allies, with people of good will, to make this a better world.
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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.
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Democracy doesn’t just consist of holding elections.
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.
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Information technology has politicized the world’s population.
BRENT SCOWCROFT -
America has never seen itself as a national state like all others, but rather as an experiment in human freedom and democracy.
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Much of what we know about mathematics and trade comes from the Arabs. Then came stagnation, and now they’re the West’s whipping boy. This is a problem that cannot be solved overnight, and certainly not militarily.
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The art of diplomacy is to take an opportunity and turn it into something.
BRENT SCOWCROFT -
The radical elements in Islam are very dangerous.
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The Iraqis need help establishing a government. We have to provide them with security.
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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.
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Progress is only possible if the United States and its allies work together.
BRENT SCOWCROFT