It is beyond dispute that Saddam Hussein is a menace.
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
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Democracy doesn’t just consist of holding elections.
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I’m afraid that the United States is more isolated today than at any other time in my memory.
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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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Saddam’s ouster will not necessarily lead to the same result, since Iraq lacks democratic traditions. Democracy doesn’t just consist of holding elections.
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The radical elements in Islam are very dangerous. They want to achieve a return to the Islamic purity of the Middle Ages.
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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.
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It’s not for nothing that the Iranians are known as rug merchants. They are.
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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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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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The radical elements in Islam are very dangerous.
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After all, we didn’t bring democracy to Germany in 1945; Hitler destroyed democracy there first.
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Yes, Israel’s our ally. But, are the Palestinians our enemy? No, they are not.
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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.
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I think America has to do more than be a broker now. Because both the Palestinians are weak and Israel is very weak.
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My point was that removing Saddam should not have been our highest priority. Fighting terrorism should have been our number one concern, followed by the Palestinian peace process.
BRENT SCOWCROFT






