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Democracy doesn’t just consist of holding elections.

Brent Scowcroft

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

Fighting Followed Numbers Terrorism
Progress is only possible if the United States and its allies work together.
BRENT SCOWCROFT

Allies Progress Together Working
Yes, Israel’s our ally. But, are the Palestinians our enemy? No, they are not.
BRENT SCOWCROFT

Allies Country Enemy People
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 SCOWCROFT

Country Different People Vietnam
Saddam’s ouster will not necessarily lead to the same result, since Iraq lacks democratic traditions. Democracy doesn’t just consist of holding elections.
BRENT SCOWCROFT

Country Democracy Election People
America has never seen itself as a national state like all others, but rather as an experiment in human freedom and democracy.
BRENT SCOWCROFT

Country Democracy People States
The radical elements in Islam are very dangerous. They want to achieve a return to the Islamic purity of the Middle Ages.
BRENT SCOWCROFT

Age Dangerous Elements Islamic
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

Explain Forthcoming Region Something
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.
BRENT SCOWCROFT

Boys Problem West
Democracy doesn’t just consist of holding elections.
BRENT SCOWCROFT

Consists Democracy Election
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

Enlightenment Gone Share
The Iraqis need help establishing a government. We have to provide them with security.
BRENT SCOWCROFT

Government Helping Needs
If Iraq were to descend into chaos, the Europeans would feel the effects just as much as we would.
BRENT SCOWCROFT

Chaos Country Feels People
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

Country Money People United States War
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

Country People Strength Stronger
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

Country Hussein Internal People Situation

Democracy doesn’t just consist of holding elections.

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Democracy doesn’t just consist of holding elections.

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