I’m afraid that the United States is more isolated today than at any other time in my memory.
BRENT SCOWCROFTWe 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.
More Brent Scowcroft Quotes
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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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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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But the central point is that any campaign against Iraq, whatever the strategy, cost and risks, is certain to divert us for some indefinite period from our war on terrorism.
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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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Democracy doesn’t just consist of holding elections.
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Information technology has politicized the world’s population.
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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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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.
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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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I don’t think the Chinese look out at the world and want to overturn the system.
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If Iraq were to descend into chaos, the Europeans would feel the effects just as much as we would.
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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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It’s not for nothing that the Iranians are known as rug merchants. They are.
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The Iraqis need help establishing a government. We have to provide them with security.
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Russia right now is searching for its soul. It’s trying to figure out what it really is.
BRENT SCOWCROFT