| Individuals quoted herein issued remarks in a variety of ways–speeches, impromptu statements, testimony, briefings, press interviews, and so forth. Where possible, we cite the original venue and the date. Otherwise, we provide a prominent media source of the quotation. Date of media publication does not necessarily indicate the date of the actual utterance. |
News Media Abbreviations Used |
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| Christian Science Monitor | CSM |
| Inside the Air Force | ITAF |
| International Herald Tribune | IHT |
| Los Angeles Times | LAT |
| New York Times | NYT |
| Wall Street Journal | WSJ |
| Washington Post | WP |
| Washington Times | WT |
| USA Today | USAT |
“On my orders, the United States military has begun strikes against al Qaeda terrorist training camps and military installations of the Taliban regime in Afghanistan. These carefully targeted actions are designed to disrupt the use of Afghanistan as a terrorist base of operations and to attack the military capability of the Taliban regime.” –President Bush, address to the nation, 10-7-01.
“More than two weeks ago, I gave Taliban leaders a series of clear and specific demands: Close terrorist training camps; hand over leaders of the al Qaeda network; and return all foreign nationals, including American citizens, unjustly detained in your country. None of these demands were met. And now the Taliban will pay a price.” –Bush, address to the nation, 10-7-01.
“Our military action is … designed to clear the way for sustained, comprehensive, and relentless operations to drive them [bin Laden terrorists] out and bring them to justice.” –Bush, address to the nation, 10-7-01.
“Today, we focus on Afghanistan, but the battle is broader. Every nation has a choice to make. In this conflict, there is no neutral ground. If any government sponsors the outlaws and killers of innocents, they have become outlaws and murderers themselves. And they will take that lonely path at their own peril.” –Bush, address to the nation, 10-7-01.
“To all the men and women in our military, … I say this: Your mission is defined; your objectives are clear; your goal is just. You have my full confidence, and you will have every tool you need to carry out your duty.” –Bush, address to the nation, 10-7-01.
“The effect we hope to achieve through these raids … is to create conditions for sustained antiterrorist and humanitarian relief operations in Afghanistan. That requires that, among other things, we first remove the threat from air defenses and from Taliban aircraft.” –Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, DOD briefing, 10-7-01.
“In Kuwait, in northern Iraq, in Somalia, Bosnia, and Kosovo, the United States took action on behalf of Muslim populations against outside invaders and oppressive regimes. The same is true today.” –Rumsfeld, DOD briefing, 10-7-01.
“To say that these [US] attacks are in any way against Afghanistan or the Afghan people is flat wrong. We support the Afghan people against the al Qaeda, a foreign presence on their land, and against the Taliban regime that supports them.” –Rumsfeld, DOD briefing, 10-7-01.
“You cannot defend at every place, at every time, against every conceivable, imaginableeven unimaginableterrorist attack.” –Rumsfeld, DOD briefing, 10-7-01.
“Terrorism is a cancer on the human condition, and we intend to oppose it wherever it is.” –Rumsfeld, statement, 10-7-01.
“The fact is in this battle against terrorism there is no silver bullet. There is no single thing that is going to suddenly make that threat disappear. Ultimately they’re going to collapse from within and they’re going to collapse from within because of the full combination of all of the resources from all of the countries that are brought to bear on these networks. That is what will constitute victory.” –Rumsfeld, statement, 10-7-01.
“I want to remind you that while today’s operations are visible, many other operations may not be so visible. But visible or not, our friends and enemies should understand that all instruments of our national power, as well as those of our friends and allies around the world, are being brought to bear on this global menace.” –Gen. Richard Myers, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, DOD briefing, 10-7-01.
“There is no doubt in my mind, nor in the mind of anyone who has been through all the available evidence, including intelligence material, that these attacks were carried out by the al Qaeda network masterminded by Osama bin Laden. Equally, it is clear that his network is harbored and supported by the Taliban regime inside Afghanistan.” –British Prime Minister Tony Blair, press conference, 10-7-01.
“It is more than two weeks since an ultimatum was delivered to the Taliban to yield up the terrorists or face the consequences. It is clear beyond doubt that they will not do this. They were given the choice of siding with justice or siding with terror, and they chose to side with terror.” –Blair, press conference, 10-7-01.
“We’re in a war against terrorism. It’s not going to be short, and we’re not going to move away from the battlefields until we’ve won it. And that means totally. And that includes states and others that harbor terrorists, that support terrorists. So I think if we’re sincere about that, we can’t stop with bin Laden and the Taliban. But we’ve got to go on to some of these other groups, including Hezbollah, which incidentally has been implicated in a couple of major attacks against American targets that have resulted in the death of Americans.” –Sen. Joseph Lieberman, Fox TV’s “Fox Sunday Morning,” 10-7-01.
“The crucial ingredient of any WesternIslamic conflict [is] their quite distinctively different ways of making war. Westerners fight face to face, in standup battle, and go on until one side or the other gives in. They choose the crudest weapons available, and use them with appalling violence, but observe what, to nonWesterners, may well seem curious rules of honor. Orientals, by contrast, shrink from pitched battle, which they often deride as a sort of game, preferring ambush, surprise, treachery, and deceit as the best way to overcome an enemy. … On Sept. 11, 2001, it [the Oriental tradition] returned in an absolutely traditional form. Arabs, appearing suddenly out of empty space like their desert raider ancestors, assaulted the heartlands of Western power, in a terrifying surprise raid and did appalling damage. … Westerners have learned, by harsh experience, that the proper response is not to take fright but to marshal their forces, to launch massive retaliation, and to persist relentlessly until the raiders have either been eliminated or so cowed by the violence inflicted that they relapse into inactivity.” –Military historian John Keegan, London’s Daily Telegraph, 10-8-01.
“I gave them fair warning.” –Bush, remarks to a small group of White House aides, WSJ, 10-8-01.
“[War on terror] undoubtedly will prove to be a lot more like a cold war than a hot war. If you think about it, in the Cold War it took 50 years, plus or minus. It did not involve major battles. It involved continuous pressure. It involved cooperation by a host of nations. It involved the willingness of populations in many countries to invest in it and to sustain it. It took leadership at the top from a number of countries that were willing to be principled and to be courageous and to put things at risk; and when it ended, it ended not with a bang, but through internal collapse.” –Rumsfeld, Time, issued 10-8-01.
“There is a whole new level of insecurity in people, but most of them believe we have to try to destroy this enemy, or it will destroy us.” –Lieberman, WP, 10-8-01.
“The size and scope of this challenge are immense. … The task before us is difficult but not impossible.” –Tom Ridge at swearing-in ceremony as director of homeland security, 10-8-01.
“We are using every possible avenue to disrupt, interrupt, defer, delay, impede, impair, prevent terrorism in any number of settings.” –Attorney General John D. Ashcroft, press briefing, 10-8-01.
“America is lying when it propagates the aims of its attacks against Afghanistan to be a struggle against terrorism. But this is not a struggle against terrorism. Why do they lie to the people of the world? Why don’t they express the true aimpower and domination.” –Iran’s spiritual leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, NYT, 10-9-01.
“We may find that our self-defense requires further actions with respect to other organizations and other states.” –US ambassador to the UN, John Negroponte, in letter to the Security Council, NYT, 10-9-01.
“We’re so conditioned as a people to think that a military campaign has to be cruise missiles and television images of airplanes dropping bombs, and that’s just false. This is a totally different war. We need a new vocabulary. We need to get rid of old think and start thinking about this thing the way it really is.” –Rumsfeld, CBS’ “Evening News,” 10-9-01.
“I have got definite assurances that this operation will be short.” –Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf, NYT, 10-9-01.
“Well, OK, he [bin Laden] praised the acts that took place in New York. So did half the population here. Does that mean we all did it? Of course we’re upset that so many died in New York, but at the same time, we’re in awe of what happened.” –A young Egyptian woman in Cairo, WP, 10-9-01.
“Defections are going to be a big measurement of the success. What we don’t want to do is leave a significant element of the Taliban that can go up to the mountains and say, ‘We survived against the superpower and we are the center of power.'” –Unnamed Pentagon official, NYT, 10-9-01.
“Bin Laden used to come to us when Americaunderline, Americathrough the CIA and Saudi Arabia, were helping our brother mujahideen in Afghanistan, to get rid of the communist secularist Soviet Union forces. Osama bin Laden came and said ‘Thank you. Thank you for bringing the Americans to help us.’ At that time, I thought he couldn’t lead eight ducks across the street.” –Prince Bandar bin Sultan bin Abdul Aziz, Saudi ambassador to US, NYT, 10-9-01.
“We’re not running out of [fixed] targets. Afghanistan is.” –Rumsfeld, DOD briefing, 10-9-01.
“America must know that the storm of airplanes will not stop, and there are thousands of young people who look forward to death like the Americans look forward to life.” –Al Qaeda “spokesman” Sulaiman Abu Ghaith, videotaped statement aired on the al Jazeera television station, WP, 10-10-01.
“They [senior members of al Qaeda] are dead. They just don’t know it yet.” –Unnamed US official, NYT, 10-10-01.
“Much depends, in this whole process, on the Pakistanis. It’s a question of going in with the right incentives. When [Pashtun leaders] see the Taliban is a losing proposition, they will be looking for new allies. I’m pretty optimistic about driving the Taliban into the ground.” –Jack Devine, a former head of CIA’s Afghan task force, WP, 10-10-01.
“We support all measures taken by the United States to resist terrorism because we suffered from terrorism before.” –Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, WP, 10-10-01.
“We are going to disrupt these people thru pre-emptive attack. … We will deceive them. We will run psyops on them. … At selected points and times, they will be killed suddenly, in significant numbers, and without warning. Tomahawk missiles, 2,000-pound laser-guided weapons dropped from B-2s or F-22s at very high altitude, remote-control booby traps, blackmail, and at places, … small groups of soldiers or SEALs will appear in total darkness, … blow down the doors, and kill them at close range with automatic weapons and hand grenades. We will find their money and freeze it. We will arrest their front agents. We will operate against their recruiting and transportation functions. We will locate their training areas and surveill or mine them. We will isolate them from their families. We will try to dominate their communication function and alternately listen, jam, or spoof it. We will make their couriers disappear. If we can find out how they eat, or play, or receive rewards, or where they sleep, … we will go there and kill them by surprise.” –Retired US Army Gen. Barry McCaffrey, in a Sept. 19 e-mail message to a West Point cadet, WSJ, 10-10-01.
“I think President Musharraf is very secure and stable.” –Secretary of State Colin Powell, NBC’s “Today Show,” 10-10-01.
“Four simple words describe our mission: global strike, precision engagement. It’s exactly on the other side of the globe from Missouri. It’s a long way.” –Brig. Gen. Anthony F. Przybyslawski, commander of B-2 force at Whiteman AFB, Mo., NYT, 10-11-01.
“[It is a] new kind of struggle that we have to win. These terrorists are not 10 feet tall. They are not insuperable. They are not unvanquishable. But we are. And we certainly will win.” –NATO Secretary General George Robertson, The Times of London, 10-11-01.
“We really didn’t think we had much of an al Qaeda presence inside the US. Now we know there is an al Qaeda presence, but we don’t know the extent of it.” –John Lewis, former head of FBI national security division, WSJ, 10-11-01.
“The truth of the matter is, in order to fully defend America, we must defeat the evildoers where they hide. We must round them up, and we must bring them to justice. And that’s exactly what we’re doing in Afghanistan.” –Bush, White House press conference, 10-11-01.
“I gave them ample opportunity to turn over al Qaeda. I made it very clear to them, in no uncertain terms, that, in order to avoid punishment, they should turn over the parasites that hide in their country. They obviously refused to do so. And now they’re paying a price.” –Bush, White House, 10-11-01.
“If you want to join the coalition against terror, we’ll welcome you in. … All I ask is for results. If you say you want to join us to cut off money, show us the money. If you say you want to join us militarily, … do so. … If you’re interested in sharing intelligence, share intelligence.” –Bush, White House, 10-11-01.
“My focus is bringing al Qaeda to justice and saying to [the Taliban], ‘You had your chance to deliver.’ Actually, I will say it again: If you cough him up, and his people, today, we’ll reconsider what we’re doing to your country. You still have a second chance. Bring him in and bring his leaders and lieutenants and other thugs and criminals with him.” –Bush, White House, 10-11-01.
“I’m asked all the time, … ‘How do I respond when I see that in some Islamic countries there is vitriolic hatred for America?’ I’ll tell you how I respond: I’m amazed. I’m amazed that there is such misunderstanding of what our country is about, that people would hate us. I am, I amlike most Americans, I just can’t believe it, because I know how good we are, and we’ve go to do a better job of making our case.” –Bush, White House, 10-11-01.
“In the missions ahead for the military, you will have everything you need, every resource, every weapon, every means to assure full victory for the United States and the cause of freedom.” –Bush, remarks at Pentagon memorial service, 10-11-01.
“There will be times of swift, dramatic action. There will be times of steady, quiet progress. Over time, with patience and precision, the terrorists will be pursued. They will be isolated, surrounded, cornered, until there is no place to run or hide or rest.” –Bush, Pentagon, 10-11-01.
“I don’t get up in the morning and ask myself where he is. I am interested in the problem of terrorists and terrorist networks and countries that harbor them all across the globe. And if he were gone tomorrow, the al Qaeda network would continue functioning essentially as it does today. He is certainly a problem; he is not the problem.” –Rumsfeld, DOD briefing, 10-11-01.
“At times like this one, we must address some of the issues that led to such a criminal attack. I believe the government of the United States of America should re-examine its policies in the Middle East and adopt a more balanced stance toward the Palestinian cause.” -Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, 10-11-01 press release following his presentation of a $10 million aid gift to New York City, Associated Press, 10-12-01.
“There is no moral equivalent for this attack. The people who did it lost any right to ask for justification when they slaughtered 5,000 [or] 6,000 innocent people. Not only are those statements wrong, they’re part of the problem.” –New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, statement upon rejecting Alwaleed’s donation, AP, 10-12-01.
“For all the fabled fighting qualities of the Afghans, they’ve never had to deal with a modern air campaign.” –Unnamed US official, WP, 10-12-01.
“Osama bin Laden has become a symbol of defiance. Whoever stands in defiance of American arrogance will be seen as a local hero.” –Jamal Khashoggi, Saudi journalist, CSM, 10-12-01.
“If we don’t use this as the moment to replace Saddam [Hussein] after we replace the Taliban, we are setting the stage for disaster.” –Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, NYT, 10-12-01.
“Obviously, anthrax is a very serious matter. … We are treating this as a criminal matter and are investigating it with great care.” –Ashcroft, CNN interview, NYT, 10-12-01.
“There’s a professional responsibility to remain strongly independent, to keep your skepticism, if not cynicism, intact and to remain wary anytime the government seeks to influence editorial decisions in inappropriate ways.” –CBS News anchor Dan Rather in response to White House concerns about unedited and repeated airings of al Qaeda videotapes by US broadcast media, WP, 10-12-01.
“You have no choice, but in your own self-defense, to be pre-emptive, to go after the terrorists where they are.” –Rumsfeld, NYT interview, 10-12-01.
“I believe that it’s very unlikely that all of those individuals that were associated with or involved with the terrorism events of September the 11th and other terrorism events that may have been pre-positioned and preplanned have been apprehended.” –Ashcroft, NBC’s “Meet the Press,” 10-14-01.
“I think we want to kill all 22 guys [on Bush’s publicly released terrorist list]. We probably don’t want to have any more guys in orange jumpsuits.” –Unnamed former high-ranking CIA officer, WP, 10-14-01.
“Turn him [bin Laden] over. Turn his cohorts over. Turn any hostage they hold over. Destroy all the terrorist camps. … There’s no need to discuss innocence or guilt. We know he’s guilty. Turn him over.” –Bush, remarks to reporters, WP, 10-15-01.
“It’s hopeless. We will not get a hearing [in Islamic countries]. I think we are deeply alienated from these societies, in the extreme. … Our sins are very evident. … Our good deeds are never really taken in, never factored in.” –Fouad Ajami, director of Middle East studies, Johns Hopkins University’s School of Advanced International Studies, WP, 10-15-01.
“This mythology emerges that these people are fabled guerrilla fighters. In fact they were modest at best. The Russians could deal with them, but they didn’t have enough [Special Forces].” –Bard O’Neill, National War College, CSM, 10-15-01.
“If Bush and his monkeys want to destroy Islam, we will chase them to their grave. If they send in troops, I will abandon my MBA and go for martyrdom.” –Shayar Khan, 23, a business student in Pakistan, WP, 10-15-01.
“Until this crisis ends, Musharraf will be living week to week.” –Rifaat Hussain, a professor of strategic and defense studies at Quaid-I-Azam University in Pakistan, WP, 10-15-01.
“This is not a banana republic. We have a professional army. They are 100 percent behind the chief. … If anyone wants to try [to overthrow me], let them try.” –Musharraf, USAT, 10-15-01.
“[The US must eliminate] the center of gravity [Mullah Mohammed Omar]. In Iraq, the center of gravity was Saddam. You didn’t take him out and look what happened.” –Musharraf, USAT, 10-15-01.
“What would have become of us had the United States adopted the same hesitant position towards us that we have adopted of late?” –Sheik Saud Nasser al-Sabah, Kuwait’s former oil and information minister, NYT, 10-15-01.
“God help us from Satan. You [Osama bin Laden] are a rotten seed like the son of Noah, … and the flood will engulf you like it engulfed him.” –Prince Turki al Faisal, former head of Saudi intelligence, writing in Shark al-Awsat, WP, 10-15-01.
“Mistaken policy or accident of historytake your pick. The stability of Afghanistan seemed a bigger concern than the presence of bin Laden. When the Taliban received him, they indicated he would be absolutely prevented from taking any actions. We had unequivocal promises.” –Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud Faisal, WP, 10-15-01.
“[The Taliban] use their land to harbor, arm, and encourage … criminals. [The Taliban] defame Islam and defame Muslims’ reputation in the world.” –Official Saudi government statement upon severing relations with Afghanistan, WP, 10-15-01.
“On occasion, there will be people hurt that one wished had not been. I don’t think there is any way in the world to avoid that and defend the United States from the kinds of terrorist attacks which we’ve experienced.” –Rumsfeld, DOD briefing, 10-15-01.
“They were not cooking cookies inside those tunnels. I mean, let’s face it, you do not spend that kind of money, and dig that far in, and store that many weapons and munitions that it would cause that kind of sustained secondary explosions unless you have very serious purposes for doing it.” –Rumsfeld, DOD briefing, 10-15-01.
“We do not have information that validates [Taliban claims of heavy civilian casualties]. Indeed, some of the numbers are ridiculous. … I think that we know of certain knowledge that the Taliban leadership and al Qaeda are accomplished liars.” –Rumsfeld, DOD briefing, 10-15-01.
“We worry about Saddam Hussein. We worry about his weapons of mass destruction that he’s trying to achieve. … But for now, the President has said that his goal is to watch and monitor Iraq. And certainly, the United States will act if Iraq threatens its interests.” –National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice, interview on al Jazeera TV, USAT, 10-16-01.
“Get Mullah Omar, and Osama won’t be able to operate. He’ll be on the run. You must take out the center of gravity. That’s what I would do if I were running this campaign.” –Musharraf, remarks to CBS Radio and USA Today, London’s Daily Telegaph, 10-16-01.
“What I have said is very, very clear. Islam as a religion prevents anyone, forbids anyone, to harm any civilians, any innocent people around the world.” –Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat, NYT, 10-16-01.
“After eight days of bombing, it’s definitely necessary to take a pause here.” –Claudia Roth, a leader of the German Green Party, NYT, 10-16-01.
“You can’t export them [members of the Taliban]. You can’t send them to another country. You can’t ethnically cleanse Afghanistan after this is over, but you can certainly get rid of this particular regime that has driven this country to such devastation.” –Powell, remarks in Islamabad, Pakistan, 10-16-01.
“I think the series of strikes we’ve conducted over the past nine days have had a fairly dramatic effect on the Taliban. … I think … the combat power of the Taliban has been eviscerated.” –Marine Corps Lt. Gen. Gregory Newbold, JCS director of operations, DOD briefing, 10-16-01.
“The whole world has been turned upside down. We have to re-examine our entire capability to withstand a terrorist attack.” –Richard Meserve, chairman of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, WSJ, 10-17-01.
“[The letter contained] a very strong form of anthrax, a very potent form of anthrax that was clearly produced by someone who knows what he or she is doing.” –Sen. Tom Daschle, WP, 10-17-01.
“We have decided to be with the coalition in the fight against terrorism and whatever operation is going on in Afghanistan. To this extent, we will certainly carry on cooperating as long as the operation lasts. … But one really hopes that the operation is short.” –Musharraf, WP, 10-17-01.
“They [Afghanis] don’t like being ordered around by foreigners … especially in military uniforms. The United Nations can’t go everywhere, and it must select the place that it goes with care. I very firmly said that the United Nationsand this is as a consequence of discussion with the secretary general this morningis definitely not seeking anything of that sort.” –Lakhdar Brahimi, United Nations envoy to Afghanistan, WP, 10-18-01.
“I think this war is going to give you the revolution in military affairs.” –Eliot Cohen, Johns Hopkins University, WP, 10-18-01.
“It [the chance terrorists could acquire smallpox virus] is impossible to quantify, but I would assess it to be quite low.” –Jonathan B. Tucker, bioterrorism expert, NYT, 10-18-01.
“[The quality of the anthrax] certainly raises a high level of attention that this wasn’t just some weirdo. When you start seeing professional signs, you start seeing signs of organization. We’re dealing with something that was targeted [and] reasoned. The methods were not haphazard, and apparently, the quality of the agent was more than just a layman could come up with.” –Rep. Porter Goss, chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, WSJ, 10-18-01.
“We have had one death from this stuff and three other confirmed cases. Two of those three are a milder form of the disease. More people have been struck by lightning in the last 10 days, I’ll bet, than have contracted anthrax. The country badly needs to settle down.” –Sen. John McCain, NYT, 10-18-01.
“The good news is that there are many agencies working on all of these issues. The bad news is that there are many federal agencies working on all of these issues.” –Sen. Fred Thompson, NYT, 10-18-01.
“We are confronted with a big infidel. This is a test. The people are suffering, but this is a test we shall pass, God willing. … We will succeed whether we live or die. Death will definitely come one day. We are not worried about death. We should die as Muslims. It does not matter whether we die today or tomorrow. The goal is martyrdom.” –Mullah Muhammad Omar, radio address to Taliban troops, NYT, 10-18-01.
“Whatever happens in the United States, someone would raise his finger and point to Iraq. We don’t like this kind of agitation against Iraq. These are cheap, baseless, ridiculous accusations. How can we do these things? Why?” –Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Tarik Aziz, LAT, 10-18-01.
“From time to time, I see references in the press to ‘the coalition’singular. Let me reiterate that there is no single coalition in this effort. This campaign involves a number of flexible coalitions that will change and evolve as we proceed through the coming period.” –Rumsfeld, DOD briefing, 10-18-01.
“I firmly believe that this is the most important tasking the US military has been handed since the second World War. They passed the weapons of mass destruction barrier on September 11th for sure, at least in my mind, and it’s global in scale, and it’s going to be a tough fight.” –Myers, DOD briefing, 10-18-01.
“We can’t deal with it [terrorism] through defense. The only defense against terrorism is offense. You have to simply take the battle to them because … every advantage accrues to the attacker in the case of a terrorist. The choice of when to do it, the choice of what instruments to use, and the choice of where to do it, all of those things are advantages of the attacker. That means that we simply must go and find them.” –Rumsfeld, DOD briefing, 10-18-01.
“We’re seeing some people as part of the Taliban starting to decide that they’d prefer not to be part of the Taliban any more.” –Rumsfeld, DOD briefing, 10-18-01.
“Nobody’s calling us unilateral anymore. … We’re so multilateral it keeps me up 24 hours a day checking on everybody.” –Powell, address to Shanghai business leaders, 10-18-01.
“The calculations of the crusade coalition were very mistaken when it thought it could wage a war on Afghanistan, achieving victory swiftly.” –Mohammed Atef, al Qaeda’s military commander, statement given to Reuters, WP, 10-19-01.
“When you decide to surrender, approach United States forces with your hands in the air. Sling your weapon across your back, muzzle towards the ground. Remove your magazine and expel any rounds. Doing this is your only chance of survival.” –US message to Taliban fighters, WP, 10-19-01.
“We’re going to do everything we can to manage this thing, but we’re in a brand-new situation, so buckle your chin straps.” –Myers, radio address to US troops, LAT, 10-19-01.
“We don’t have just any old security measures; we work closely with the World Health Organization and follow all of the WHO’s recommendations. There definitely haven’t ever been attempts to steal smallpox.” –Sergei Netesov, deputy general director of the Vektor research institute in Novosibirsk, Russia, WSJ, 10-19-01.
“You accomplish an amazing feat each time a B-2 bomber lifts off from the plains of Missouri and crosses oceans and continents, undetected, to deliver justice from the skies above Afghanistan. The terrorists thought they could strike fear in the American heartland. Through you, the American heartland strikes back.” –Rumsfeld, remarks to the 509th Bomb Wing, Whiteman AFB, Mo., 10-19-01.
“With self-defense today, you have to take the fight to them. Some people think this is something you can start or stop, but the fact is that you don’t have a large margin for error when you’re talking about nuclear weapons. I don’t think you have a choice.” –Rumsfeld, Chicago Tribune interview, 10-19-01.
“There is no place for any element of current Taliban leadership in a new Afghanistan. But at the same time, there are many people within the Taliban movement in a leadership position who have not been active and who may well want to become part of a new Afghanistan.” –Powell on CNN, 10-21-01.
“I think the chance of a biological attack against the US in the next year is extremely high and of a nuclear attack maybe five percent.” –Unnamed defense expert, WP, 10-21-01.
“This is a very complex area. I mean, Afghanistan makes Bosnia look homogeneous, OK?” –Unnamed “senior Defense Intelligence Agency official,” Time, issued 10-22-01.
“This is going to sound partisan, and I try not to be partisan on this matter, but the fact is that the Clinton Administration was not very interested in our Intelligence Community, did not spend very much time worrying about, or using it, or investing in it. It’s impossible not to go there if you really do an anatomy of why we are where we are today.” –Goss, NYT, 10-22-01.
“There’s no question in my mind. The idea that this [the anthrax attack] is the work of a lone nut, that’s wishful thinking. The big question is, is Iraq cooperating [with the terrorists] or not? If they are, I think there is ample reason to worry.” –Richard Spertzel, bioterror consultant, CBS’ “Face the Nation,” WP, 10-22-01.
“God loves us because Europe is in our hands. Now we are mujaheddimuhajirun [fighting immigrants]. This is our duty that we have to carry on with honor. … We have to be like snakes. We have to strike and then hide.” –Lased Ben Heni, Libyan member of al Qaeda overheard on a wiretap in March (he was arrested in Germany last month), WP, 10-22-01.
“It [fitting a nuclear weapon in a suitcase] is not particularly probable, but it’s possible. The difficulty is that we are dealing with a wide range of low-probability cases. We can’t be afraid of any one, but we have to be concerned about all of them.” –Anthony Cordesman, former senior DOD official, Time, issued 10-22-01.
“History is replete with instances where Muslim nations have fought among themselves or with other countries during various important holy days for their religion, and it has not inhibited them historically.” –Rumsfeld, DOD briefing, 10-22-01.
“This is not a linear war; this is not a sequential war. … We have a notion of things we would like to happen, but it’s not in the sequential sense or this linear sense that our brains tend to work in.” –Myers, DOD briefing, 10-22-01.
“It is … vital that Defense Department employees, as well as persons in other organizations that support DOD, exercise great caution in discussing information related to DOD work, regardless of their duties. Do not conduct any work-related conversations in common areas, public places, while commuting, or over unsecured electronic circuits. … Much of the information we use to conduct DOD’s operations must be withheld from public release because of its sensitivity. If in doubt, do not release or discuss official information except with other DOD personnel.” –Deputy Undersecretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz, in Oct. 18 memo to senior Pentagon officials, WT, 10-23-01.
“One would hope and wish that this campaign comes to an end before the month of Ramadan, and one would hope for restraint during the month of Ramadan, because this would certainly have some negative effects in the Muslim world.” –Musharraf, CNN’s “Larry King Live,” WP, 10-23-01.
“We are accepting the fact that you have to win this militarily and deal with the political mess afterward. There is no way this can be in sync. … The problem with postTaliban Afghanistan is that it could be like preTaliban Afghanistan.” –Cordesman, USAT, 10-23-01.
“Who stands behind this terrorism and who carried out this complicated and carefully planned terrorist operation? Osama bin Laden and those with him have said what indicates that they stand behind this carefully planned act. We, in turn, ask: Are bin Laden and his supporters the only ones behind what happened or is there another power with advanced technical expertise that acted with them?” –Prince Sultan bin Abdul Aziz, Saudi Defense Minister, in As Seyassa newspaper in Kuwait, IHT, 10-23-01.
“My concern is generally that we’ll bend ourselves into pretzels to avoid civilian casualties, and as a result, we end up prolonging the war.” –Ken Pollack, Clinton Administration security official, USAT, 10-23-01.
“It doesn’t matter whether a democratic society finds out [about a special operation] three weeks late or 48 hours late. Breaking the news has no value to a democratic society. Analyzing the news does. If it’s a choice between American casualties and this strange, we-have-to-know-it-now intimacy, the player is more important than the sports fan.” –Cordesman, WP, 10-23-01.
“There are too many things, too many examples of stolen identities, of cleverly crafted documentation, of coordination across continents and between states … to stray very far from the conclusion that a state, and a very well-run intelligence service, is involved here.” –Former CIA director James Woolsey, WP, 10-24-01.
“Osama bin Laden does not represent the Arabs and Muslims. He does not speak on their behalf. He is a man with his own policy that is not the Arab or Muslim policy. … [Arab countries] consider America as one of our best friendswe want to have the best of relations with America. What is poisoning the relationship is Israel’s policy towards the Arabs.” –Amr Moussa, head of the Arab League, WT, 10-24-01.
“We have before us a [Fiscal 2002] defense bill that is a peacetime defense bill. We ain’t at peace no more.” –Rep. David Obey, member of the House Appropriations Committee, 10-24-01.
“We have contacts with the Iranians at an interesting level, and we are receiving signals, and we will explore opportunities with them.” –Powell, WP, 10-25-01.
“Musharraf is riding a tiger. I am very concerned about the stability of his regime.” –Former National Security Advisor Brent Scowcroft, USAT, 10-25-01.
“We will not forget that those who now are in their caves and burrows, they are the ones who do harm to the kingdom, and unfortunately, Muslims are being held accountable for them although Islam is innocent. … The body has diseases and some organ could be diseased. So the diseased organ must be removed.” -Prince Nayef bin Abdul Aziz, Saudi interior minister, NYT, 10-25-01.
“[The long US bombing campaign] plays into every stereotypical criticism of us, [that] we’re this high-tech bully.” –Sen. Joseph R. Biden Jr., speech to Council on Foreign Relations, WT, 10-25-01.
“[Biden’s comments were] completely irresponsible. The last thing our country needs right now is Senator Joe Biden calling our armed forces ‘a high-tech bully.’ … After losing close to 5,000 fellow citizens to terrorist attacks over the last month and a half, the American people want us to bring these terrorists to justice. They do not want comments that may bring comfort to our enemies.” –House Speaker Dennis Hastert, WT, 10-25-01.
“I don’t know that I’ve come to any conclusions about how long the bombing should take place. I think the President is doing exactly the right thing. I support [the President’s] effort. I think it is important for us to do as much as possible from the air to avoid casualties on the ground. I think he’s doing that, for good reason.” –Daschle, WT, 10-25-01.
“Until you have him [bin Laden], you do not have himso what is progress? Until he is no longer functioning as a terrorist, he is functioning as a terrorist. There isn’t any ‘progress.’ You either have him or you don’t.” –Rumsfeld, DOD briefing, 10-25-01.
“This is proceeding according to our plan. … Success is yet to be determined, but we think we’re having some success.” –Myers, DOD briefing, 10-25-01.
“I think we’re going to get him. How’s that?” –Rumsfeld, DOD briefing, 10-25-01.
“The President noted that he is very pleased with the kingdom’s contributions to the [anti-terror] efforts, and he said that press articles citing differences between the United States and Saudi Arabia are simply incorrect. … There’s been a suggestion that Saudi Arabia is not acting as a good partner with the United States, and the President could not more strongly disagree.” –White House Press Secretary Ari Fleischer, press briefing, 10-25-01.
“The vicious campaign being waged against the kingdom in the Western media is nothing but the manifestation of a deep-rooted hatred directed against the course of Islam and the kingdom’s adherence to the book of God and the Sunnah of his Prophet.”Saudi government statement, WP, 10-26-01.
“War is a miserable business. Let’s get on with it.” –McCain, WSJ, 10-26-01.
“We’re going to have to put troops on the ground. We’re going to have to put them in force, and although they will not be permanent, they are going to have to be very, very significant.” –McCain, CBS’ “Face the Nation,” 10-28-01.
“It’s going to take a very big effort and probably casualties will be involved. And it won’t be accomplished through airpower alone.” –McCain, CNN’s “Late Edition,” 10-28-01.
“We’ve not ruled out the use of ground troops. … There certainly is that possibility.” –Rumsfeld, ABC interview, 10-28-01.
“This Administration is not afraid of saying the word ‘Iraq.’ Iraq has been on the terrorist list for years. There is no question but that Iraq is a state that has committed terrorist acts and has sponsored terrorist acts.” –Rumsfeld, ABC interview, 10-28-01.
“[Afghanistan has] miles and miles and miles of tunnels and caves that they can hide in. … There’s no question that we have been systematically working on the caves and on the tunnels and on their openings, and we’ve had some success. Now, the problem is there are a great many of them, so it’s going to take some time to deal with them and make them less habitable.” –Rumsfeld, CNN’s “Late Edition,” 10-28-01.
“We haven’t yet really gotten serious about this conflict. … Everybody in Afghanistan ought to know we’re coming in and hell’s coming with us.” –Former National Security Advisor Robert McFarlane, CBS’ “Face the Nation,” 10-28-01.
“It [the military operation in Afghanistan] is not a quagmire at all. It’s been three weeks that we’ve been engaged in this.” –Rumsfeld, remarks to reporters, 10-28-01.
“[Americans must] steel ourselves to see this war to the finish by pursuing and defeating all those who target terror at us. After bin Laden and the Taliban, Saddam is at the top of that list.” –Lieberman, WSJ, 10-29-01.
“A time comes when peoples and nations part. We are at a crossroads. It is time for the United States and Saudi Arabia to look at their separate interests. Those governments that don’t feel the pulse of the people and respond to it will suffer the fate of the Shah of Iran.” –Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz, Aug. 27 letter to Bush, WSJ, 10-29-01.
“Ramadan is very important. Emotions will run high. … Some governments could be toppled. … Pakistan, Indonesia. We worry about civil war in Pakistan. The impact would be dramatic.” –Prince Turki as-Sudairi, member of Saudi royal family and the publisher of Al Riyadh newspaper, WSJ, 10-29-01.
“We are in the driver’s seat. We are proceeding at our pace. We are not proceeding at the Taliban’s pace or al Qaeda’s pace. We can control that. And we are controlling it in a way that I think is right along with our plan.” –Myers, DOD briefing, 10-29-01.
“There’s no question but that Taliban and al Qaeda people, military, have been killed. We’ve seen enough intelligence to know that we’ve damaged and destroyed a number of tanks, a number of artillery pieces, a number of armored personnel carriers, and a number of troops. Are there leaders mixed in there? Yes. At what level? Who knows? … But to our knowledge, none of the very top six, eight, 10 people have been included in that number.” –Rumsfeld, DOD briefing, 10-29-01.
“Our goal is not to reduce or simply contain terrorist acts, but our goal is to deal with it comprehensively, and we do not intend to stop until we’ve rooted out terrorist networks and put them out of business, not just in the case of the Taliban and the al Qaeda in Afghanistan, but other networks as well. … As we’ve said from the start of the campaign, this will not happen overnight. It is a marathon, not a sprint. It will be years, not weeks or months.” –Rumsfeld, DOD briefing, 10-29-01.
“Let’s be clear: No nation in human history has done more to avoid civilian casualties than the United States has in this conflict.” –Rumsfeld, DOD briefing, 10-29-01.
“Our national interests lie with antagonizing the Great Satan. We condemn any cowardly stance toward America and any word on compromise with the Great Satan. Our foreign policy, constitution, religion, and people reject any compromise with oppressor America. Those who speak of relations with America are not speaking for this Muslim nation.” –Ayatollah Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi, Iran’s judicial chief, WP, 10-30-01.
“We should destroy the Taliban as rapidly as possible. I, frankly, am mystified that we have the capacity in the north to destroy the Taliban forces in the front lines, and we’re not using it. And I do not understand the strategy of being slow in blocking the defeat of the Taliban by not applying our power.” –Gingrich, WT, 10-30-01.
“[The terrorists] have one hopethat we are decadent, that we lack the moral fiber or will or courage to take them on; that we might begin but we won’t finish; that we will start then falter; that when the first setbacks occur we will lose our nerve. They are wrong.” –Blair, speech to Welsh Assembly, 10-30-01.
“The new thinking is to take those cities that are within reach of Northern Alliance forces without waiting any longer to be sure we can control in advance all the risks of postwar factional rivalries. … The military track has been held up waiting for progress on the political track. We had to get rid of the ideaor rather the illusionthat we could micromanage the political future [of postwar Afghanistan].” –Unnamed “Bush Administration official,” IHT, 10-31-01.