Donald Rumsfeld

Donald Henry Rumsfeld (born July 9, 1932) has been the Secretary of Defense of the United States since January 20, 2001, under President George W. Bush. He is the 21st Secretary of Defense, and he is the oldest person to have held that position. He served under President Gerald Ford as the 13th Secretary of Defense from 1975 to 1977, making him also the youngest person to have held the job.

Quotes

• "The goal is to be so capable of winning a war that you don't have to fight it."
• "We take the world like you find it; and Israel is a small state with a small population. It?s a democracy and it exists in a neighborhood that in many -- over a period of time has opined from time to time that they?d prefer it not be there and they?d like it to be put in the sea. And Israel has opined that it would prefer not to get put in the sea, and as a result, over a period of decades, it has arranged itself so it hasn?t been put in the sea."
• "Our task, your task... is to try to connect the dots before something happens. People say, 'Well, where's the smoking gun?' Well, we don't want to see a smoking gun from a weapon of mass destruction."
• "Learn to say "I don't know." If used when appropriate, it will be often."
• "If you are not criticized, you may not be doing much."
• "Beware when any idea is promoted primarily because it is "bold, exciting, innovative, and new." There are many ideas that are "bold, exciting, innovative and new," but also foolish."
• "(Cluster bombs are) being used on frontline al Qaeda and Taliban troops to try to kill them is why we're using them, to be perfectly blunt."
• "I'm hopeful that some will surrender. I suspect some won't, and I suspect the result from that will be that the opposition forces will kill them."
• "I think we ought to have a new rule: You can ask two questions, and then we can pick the one we want to answer."
• "Charlie, the answer to the question "Is he alive or dead" -- the answer is yes, he is alive or dead. (Laughter.)"(referring to bin Laden)
• "...And of course, even a blind squirrel finds a nut once in a while."
• "I mean, let's face it. They weren't exactly baking cookies in those caves." (In response to why U.S. bombers killed people hiding in caves.)
• "I don't do diplomacy."
• "You go to war with the army you have."
• "Well, Dick, calibrate me, but the first thing I'd say is I don't believe you have the war plan -- (laughter) -- a fact which does not make me unhappy. (Laughter.)"
• "Reports that say that something hasn't happened are always interesting to me, because as we know, there are known knowns; there are things we know we know. We also know there are known unknowns; that is to say we know there are some things we do not know. But there are also unknown unknowns - the ones we don't know we don't know." (February 12, 2002)
• "Go massive. Sweep it all up. Things related and not." (September 11, 2001)
• "If you waited until you could do everything before you did anything, you probably would end up doing nothing."
• "Before long, I suspect that those responsible for these acts will encounter British steel. Their kind of steel has an uncommon strength. It does not bend or break." (Response to the 7 July 2005 London bombings)
• "Stuff happens." (April 2003, commenting on the looting, rioting and general mayhem that followed the fall of Baghdad)
• "...or the people who attacked the United States in New York, shot down the plane over Pennsylvania and attacked the Pentagon" (a possible slip up refering to the September 11, 2001 attackshttp://edition.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0412/24/nfcnn.01.html)
• (speaking about disorder in Iraq, April 2003) "It's untidy, and freedom's untidy. Free people are free to make mistakes and commit crimes and do bad things. They're also free to live their lives and do wonderful things." Guardian Unlimited, April 12, 2003