Political Quotes

“That is exactly what Melvin Laird said about Vietnam. That is why it was important to turn Vietnam, as soon as possible, back to the Vietnamese people. He said the greatest mistake was the Americanization of the Vietnam War. I think that is something we have to be very aware of when we look at where we are today. What I said also, Congressman Hoekstra, is because the Maliki government is now in place and they have a Minister of Defense, they have a Minister of the Interior, which are the two key ministries I think in terms of domestic security, now that they have those people in place, and my impression of them was they are very strong people, my impression was they understood the risks, they understood what needed to be done, and I think the next two months are going to be critical. They have to demonstrate, in my opinion, that they really are serious, that they will deal with these militias that are out of control, they will deal with the radicals and the others who have come in from out of country. I think it is important that our perception, and we had very good briefings, I know that sometimes it is a little like the blind men describing the elephant, but all the terrorists are not the same. Some of them are religious fanatics. Some of them are just thugs that Saddam released from prison, and they are thugs trying to create a territory and using terror and using violence, much as Al Capone in the St.…”