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It Was President [bill] Clinton And The United States Congress In 1998 Which Said That The Regime Has To Be Changed Because The Regime Would Not Give Up Its Weapons Of Mass Destruction. We Came Into Office In 2001 And Kept That Policy Because Saddam Hussein Had Not Changed.

-Colin Powell

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It Was President [bill]

Colin Powell

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It Was President [bill] Clinton And The United States Congress In 1998 Which Said That The Regime Has To Be Changed Because The Regime Would Not Give Up Its Weapons Of Mass Destruction. We Came Into Office In 2001 And Kept That Policy Because Saddam Hussein Had Not Changed.

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Mass Destruction

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Trying To Get Everyone To Like You Is A Sign Of Mediocrity.

Don't Be Afraid To Challenge The Pros, Even In Their Own Backyard. Learn From The Pros, Observe Them, Seek Them Out As Mentors And Partners. But Remember That Even The Pros May Have Leveled Out In Terms Of Their Learning And Skills. Sometimes Even The Pros Can Become Complacent And Lazy.

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It Remains Our Policy To Change The Regime Until Such Time As The Regime Changes Itself. So Far, We Cannot Be Sure That He Is Cooperating Or He [saddam Hussein] Is Acting In A Way That Could Give Us Comfort, Or Should Give The International Community Comfort, That He Is Giving Up His Weapons Of Mass Destruction. He Continues To Give Us Statements That Suggest He Is Not In Possession Of Weapons Of Mass Destruction When We Know He Is.

Mass Destruction

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Mass Destruction

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I Am Confident That We Will Find Evidence That Makes It Clear He Had Weapons Of Mass Destruction.

Mass Destruction

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Mass Destruction

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Recommendations

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Leadership Is The Art Of Accomplishing More Than The Science Of Management Says Is Possible.

1. It Ain't As Bad As You Think. It Will Look Better In The Morning. 2. Get Mad, Then Get Over It. 3. Avoid Having Your Ego So Close To Your Position That When Your Position Falls, Your Ego Goes With It. 4. It Can Be Done! 5. Be Careful What You Choose. You May Get It. 6. Don't Let Adverse Facts Stand In The Way Of A Good Decision. 7. You Can't Make Someone Else's Choices. You Shouldn't Let Someone Else Make Yours. 8. Check Small Things. 9. Share Credit. 10. Remain Calm. Be Kind.

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As I've Thought About Gay Marriage, I Don't See Any Reason Not To Say That [couples] Should Be Able To Get Married.

Marriage Equality

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Policies That Emanate From Ivory Towers Often Have An Adverse Impact On The People Out In The Field Who Are Fighting The Wars Or Bringing In The Revenues.

It Is The Fault Of The United States That These Terrible People, These Insurgents And Terrorists Are Out There. They Are The Ones That We Ought To Be Focusing Our Energy On Defeating And Not Just Wring Our Hands About The Fact That It's Going To Be Difficult.

It Is The Job Of Leaders To Eliminate Uncertainty.

I'm An American, First And Foremost, And I'm Very Proud - I Said, I've Said To My Beloved Friend And Colleague John Mccain, A Friend Of 25 Years, "john, I Love You, But I'm Not Just Going To Vote For You On The Basis Of Our Affection Or Friendship." And I've Said To Barack Obama, "i Admire You. I'll Give You All The Advice I Can. But I'm Not Going To Vote For You Just Because You're Black." We Have To Move Beyond This.

Never Neglect Details. When Everyone's Mind Is Dulled Or Distracted The Leader Must Be Doubly Vigilant.

If You Get The Dirty End Of The Stick, Sharpen It And Turn It Into A Useful Tool.

Excellence Is Not An Exception, It Is A Prevailing Attitude

Wouldn't It Be Great If We Could Look Forward To A Whole World In Which No Child Will Be Left Behind?

Experts Often Possess More Data Than Judgment.

Ambition And Hatred Are Enough To Bring Iraq And Al Qaeda Together.

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Trust Is The Glue That Holds An Org Together & The Lubricant That Moves It Forward.

How Often Have We Seen Politicians Take A Principle Position Only To Give It Up Three Days Later? That Is What Makes Democracy So Fascinating.

I Always Like To Take My Time And Examine The Two Candidates, See Not Only The Two Candidates But The Policies They Will Bring In, The People They Will Bring In, Who They Might Appoint To The Supreme Court, And Look At The Whole Range Of Issues Before Making A Decision.

Good Leaders Set Vision, Missions, And Goals. Great Leaders Inspire Every Follower At Every Level To Internalize Their Purpose, And To Understand That Their Purpose Goes Far Beyond The Mere Details Of Their Job. When Everyone Is United In Purpose, A Positive Purpose That Serves Not Only The Organization But Also, Hopefully, The World Beyond It, You Have A Winning Team.

The Court Is Perhaps One Of The Last Citadels Of Jealously Preserved Individualism. For The Most Part, We Function As Nine, Small Independent Law Firms.

Look At The World. There Is No Pure Competitor To The United States Of America.

Organization Doesn't Really Accomplish Anything. Plans Don't Accomplish Anything, Either. Theories Of Management Don't Much Matter. Endeavors Succeed Or Fail Because Of The People Involved. Only By Attracting The Best People Will You Accomplish Great Deeds.

Use The Formula P=40 To 70, In Which P Stands For The Probability Of Success And The Numbers Indicate The Percentage Of Information Acquired. Once The Information Is In The 40 To 70 Range, Go With Your Gut.

The Best Leaders Are Those Who Break That Mission Down Into The Organization's Constituent Parts, So That Everybody Understands Their Role And How It All Builds Into The Whole.

Have Fun In Your Command. Don't Always Run At A Breakneck Pace. Take Leave When You've Earned It, Spend Time With Your Families.

When You Help The Poorest In The World, You Start To Move Them Up An Economic And Social Ladder, And They're Not Going To Be Moving Toward Violence Or Terrorism Of The Kind That We Worry About.

Being In Charge Sometimes Means Making People Mad. Some Days You Have To Overrule Even The Best Advice, Because You Think It Is Not Right.

We Have To Be On Guard That We Don't Spend So Much Time Worrying About Terrorism And Guarding Ourselves That We Start To Lose The Essence Of Who We Are As An Open, Freedom-loving People, Welcoming To The Rest Of The World.

The United States Stands Willing To Work With A Transformed Palestinian Authority With New Leaders Coming To The Front.

We View Egypt As A Good Friend Of America. We Are In Constant Touch With Them. We Provide Them Economic And Military Assistance As Part Of Our Relationship.

Don't Be Buffaloed By Experts And Elites. Experts Often Possess More Data Than Judgment. Elites Can Become So Inbred That They Produce Hemophiliacs Who Bleed To Death As Soon As They Are Nicked By The Real World.

Poverty Arises And Persists Where Corruption Is Endemic And Enterprise Is Stifled, Where Basic Fairness Provided By The Rule Of Law Is Absent. In Such Circumstances, Poverty Is An Assault Against Human Dignity, And In That Assault Lies The Natural Seed Of Human Anger

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Generally You Should Act Somewhere Between P40 And P70, As I Call It. Sometime After You Have Obtained 40 Percent Of All The Information You Are Liable To Get, Start Thinking In Terms Of Making A Decision. When You Have About 70 Percent Of All The Information, You Probably Ought To Decide, Because You May Lose An Opportunity In Losing Time.

Always Be Looking For That Which You Do Well And That Which You Love Doing, And When You Find Those Two Things Together — Man, You Got It.

Don't Be Afraid To Challenge The Pros, Even In Their Own Backyard.

Leaders Have Followers. The Primary Role Of A Leader Is To Convey To Those Followers A Sense Of Purpose, Vision, And Mission.

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The Chief Condition On Which, Life, Health And Vigor Depend On, Is Action. It Is By Action That An Organism Develops Its Faculties, Increases Its Energy, And Attains The Fulfillment Of Its Destiny.

Give Me The Right People And I Don’t Much Care What Organization You Give Me. Good Things Will Happen. Give Me The Wrong People And It Doesn’t Matter What You Do With The Organization. Bad Things Will Happen.

A Mirror Reflects A Man's Face, But What He Is Really Like Is Shown By The Kind Of Friends He Chooses.

Company You Keep

I Don't Think We Handled The Aftermath Of The Fall Of Baghdad As Well As We Might Have. But That's Now History.

Nobody Is Ready To Leave Iraq To Be Interviewed.

It Was President [bill] Clinton And The United States Congress In 1998 Which Said That The Regime Has To Be Changed Because The Regime Would Not Give Up Its Weapons Of Mass Destruction. We Came Into Office In 2001 And Kept That Policy Because Saddam Hussein Had Not Changed.

Mass Destruction

I Understand That And I Have Had Very Candid Discussions With Saudi Leaders In The Past. I Respect Their Culture And Their Heritage And Their Traditions, But I Think That They Now, As They Move Forward, Will Have To Start Examining These Traditions And These Practices To See Whether Or Not Change Is Appropriate.

For All The Hardship, I Was Still Excited To Be On The Trail, Testing My Endurance, Feeling Especially Alive As Strength And Fatigue Flowed Alternately Through My Limbs.

Lying Offshore, Ready To Act, The Presence Of Ships And Marines Sometimes Means Much More Than Just Having Air Power Or Ship's Fire, When It Comes To Deterring A Crisis. And The Ships And Marines May Not Have To Do Anything But Lie Offshore. It Is Hard To Lie Offshore With A C-141 Or C-130 Full Of Airborne Troops.

Don't Let Your Ego Get Too Close To Your Position, So That If Your Position Gets Shot Down, Your Ego Doesn't Go With It.

This Is Something Else That Is Drilled Into Us In The Military: Make Sure You Know Who Your Replacement Is, In Case You Become A Casualty. So You Have To Have Depth Within An Organization.

Diplomacy Never Stops, And, With Or Without An Election, It Never Stops.

I Think Leadership Is Both A Trained Thing And A Natural Gift.

I Think All Of The Attention Of The World, To Include The Attention Of The Arab World, Should Be On Saddam Hussein And Whether Or Not He Is Prepared To Give Up The Weapons Of Mass Destruction That He Has Used To Terrorise The Region.

Mass Destruction

You Have Achieved Excellence As A Leader When People Will Follow You Anywhere If Only Out Of Curiosity.

The Most Important Thing I Learned Is That Soldiers Watch What Their Leaders Do. You Can Give Them Classes And Lecture Them Forever, But It Is Your Personal Example They Will Follow.

Too Often We Act - Ask Our Schools To Be Truant Officers, Our Teachers To Be Truant Officers, Because We're Giving Them Children Who Have, You Know, They're Not Ready To Learn. And If They're Not Ready To Learn By The Third Grade, They Know They're Behind.

President's Personal Staff Has A Unique Role. They're His Intimate Personal Advisers, And The Tradition And The Precedent Has Been, Even When I Was National Security Adviser, That People In That Position Do Not Testify Before The Congress. They Talk To The Congress. They Have Meetings With The Congress.

I Can't Deny That It Will Be A Historic Event For An African-american To Become President. And Should That Happen, All Americans Should Be Proud - Not Just African-americans, But All Americans - That We Have Reached This Point In Our National History Where Such A Thing Could Happen. It Will Also Not Only Electrify Our Country, I Think It'll Electrify The World.

African American

We Want To Approach This In A Multilateral Way, Talking With Our Friends, Consulting With Our Security Council Colleagues In The United Nations, Hoping To Find A Way To Solve This Peacefully, But At The Same Time Recognising That Unless The Threat Of Military Force Is There, Iraq Will Not Disarm.

It's Nice To Say Let's Be Bipartisan. But We're A Partisan Nation. We Were Raised As A Partisan Nation.

We All Hoped In 2001 That We Could Put In Place An Afghan Government Under President Karzai That Would Be Able To Control The Country, Make Sure Al-qaeda Didn't Come Back, And Make Sure The Taliban Wasn't Resurging. It Didn't Work Out.

Our Strategy In Going After This Army Is Very Simple. First We Are Going To Cut It Off, And Then We Are Going To Kill It.

Let Me Blow That Up For You Again.

Leadership Is All About People … And Getting The Most Out Of People.

If A Leader Doesn't Convey Passion And Intensity Then There Will Be No Passion And Intensity Within The Organization And They'll Start To Fall Down And Get Depressed.

The One Thing The Terrorists Cannot Do -- Not One Of Them, Not 10 Of Them, Not 10,000 Of Them -- They Cannot Change Who We Are.

I Happen To Hold A Bachelor Of Science Degree In Geology... And My Greatest Contribution To The Field Of Science Is That I Never Entered It.

He (saddam Hussein) Has Not Developed Any Significant Capability With Respect To Weapons Of Mass Destruction. He Is Unable To Project Conventional Power Against His Neighbours.

Mass Destruction

Almost Invariably, Whoever Doesn't Win The Argument Is Going To Be Unhappy.

Actually, There Is No More Important Task For A Leader Than To Pick People. To Make Sure You Have The Very Best People Working For You.

You Can't Get It All Done Yourself. The Best Leaders Are Not Afraid Of Picking People Who Are Better Than They Are And Who May One Day Replace Them.

America Has A Terrible Educational Problem In The Sense That We Have Too Many Youngsters Not Finishing School. A Third Of Our Kids Don't Finish High School, 50 Percent Of Minorities Don't Finish High School.

Good Leaders Must Know How To Reward Those Who Succeed And Know When To Retrain, Move, Or Fire Ineffective Staff.

I Don't Think Anyone Would Disagree With The Conclusion That Saddam [hussein] Was A Terrible Dictator. He Had Gassed His Own People And His Neighbors. He Had Killed Thousands Of People, And He Had Started A Couple Of Wars And Destroyed His Country.

I'm Not Active In Politics. I Vote As A Citizen. And If Somebody Cares To Know What My Opinion Is At The Time Of The Election, I Might Or Might Not Share It Publicly.

In The Military We Are Always Looking For Ways To Leverage Up Our Forces. Having Greater Communications And Command And Control Over Your Forces Than Your Enemy Has Over His Is A Force Multiplier. Having Greater Logistics Capability Than The Enemy Is A Force Multiplier. Having Better-trained Commanders Is A Force Multiplier. Perpetual Optimism, Believing In Yourself, Believing In Your Purpose, Believing You Will Prevail, And Demonstrating Passion And Confidence Is A Force Multiplier. If You Believe And Have Prepared Your Followers, The Followers Will Believe.

It's Not Just A Matter Of Whether You Support Obama Or Romney. It's Who They Have Coming With Them. I Always Keep My Powder Dry, As They Say In The Military.

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