Quotessence
Home / Topics / Iraq War Quotes

Iraq War Quotes

Browse 276 quotes about Iraq War.

Related topics

PeopleThinkingWmdWmds In IraqYearsDestructionIfsKnowsMass DestructionWeapons Of Mass DestructionCountryLiedMassWeaponsDemocratFightingOilSaddamDemocraticFirstsGovernmentGulf WarHardMistakePresidentTwoWorld

Iraq War Quotes

“One of my favourite contemporary fiction writers is a Texan, Ben Fountain. His extraordinary novel, Billy Lynn's Long Half-Time Walk, all takes place within the half-time show at a Dallas Cowboys football game. No one has better summed up the American appetite for spectacle, the link between sports and politics, and the absolute madness of George W. Bush's Iraq War.”

LongWarShowsGamesSportsWalksHalfFictionNovelFootballMadnessAbsolutesExtraordinaryIraqContemporaryLinksAppetiteFavouriteCowboyFountainIraq WarFiction WritersDallasContemporary FictionFootball GameTexanHalf TimeDallas Cowboy
Author:Adam Hochschild
Create image

“I don't know about [Rex] Tillerson, but I do know that John Bolton doesn't get it. He still believes in regime change. He's still a big cheerleader for the Iraq war. He's promoted a nuclear attack by Israel on Iran. He wants to do regime change in Iran. So, I think John Bolton is so far out of it and has such a naive understanding of the world. If he were to be the assistant or the undersecretary for Tillerson, I'm an out automatic no on Bolton.”

IfsThinkingKnowsWorldWantBelieveStillsWarBigsUnderstandingIraqIsraelNuclearIranRegimesNaiveAssistantsIraq WarCheerleaderRegime Change
Author:Rand Paul
Create image

“I think that there is a particular mindset that was on display in the run-up to the Iraq war that continues to this day. Some of the folks who were involved in that decision either don't remember what they said or are entirely unapologetic about the results, but that views the Middle East as a place where force and intimidation will deliver on the security interests that we have, and that it is not possible for us to at least test the possibility of diplomacy.”

ThinkingSaidWarRunningRememberForceInterestDecisionResultsViewsMiddleSecurityPossibilityParticularInvolvedTestsFolksIraqMindsetEastThis DayDisplayMiddle EastThey SaidDiplomacyIraq WarIntimidationUnapologetic
Author:Barack Obama
Create image

“I think the problem with John Bolton is he disagrees with President Trump's foreign policy. He would be closer to John McCain's foreign policy. John Bolton still believes the Iraq war was a good idea. He still believes that regime change is a good idea. He still believes that nation-building is a good idea.”

ThinkingBelieveStillsIdeasWarProblemWould BeNationsPresidentPolicyBuildingTrumpIraqDisagreeGood IdeasRegimesForeign PolicyIraq WarMccainNation BuildingRegime Change
Author:Rand Paul
Create image

“By accident of geography, the world's major oil resources are in Shi'ite-dominated areas. Iran's oil is concentrated right near the gulf, which happens to be an Arab area, not Persian. Khuzestan is Arab, has been loyal to Iran, fought with Iran not Iraq during the Iran-Iraq war. This is a potential source of dissension. I would be amazed if there isn't an attempt going on to stir up secessionist elements in Khuzestan.”

IfsWorldHas BeensWarHappensWould BeSourceElementsMajorsResourcesAreasIraqOilAccidentsIranLoyalAmazedGeographyIraq WarPersianDissension
Author:Noam Chomsky
Create image

“By the time of Andi Parhamovich death, I had already grown skeptical of the Iraq war. What her death made me realize was what the actual price was. Going through that kind of loss and seeing how devastating it was on her family and friends made me decide that I was only going to write about things that I really believed in. I'm not going to compromise on that.”

WritingKindWarRealizingLossCompromiseFamily And FriendsSkepticalIraq War
Author:Michael Hastings
Create image

“The frightening aspect is that it's part of a larger effort from the Pentagon to tear down the wall between public affairs and propaganda, and essentially say there is no difference between information operations, public affairs and psychological operations. They have a new name for that too, it's called Information Engagement. What I hope people take away from this is that it's a window into a larger phenomenon. After a decade of Iraq war you have this Pentagon-military apparatus run amok using resources that they shouldn't be to try to manipulate U.S. public opinion.”

PeopleTryingWarRunningEffortOpinionTearsWallWindowAffairPsychologicalPropagandaPhenomenonFrighteningManipulateIraq War
Author:Michael Hastings
Create image

“Inside the White House there were always extreme amounts of doubt about whether they should be escalating in Afghanistan. In fact, most of the president's advisers said, "This is probably not going to work." A lot of people in the military said, "This is probably not going to work." If the thumbnail version of the Iraq war was that George W.Bush lied about mass destruction weapons, the thumbnail version of Barack Obama's war in Afghanistan is that the generals pushed him into a war he didn't want to fight.”

PeopleWarFightingHouseDoubtMilitaryDestructionBarackAfghanistanGoing To WorkLiedIraq War
Author:Michael Hastings
Create image

“The military sensed weakness, exploited it and played Barack Obama. Obama's foreign policy has been consistently hawkish despite this reluctant warrior schtick that he pulls. But at the end of the day a reluctant warrior is still a warrior. Look at the drone strikes, the tripling of the war in Afghanistan, and now Libya. I'm convinced that had Obama been in the Senate in 2003 he would have voted for the Iraq war. He's clearly easily convinced by his advisers and the Pentagon.”

WarMilitaryPolicyWeaknessWarriorBarackAfghanistanForeign PolicyConsistentlyIraq War
Author:Michael Hastings
Create image

“I think it's better to be too early and disturb a few people - but have other people say it was necessary - than to do it way after the fact. We shouldn't forget that Charlie Chaplin did a movie about Hitler while Hitler was alive, and Peter Sellers in Stanley Kubrick's masterpiece Dr. Strangelove was during the McCarthy time, where everybody was a communist and McCarthy was flipping completely out. I think it's important to have a movie like Postal now, where we are on the peak of the Iraq War, on the peak of terrorist attacks, where everything is actually happening.”

PeopleThinkingImportantWarForgetTerroristCommunistMasterpieceIraq War
Author:Uwe Boll
Create image

“There is a clear and strong link between the economy's present woes and the Iraq war. The war was at least one of the factors contributing to rising oil prices - which meant Americans were spending money on imported oil, rather than on things that would stimulate the american economy. Hiring Nepalese contractors in Iraq, moreover, doesn't stimulate the American economy in the way that building a school in America would do - and obviously doesn't have the long term benefits.”

LongWarSchoolStrongTermEconomyBuildingLong TermHiringIraq WarSpending MoneyContractor
Author:Joseph Stiglitz
Create image

“This Iraq war has been the most "privatized" war in America's history. It has seen the most extensive use of contractors. The contractors have increased the costs; but they have been necessary - the military simply could not have done it on their own. we would have had to increase the size of the military. But the George W. Bush Administration wanted America to believe that it could have a war, essentially for free, without raising taxes, without increasing the size of the armed forces.”

BelieveWarDoneMilitaryTaxesIraq WarArmed ForcesContractor
Author:Joseph Stiglitz
Create image

“When people want to inspire you to turn against some group of people, they'll often use empathy. When Obama wanted to bomb Syria, he drew our attention to the victims of chemical warfare. And in both of the Iraq wars, politicians said, "Look at the horrific things that are happening." I'm not a pacifist. I think the suffering of innocent people can be a catalyst for moral action. But empathy puts too much weight on the scale in favor of war. Empathy can really lead to violence.”

PeopleThinkingWarActionSufferingAttentionMoralViolenceInspirePoliticianEmpathyVictimInnocentSyriaIraq WarHorrificPacifist
Author:Paul Bloom
Create image

“I was in the White House, probably the only administration I'll ever work for. The administration was not a success, neither at home nor abroad. The Iraq War was not a success. The condition of the average person was not enough better at the end of seven years of George Bush than it was at the beginning, and certainly it all ended in the collapse that was the Great Recession. So I feel a sense of karmic obligation to the universe because of that.”

WarEnoughHomeUniverseHouseSevenObligationIraq War
Author:David Frum
Create image

“Saddam Hussein has been engaged in the development of weapons of mass destruction technology which is a threat to countries in the region and he has made a mockery of the weapons inspection process.”

Has BeensMadeCountryProcessTechnologyDevelopmentWeaponsMassDestructionThreatDemocraticDemocratIraqEngagedRegionsSaddamHusseinLiedWeapons Of Mass DestructionMass DestructionMockeryIraq WarInspectionWmdGulf WarDemocratic ProcessWmds In IraqDemocratic CountryHe Lied
Author:Nancy Pelosi
Create image

“Destroying Iraq was the greatest strategic blunder this country has made in its history. Unless we change course, there's every reason to believe the Iraq War will end up changing the United States more than it will ever change Iraq.”

BelieveMadeWarEndsCountryStatesReasonCoursesUnitedUnited StatesIraqDestroyingStrategicIraq WarBlunders
Book:The Devil We Know: Dealing with the New Iranian Superpower
Create image

“Iraq is a long way from the U.S., but what happens there matters a great deal here. For the risks that the leaders of a rogue state will use nuclear, chemical or biological weapons against us or our allies is the greatest security threat we face.”

WayLongMatterStatesUseHappensFacesDealsLeaderRiskSecurityWeaponsMassDestructionThreatDemocraticDemocratIraqNuclearChemicalsAlliesLong WayLiedWeapons Of Mass DestructionMass DestructionIraq WarRoguesWmdGulf WarChemical WeaponsWmds In IraqBiological WeaponsInvading IraqBiological WarfareNuclear Destruction
Author:Madeleine Albright
Create image

“You know, the truth is that right after 9/11, I had a (flag) pin. Shortly after 9/11, particularly because as we're talking about the Iraq war, that became a substitute for, I think, true patriotism, which is speaking out on issues that are of importance to our national security, I decided I won't wear that pin on my chest.”

ThinkingKnowsWarTalkingIssuesSecurityTruth IsDecidedImportanceIraqPatriotismSubstitutesChestsFlagsNational SecurityPinsSeptember 11Iraq WarSpeaking OutTrue Patriotism
Author:Barack Obama
Create image