Michael Ledeen - Quotations

Quotations

“ Every ten years or so, the United States needs to pick up some small crappy little country and throw it against the wall, just to show the world we mean business. ”
“ It's always reassuring to hear Brent Scowcroft attack one's cherished convictions; it makes one cherish them all the more. So it's good news when Scowcroft comes out against the desperately needed and long overdue war against Saddam Hussein and the rest of the terror masters. ”
“ I think it all depends how the war goes, and I think the level of casualties is secondary. I mean, it may sound like an odd thing to say. But all the great scholars who have studied American character have come to the conclusion that we are a warlike people and that we love war. ”
“ I do not feel "remorseful," since I had and have no involvement with our Iraq policy. I opposed the military invasion of Iraq before it took place and I advocated—as I still do—support for political revolution in Iran as the logical and necessary first step in the war against the terror masters. ”
“ The usual suspects are up in arms that I am a 'liar' for stating in response to the Vanity Fair piece that 'I opposed the military invasion of Iraq before it took place and I advocated—as I still do—support for political revolution in Iran as the logical and necessary first step in the war against the terror masters.' But those who have actually read what I've written would not be surprised I would say such a thing. Here is what I wrote in my book, The War Against the Terror Masters, published in 2002, well before the invasion of Iraq (pages 184–187):
"...we need to create a zone of freedom to which Saddam's enemies can repair to find safety and normalcy. We have long proclaimed a "no fly zone" in northern Iraq. We should transform it into a "no trespassing zone," help the INC install itself there, and then recognize the INC as the legitimate government of the country. It would immediately become a haven for Saddam's enemies and a staging ground for the democratic revolution. At the same time, we can create a similar zone in the south, where the country's Shi'ite majority is concentrated. Both would come under the protection of our irresistible air power.
"These steps should be combined with internal sabotage and an imaginative campaign of psychological destabilization. The CIA wrought havoc on Abu Nidal by playing with his tortured mind, and Saddam's spirit is no more tranquil. Facing outspoken challenges from north and south, coping with daily acts of sabotage against his oil business and his security forces, Saddam may well do what Abu Nidal did: turn his wrath against his own people, and decimate his own protectors.
"There are many ways to wage war, and many ways to destroy a tyrant. Especially when you have his oppressed people on your side.
 ”
“ Iran is the mother of Islamic terrorism, and it has worked hand-in-glove with Yasser Arafat and the PLO for 30 years. Therefore the only coherent strategy for the United States is one that defeats the Islamic Republic and the PLO, along with the other terror masters in Riyadh, Damascus, and Baghdad. The talk about peace, and the endless "plans" that emerge from one capital or another, are no more and no less than stalling tactics by those who oppose the president's vision. Peace in this world only follows victory in war. ”

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