Josh Brolin Quotes

It doesn't matter what a majority of Americans say. George W.Bush is going to do what he thinks he must do. And history may be tough on him in the next ten years but I guess he rationalizes that in fifty or 100 years they'll bless us because there will be - maybe not in his lifetime, but someday-a democratic Iraq emulating the United States in its liberalism, in its fair-mindedness, and that democracy will spread to Iran and Syria, and that whole part of the Middle East will be happy, and terrorism will be gone, and the Israelis will be flourishing, and the oil will flow. That's his vision.

We've gone too far in thinking we can re-create an American democratic paradise in the Middle East.

Why was the United States so afraid of an independent South Vietnam? Well, I think the reason again is pretty clear from the internal government documents. Precisely what they were afraid of was that the "takeover" of South Vietnam by nationalist forces would not be brutal. They feared it would be conciliatory and that there would be successful social and economic development - and that the whole region might work.

I would only go to Syria to destroy ISIS. I would not use U.S. troops to depose Assad. But I would support the rebels there. It's okay to support those people who share your view. But for the United States to be embroiled in a civil war in Syria against [Bashr] Assad I think is a big mistake.

I think that the Middle East is the largest piece of unfinished business that we all have. I happen to believe in the democratization process.

I'll do anything to try to prevent John Bolton from getting any position, because I think his world view is naive. He believes we're going to spread democracy. We're going to topple governments everywhere and they're going to elect Thomas Jefferson. That's not the way it works in the Middle East.

A central claim of the Bush administration's foreign policy is that the spread of democracy in the Middle East is the cure for terrorism.

My constant prayer, my number one foreign goal, is to bring peace to Israel. And in the process to Israel's neighbours.

I don’t think America wants democracies in the Middle East. They wouldn’t be nearly as friendly to us

I think that there is a limit on how far you can export democracy.

Only idiots would believe that the U.S. is a democratic country seeking democracy in other countries

It is overly optimistic to think that we can take a country that has emerged from under a totalitarian regime with its institutions of civil society and create a beacon of democracy within five years. If we try to transform Iraq into a democracy, we will need more and more troops over time because we will have to quell nationalistic revolts.

The paradox of American policy in the Middle East — promoting democracy on the assumption it will bring countries closer to the West — is that almost everywhere there are free elections, the American-backed side tends to lose.

For 60 years, my country. The United States, pursued stability at the expense of democracy … in the Middle East, and we achieved neither.

The Bush Administration went into the Middle East thinking it was spreading democracy. Instead they spread sectarianism.

Israel is a lighthouse and the only democracy in a dark and tyrannical region. It's part of us, of our European identity.

Let's overwhelm the Castro regime with iPhones, iPads, American cars and American ingenuity.

The Bush administration's approach to the war on terror collided badly with another of its doctrines, spreading democracy in the Middle East as a panacea to reduce radicalism.

A comprehensive Syria strategy, ideally one that's more than 280 characters, remains a key requirement to protect U.S. interests in the Middle East.

I do think it's fair to say that there are times when President Obama has not been engaged enough with the Middle East.

America is a force for good in the Middle East.

There is just a small difference between the United States and Russia - Russia does not teach the whole world democracy.

I don't worry about superpower confrontation. You know, I lived through the Cold War days, and where everybody was worried about a Soviet Union armed to the teeth. I think we're going to get along fine with Russia, and I don't see them as internationally ambitious.

Barack Obama has been stronger on the Ukraine than all the other countries put together, and those other countries right next door to the Ukraine. I don't think we're treated fair.We're constantly, you know, sending our ships, sending our planes, doing our war games, doing other. We're reimbursed a fraction of what this is all costing.

I think Russia is dangerous, not a superpower. I know what the president is trying to say. I worked for him for five years, not just two.He doesn't want us to overreact. He doesn't want to go back to the Cold War and some superpower competition. But my own view, and I think General Mattis stated something similar today, is that Russia is a challenge for the United States. It is a threat to some of our allies.