Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani Quotes

One can't doubt that the American objective in Iraq has failed - different plans have to be made. And the kernel here is the acknowledgement of defeat.

There is only one option in Iraq: that we win.

If the Europeans want to intervene, that's their business. But if I were president, I would remove every United States soldier from the Balkan peninsula.

The UN could help the Iraqi government get on its feet and help the United States withdraw a bit more.

Deep down, the Iraqi people want the United States out. And their self-determination should be respected.

Women in Afghanistan do not ask the United States to stay for the simple or sentimental reason of safeguarding their rights. They are the first ones to say that this is not enough of a reason for the world's remaining superpower to remain in their country.

The bottom line is that after we defeat the armed forces of Iraq, that we will want to and need to provide stability throughout that country.

But clearly the fact that we've gone from zero Iraqi security forces on duty in May to up to 200,000 today is an enormous accomplishment, but it's not enough.

I want the troops from Great Britain and the U.S. to be successful, but by the same token, Afghanistan has always been a screw-up.

We are not utilizing the Iraqi oil for U.S. purposes. We are not asking that the Iraqi oil be used to pay our military expenses. We are asking only that the Iraqi oil be used to rebuild Iraq - that is, to rebuild Iraq for the Iraqi people.

Sure we won the war, but the peace we’re losing badly.

It is our moral duty to intervene today, straight away, to help the Iraqi people in their difficulty. Iraq has to be given back to the Iraqi people

The Marietta is not in Honduran waters on banana police duty, but to exert a moral influence toward political tranquillity.

Someone should tell the president that U.S. forces would need to be in Iraq for two to five years, and they will not have an easy time there.

The possibility of the United States winning the war and losing the peace is real and serious

To suggest that we need several hundred thousand troops there after military operations ceased, I don’t think is accurate…. We will in fact be greeted as liberators.

America’s war in Afghanistan will come to a responsible end.

Withdrawal of American troops must be a unilateral act, as the invasion of Vietnam by the American government was a unilateral act in the first place.

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.

The Marines have landed, and we now own a piece of Afghanistan.

We must be practical. Talking about trade and other nice things are more soothing to the ear than security. But it won't be until we have sufficient security against internal, regional, and continental threats that we can be sure of real development.

I will return when I feel safe there, when negotiations start, when political prisoners are released. Those will be the signs for me to come back safely.

I think the diplomatic-security needs in Iraq were an anomaly. There's never been a bulge of requirements that large ever before.

All the nations that are adjacent to Afghanistan have a vested interest in the future stability and security of Afghanistan.

We can make sacrifices to fight Islamic State, but the international coalition has to support us.