Gordon Brown Quotes

We're not going to spread democracy at the business end of a M16 held by a 23 year old Marine.

The free world should not wait for dictatorial regimes to consent to reform.

Is military occupation likely to be the midwife of democracy?

Aristotle might not recognize it, or others who are at the root of democracy. What type of democracy do you impose with marines and bombs?

Imposing democracy through force is a roll of the dice.

You don't spread democracy through the barrel of a gun.

We remain in Iraq because we know that sometimes liberty needs some nursing before it can grow on its own.

Anybody who believes that we can democratize Iran, Iraq and Syria by military force is living in a fantasy world.

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.

Preemption, democracy promoting and nation building have all been sullied by association by association with the War in Iraq.

Iraq and Afghanistan are now democracies and they are allies in the cause of freedom and peace.

I believe, if done correctly, eliminating Saddam and liberating Iraq could be the 'Normandy Invasion' or 'fall of the Berlin Wall' of our generation... the Iraqi people are eager to be rid of Saddam, and there is equally encouraging evidence that republican principles could thrive there.

We can be proud of our record as an international beacon of liberty. From fostering democracies in Eastern Europe to the stabilization of Iraq and Afghanistan, we have been true to that calling and helped spread freedom to oppressed peoples everywhere.

But, if you believe we should go around the world overturning regimes to make little United States, I don't agree with that, because I don't think we're capable of doing that.

In liberating Iraq, we have rid the nation and the rest of the world from the danger of Saddam Hussein.

We invaded Iraq to change a totalitarian, despotic regime, and we have been successful there.

It has been well over half a century and I'm glad to say we have taken the right path from authoritarianism to democracy and this is a road of no return.

After installing friendly leaders in Iran and Guatemala, the United States lost interest in promoting democracy in either country.

In the end, it's a good investment for America to be involved in helping people get democratic governance - not to take over their country - but to help people be free. And that is an investment that will pay off in the future.

Half a world away nations that once lived under oppression and tyranny are now budding democracies due in large part to America 's leadership and the sacrifices of our military.

If we hold true to our ideals and our commitment to freedom, this generation of servicemen and women will have extended liberty to the Iraqi people, just as previous generations of Americans have all across the globe.

And in Iraq we tried to implement the same policy that was so successful in Saudi Arabia, but Saddam Hussein didn't buy. When the economic hit men fail in this scenario, the next step is what we call the jackals.

I don't think it's the job of the United States to build democracies from whole cloth. That's Wilsonianism to me of the most crazy kind.

Political preemption in the form of democracy promotion will be as important as the capacity for military preemption.

Throughout history states have also used force to reform, restructure, or rebuild the domestic institutions of other countries