Patrick Leahy Quotes

Israel does not target civilians. It targets the terrorists.

The last thing we want to do is to go into an area and inflict unnecessary civilian casualties. One is too many.

Our primary objective must be to prevent wars, and when we fail in this, we must protect and assist the innocent victims.

The war against terrorism should not be used to interfere with an independent, sovereign state. We need to identify concrete terrorist targets and do no harm to civilians.

I think it is tragic that a situation should arise where civilians on any side are killed. But it is almost a cliche to say that it is virtually unavoidable and this isn't unique to us alone.

I think the international community should unite to fight such inhuman phenomena as terror attacks and the murder of totally innocent people.

The issue of terrorism must be dealt with firmly. We must work very hard to avoid loss of life. We must work very hard to avoid civilian casualties. And those terrorists and Baathists are holding the people of Fallujah hostage. We must release the hostages.

We attacked selected military targets of the P.L.O. Around, civilians were hurt, I don't want to deny it. Very regrettable, very regrettable. We regret it deeply.

The war against terrorism is a war against those who engage in torture.

Protecting Afghan civilians is the cornerstone of our mission.

I think on civilian casualties they could do more. It's actually something I've discussed with the editors involved. They're aware of it, and I'm hopeful that there will be more reporting on that.

Hamas, they are using civilians' lives, they are using children, they are using the suffering of people every day to achieve their goals. And this is what I hate.

In sieges and bombardments all necessary steps must be taken to spare, as far as possible, buildings dedicated to religion, art, science, or charitable purposes, historic monuments, hospitals, and places where the sick and wounded are collected, provided they are not being used at the time for military purposes.

According to the laws of war, a warring party can just walk away from civilian harm that they have caused.

Clearly, the response to terrorism and violent extremism must respect human rights and comply with international law. That is not just a question of justice but of effectiveness.

The only thing about sanctions is that, like a lot of drone strikes, there are countless unintended victims. Cutting off aid to Uganda only increases the pain there.

For the most part, I think American armies are awfully good in the business of protecting civilians, of not going over the line.

Contrary to what some believe, taking all reasonable and feasible precautions to protect civilians - and mitigating the resulting anger when we harm them - does not need to impede military operations.

Under our rules of engagement, if I were ISIS, what I would do is collocate my headquarters next to a school or a hospital and ensure that there would be collateral damage. They know our rules of engagement as well as we do. They operate with impunity.

My view is that we shouldn't be supplying the Saudis with arms while they're bombing civilians in Yemen and, by the way, while they're arming al-Qaida and it's fighting our own counterterrorist operations in Yemen.

My political views have never made me insensitive to the pain and suffering caused to the innocent victims of events such as the Warrington bomb.

Hamas hides among unwitting civilians, who have no way of controlling its activities. This fact does not give Israel the right to kill innocent non-combatants, not even unintentionally. Besides, murder is not "unintentional" when you know it is inevitable.

Terrorism and war have something in common. They both involve the killing of innocent people to achieve what the killers believe is a good end.

War in our time is always indiscriminate, a war against innocents, a war against children.

Around the continent, governments worry that indigenous groups are fertile ground for extremist, terrorist groups. We are trying to make sure that doesn't happen here.