George Schultz Quotes

Global terror does not respect national boundaries.

Back on September 11, terrorists attacked our metropolitan cores, two of America's great cities. They did that because they knew that was where they could do the most damage and weaken us the most.

What is happening in the Sahel for the past several months is that terrorists have structured themselves, have installed themselves. It's not simply a menace for west Africa.

In situations of military conflict, civil strife, lawlessness, bad governance, and human rights violations, terrorists find it easier to hide, train and prepare their attacks.

We remain vulnerable. There is no such thing as 100 percent security against terrorism.

If terrorists succeeded in using a weapon of mass destruction against the U.S. or one of our allies, it would likely have catastrophic consequences for our cherished republican form of government.

In Kenya, crime and terrorism are deeply linked, not least by the failure of successive Kenyan governments to control either.

Mr. Chairman, on September 11, we were attacked by terrorists who took advantage of weaknesses in our border security. After infiltrating our country, the terrorists were able to conceal their real identities, and thereby plot their attacks without fear of being apprehended.

Tunisia, which is dear to all of us, is going through difficult circumstances, exceptional circumstances, that necessitate exceptional measures to face them and prevent a worse situation Our security forces are in a full alert status, but we do have weaknesses as our prime minister admitted. We are not blaming anyone, but we are calling for everyone to feel and act responsibly. If such incidents happen again, the state will collapse. It is the duty of the president to take a stance.

As symbols of national power representing the people government of the United States, our embassies have become obvious targets for terror.

If the terrorists were to explode even one suitcase-sized nuclear weapon in a Western city, democratic institutions might not survive. The security agencies in the Western democracies would be granted, or would simply seize, powers comparable to those of the Gestapo and the KGB…. I doubt that democratic institutions will be resilient enough to stand the strain.

In choosing to use violent extremism as an instrument of policy, the government of Pakistan, and most especially the Pakistani Army and ISI, jeopardizes not only the prospect of our strategic partnership but Pakistan’s opportunity to be a respected nation with legitimate regional interest.

Biological terrorism poses the ultimate asymmetric threat but it should be considered in the same class as the nuclear threat.

There's been intelligence that terrorists would look to programs such as the visa waiver program to exploit.

Instead, the terrorists see just what they were hoping for, our unity gone, our resolve shaken, our leaders distracted. In short, they see weakness and opportunity.

Everyone is now a potential terrorist.

In many countries, the authority of the state is weak and openly defied by militias and terrorist groups. In others, state forces themselves act with impunity.

Terrorism in the country will not be tolerated at any cost.

Terrorism and the fight against extremism is our fight.

We must have the approach of 'zero tolerance' against any type of terrorism.

There is some big thing about the world that produced all these people willing to kill themselves just to hurt us. On 9/11 we learned we're part of that world, in the same completely crazy, drastic and arbitrary ways it hits other countries.

People should beware of those who hail terrorists and play with the security of the country.

A Pakistan that falls apart, becomes a failed state, would be of extraordinary danger to Afghanistan and to America.

There's a problem of terrorism in the world. There's always been terrorism. There will be terrorism. You have to deal with it surgically. You have to deal with it in a serious way.

There's a real danger when people get distracted by peripheral issues. They get distracted by democracy building. They get distracted about military conflicts. We need to focus on defeating jihadism.