Pete Hoekstra Quotes

Failed states have become breeding grounds for conflict.

We have a failed state in Syria.

The chief threats to security come from failed states.

Libya is a failed state and becoming a launching pad for external operations, as is Sinai in Egypt.

I don't want to be overly dramatic, but Iraq and Syria are gone, and they aren't coming back, at least not as centralized states.

As was true in Iraq and Libya, the United States has no credible government or leader able to bring order, security, and freedom to the people of Syria if Assad is overthrown.

Once the U.S. and NATO walked away from Libya, a chaotic, lawless state in the soft underbelly of Europe arose.

There is little doubt that an unstable Syria will destabilize the whole Middle East.

The fate of Syria hangs in the balance, but it is entirely possible that the fall of the Assad regime will result in anarchy and cause Syria to turn into a second Afghanistan, a base for anti-Israel terrorism.

The understanding of Syria's devastating civil war has been distorted by the immense danger and difficulty of covering it.

If Sudan starts to crumble, the shock waves will spread.

Violence has been Nicaragua's most important export to the world.

Somalia is very dangerous, and no one knows that better than I.

Extremism in Syria cannot be contained within Syria.

Failed states are mainly a threat to their own inhabitants. We should help them anyway.

… the independent Afghan government that followed the ouster of the Taliban descended into catastrophic corruption, incompetence, and double-dealing, and many Afghans blamed American intervention for the mess in their country.

Bashar Assad's power over the areas of Syria under government control is slipping. Armed militias are growing stronger and the country's dictator can do nothing to stop them. Now, these fighters are taking over control in many areas, committing murder, looting and harassing civilians. And nobody can stop them, not even Assad himself. Indeed, the militias are now more powerful than even the country's dictator and have become the real holders of power in Syria.

Libya became a rat's nest of extremism after NATO helped depose dictator Moammar Gadhafi, and it now exports weapons, jihadists, and ideology to Europe, Africa and the Middle East.

ISIS filled the vacuum in Iraq and Syria created by a lack of effective governance.

As brutal as Saddam Hussein was, it was a mistake to just eliminate him. The same is true for Moammar Gadhafi and for Libya, which is now a failed state.

To destroy the Islamic State, you have to fix Syria. You have to look at the reasons that created the Islamic State. This is a huge task.

Here's the problem the Free Syrian Army has. They really want to topple the regime in Damascus, and this is where most of the fight takes place, between Aleppo and Damascus for the Free Syrian Army.

Libya is a huge disaster.

Both sides in Syria are bad. One side is a brutal dictator, and the other includes Islamists and terrorists who are dangerous already and who would be brutal in power if given the chance.

After all, we paid great prices because of the virtual partitioning of Iraq.