William Odom Quotes

This is not going to be decided by public opinion polls. It is a national security issue.

We need to make it clear that we will withdraw from Iraq within 6 to 9 months - so that the Iraqis will know that they must stand up and defend the opportunity given to them.

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

I repeat my demand that the occupier leave the land of our beloved Iraq unconditionally, without retaining bases or signing agreements.

If the United States marches into Iraq without the backing of the United Nations, that will be done entirely without the backing of the American people.

This war is being played in the realm of public opinion and has dire consequences for our soldiers in Iraq, the future of our country, and freedom around the world.

In terms of the idea of long-term occupation - I have been reading a little bit more about this period - and you can see in that occupation are many lessons for the current occupation of Iraq. So we have these connections that go way back that people aren't aware of.

You know, we do not want the militarization of Haiti. We do not see a Haitian as a protectorate where it relinquishes its own sovereignty.

The U.S. must renounce any U.S. interest in constructing permanent U.S. military bases in Iraq.

As we've seen, deploying large armies abroad won't always be our best offense. Countries typically don't want foreign soldiers in their cities and towns.

If we want to build the Iraqis' confidence about our intentions in their country, if we want to stop adding fuel to the fire of insurgency and terrorism, we must clarify our intent.

I am the commander in chief of the United States armed forces, and Iraq is gonna have to ultimately provide for its own security.

What I see as the greatest threat to America is that the American people will put political pressure on their leaders to pull out of Iraq before we should.

Our own State Department polls say that 80 percent of Iraqis view the United States as an unpopular occupier.

While it's very hard to know exactly how to measure public opinion there, because there's no really good polling, the fact of the matter is that in all the polls I've seen the vast majority of the Iraqis prefer to be free and are pleased that the coalition freed them.

I think all foreigners should stop interfering in the internal affairs of Iraq. Those who want to come and help are welcome. Those who come to interfere and destroy are not.

Our armies do not come into your cities and lands as conquerors or enemies, but as liberators. … It is not the wish of our government to impose upon you alien institutions.

Present and future conditions will determine the American public’s attitude on this war.

The English people would never consent to go to war for a cause in which England was not manifestly interested.

We’re not going to need as many people to do peacekeeping as we needed to fight the war.

Listen, we’re making good progress in Iraq. Sometimes its hard to tell it when you listen to the filter.

If Americans are entitled to hit Iraq unilaterally, then why isn't Russia entitled to the same with respect to Georgia? Why is China not entitled to the same with respect to some other neighboring country which, according to Chinese views, may be supporting insurrection in Tibet or Shenyang? Why, say, India is not entitled to hit Pakistan, which openly supports terrorists in Kashmir and which has nuclear weapons, and which has a very fragile domestic situation under which fundamentalists any day can come to power

We would be hard pressed to find a majority of any country in the world who admired the United States the way they did from World War I up until the day we went into Iraq.

Every Army of liberation has a half-life beyond which it turns into an Army of occupation.

However desirable the maintenance of ex-territorial rights hitherto enjoyed might be, it was obvious that the public opinion of this country would not countenance a war for the purpose of maintaining them.