Mark Esper Quotes

The best war is the one that doesn’t have to be fought, and the best military is the one capable and versatile enough to deter the next war in the first place.

We will strengthen our security by building missile defense, restoring our military might, and standing by and strengthening our intelligence officers.

To insist on strength ... is not war-mongering. It is peace-mongering.

A certain degree of preparation for war ... affords also the best security for the continuance of peace.

To secure peace is to prepare for war.

So long as peace is not attained by law (so argue the advocates of armaments) the military protection of a country must not be undermined, and until such is the case disarmament is impossible.

The American people need to tell their member of Congress that we need a strong defense to protect us and to prevent wars. We can't get away with simply leading from behind and gutting our defenses.

To be prepared for war is one of the most effective means of preserving peace.

One of the great advances of our time is the recognition that one of the ways to prevent war is to deter it by having the will and the capacity to use force to punish the aggressor.

I believe in peace through strength. I would prefer to rely on the military rather than diplomats to protect our homes.

The Mutual Security Act was intended not to fight a war but to prevent a war.

Preparedness has never caused a war, nor has unpreparedness ever prevented one

When you talk about peace through strength, what you're talking about is the concept of deterrence.

For some years I have spent my time on exactly these questions - both in thinking about ways to prevent war, and in thinking about how to fight, survive, and terminate a war, should it occur.

Our nation must manage significant national security challenges over the next several years. We are already facing a potential conflict with Iraq, new challenges on the Korean peninsula, and key decisions in the president's plans to transform the military.

You cannot simultaneously prevent and prepare for war.

Getting our military back on stable footing won't happen overnight. We must start this process now, since future engagements are likely and allies are scarce.

I want to compliment The Heritage Foundation for its work on behalf of a strong national defense.

Peace through strength works; but the flip side is war invited by weakness.

Our strategy is one of preventing war by making it self-evident to our enemies that they're going to get their clocks cleaned if they start one.

We won't always have the strongest military.

The world organization debates disarmament in one room and, in the next room, moves the knights and pawns that make national arms imperative.

Our country has never started a war. Our sole objective is deterrence, the strength and capability it takes to prevent war.

We must have universal military training because the one hope for a peaceful world is a powerful America… with adequate means to instantly check aggressors.

Let no one expect us to disarm unilaterally. We are not a naive people.