Barack Obama Quotes

The Iraq war can only be won diplomatically, politically and economically, and the president needs to come to that realization.

We must learn from history, there is no military solution for the Kashmir issue...we have to understand this reality.

I agree with Pres. Barack Obama, Iraqis need a political solution. No war in Iraq!

I predict you will sink step by step into a bottomless quagmire, however much you spend in men and money." (On Vietnam War)

Our military is doing everything it can to equip Iraq's forces so our troops can come home as soon as possible, but we cannot leave until the job is done.

In 2005, I was the first member of Congress to introduce legislation calling for an immediate withdrawal of our troops from Iraq.

For three years now, our brave men and women in uniform have done everything their country has asked of them, yet President Bush still does not have a plan to win the peace in Iraq and bring our troops home.

I certainly don't like a label that suggests I believe that the military is the solution to most of the world's problems.

We now should hope and pray for a peace process. We've had good negotiations with both sides. Those are going to continue; those are going to be a commitment by the president and something that we're going to work hard on. And we all hope, for the sake of Israeli children and Palestinian children, that we do have peace.

Voting against the resolution authorizing the use of military force in Iraq was one of my proudest moments as a senator. It is long past time to close this tragic chapter in American history.

Any outside use of military power would at best furnish a temporary respite from the processes that we see playing out. We know that because we have been through all this before. The "surge" of several years ago was supposed to provide space and time for Iraqi political interests to work out their differences. 30,000 additional U.S. troops failed to lead to any working out of those differences, and the outcome is the mess we see today.

Before we put an American in harm's way, tell us why. No one wants to see the region descend into further chaos. There's a lot of concern about getting embroiled in another Vietnam and ... about sending American troops once again to fight someone else's war.

There is no military solution to the challenges of Syria.

Military solution in Iraq has been disproven and discredited.

Some of the same self-certified smart people, who preached about mushroom clouds and weapons of mass destruction, are once again trying to stampede us into war. They seem to think only with their guns. To those who want to shoot first and ask questions later in Iraq, I join in a firm 'No!' We've been there and done that, and America is still paying for their past failure.

Some of the same politicians and pundits that are so quick to reject the possibility of a diplomatic solution to Iran's nuclear program are the same folks who were so quick to go to war in Iraq and said it would take a few months.

In 2003, Congress should have resisted the rush to a war of choice with Iraq. I will do everything in my power to prevent us from repeating the mistakes of my predecessors.

We know from history that the way wars are concluded is absolutely the key to whether or not there is any peace to be kept.

These aren't joyous times when we have war in Iraq. These are challenging times, and they're difficult times, and they're straining the psyche of our country. I understand that.

There is still work to be done, but that remains a crucial lesson, you cannot bring peace and security to people just by signing an agreement. In fact, most peace agreements don't last.

I am deeply skeptical of re-entering into Iraq's civil war.

Most Americans believe that escalation will not bring the war in Iraq to a responsible end, and that's why I've proposed not just a troop cap, but a phased redeployment that will start bringing our troops home.

We must not let history repeat itself in Iraq. The reality is there is no military solution in Iraq. This is a sectarian war with long standing roots that were flamed when we invaded Iraq in 2003. Any lasting solution must be political and take into account respect for the entire Iraqi population.

It is a damned sight easier to start wars than to end them. This truth has been stated for as long and as often as it has been ignored. High time and thank God, we are at least moving toward de-escalation in Vietnam. The road to extrication will be long, painful, bitter. But it must be trod. We are so bogged down in Vietnam that we cannot respond effectively anywhere else in the world to a military power play except through atomic bombardment.

In every war at some point in time, you do sit down and negotiate.