George Packer Quotes

Weapons of mass destruction - nuclear, biological, and chemical weapons - are just that, and no cause can excuse their use.

Everything you have said about chemical warfare in the last two and a half years has been swatted away be the facts…How do you sleep at night representing a government that has caused so much bloodshed and that has … crossed the line from any kind of civil war into weapons of mass destruction, into one of the highest crimes of international law.

The possession of biological weapons—or actions unambiguously designed to produce them—should be categorized as a crime against humanity.

We oppose the use of chemical weapons no matter who uses them and against whom they are used.

Saddam Hussein has openly admitted to the rest of the world that he had weapons of mass destruction. He used those weapons to kill his own people.

So to recap: we may or may not be going to war with Iraq because Saddam may or may not have weapons of mass destruction, which he may or may not use, or pass to other terrorists groups with whom he may or may not have links.

The West sold Saddam Hussein the chemical weapons that he used.

Chemical and biological weaponry will be one of the grave threats to the world.

I look upon him as the greatest criminal known for having plunged the world into this ghastly war.

Unless the president can make a very compelling case that Saddam Hussein has his finger on a weapon of mass destruction and is about ready to use it, I do not think that now is the time to go to war against Saddam Hussein.

The chemical massacre of Damascus, should not, and shall not go unpunished.

Since I know that about a million people have been killed by the government of Iraq, I do not need much those weapons of mass destruction.

Let me be clear. The indiscriminate slaughter of civilians, the killing of women and children and innocent bystanders by chemical weapons, is a moral obscenity.

This idea of weapons of mass extermination is utterly horrible and is something which no one with one spark of humanity can tolerate. I will not pretend to obey a government which is organizing a mass massacre of mankind.

Such a weapon [the proposed Hydrogen Bomb] goes far beyond any military objective and enters the range of very great natural catastrophes. By its very nature it cannot be confined to a military objective but becomes a weapon which in practical effect is almost one of genocide. It is clear that the use of such a weapon cannot be justified on any ethical ground which gives a human being a certain individuality and dignity even if he happens to be a resident of an enemy country... The fact that no limits exist to the destructiveness of this weapon makes its very existence and the knowledge of its construction a danger to humanity as a whole. It is necessarily an evil thing considered in any light.

What happened in Syria was, President [Barack] Obama had made a statement announcing what he called his "red line": You can't use chemical weapons, you can do anything else but [use] chemical weapons.

This idea of weapons of mass extermination is utterly horrible and is something which no one with one spark of humanity can tolerate.

Anyone who's not military knows this fact. Why do you use chemical weapons while you're advancing ?

Imagine, a September 11 with weapons of mass destruction. It's not 3,000. It's tens of thousands of innocent men, women and children.

If Bush, as I believe, has reliable information on the fact that Saddam Hussein is making weapons of mass destruction, I cannot not support the policies of his government.

The war on Iraq was a disaster, clearly carried out under false pretences.

America responded to the 9-11 attacks by invading Iraq, only to discover that Saddam Hussein had palaces of mass luxury, not weapons of mass destruction.

(a) The use of nuclear and thermo-nuclear weapons is contrary to the spirit, letter and aims of the United Nations and, as such, a direct violation of the Charter of the United Nations; (b) The use of nuclear and thermo-nuclear weapons would exceed even the scope of war and cause indiscriminate suffering and destruction to mankind and civilization and, as such, is contrary to the rules of international law and to the laws of humanity; (c) The use of nuclear and thermo-nuclear weapons is a war directed not against an enemy or enemies alone but also against mankind in general, since the peoples of the world not involved in such a war will be subjected to all the evils generated by the use of such weapons;

Is it really more barbaric to be killed by chemicals than by “legitimate” weapons?

The trading of arms is disgusting and contributes to horrors around the world.