Daniel Burton Quotes

The problem here is that there will always be some uncertainty about how quickly Saddam can acquire nuclear weapons. But we don't want the smoking gun to be a mushroom cloud.

As long as some of us choose to rely on nuclear weapons, we continue to risk that these same weapons will become increasingly attractive to others.

The threat from Saddam Hussein and weapons of mass destruction - chemical, biological, potentially nuclear weapons capability - that threat is real.

For every security measure, there is a counter measure that breeds further insecurity. The acquisition by Pakistan or Iran of a nuclear capability neutralizes the security achieved by Israel’s own nuclear capability. Non-governmental terrorism neutralizes governmental military superiority. Chemical weapons neutralize the security of cement walls.

There is only one thing worse than one nation having the atomic bomb -- that's two nations having it.

Any possession of nuclear weapons in the Middle East is a danger.

There is no secret; and there is no defense. Within some few years Russia and many smaller countries can have their installations ready to make atom bombs by the hundreds, just like America, Atom bombs are the cheapest means of town-destruction …. Russia has numbers of devoted agents in every country--they can easily be smuggled in and hidden, to destroy everything for miles around at the fixed moment. An immense army of security officers and spies will be needed, continually to inspect every box or case in any house.

Anyone who says that Iran will commit suicide with its nuclear power is a moron and has no business in discussion.

If you're Iran's minister of defense, I think you'd try to develop at least one nuclear weapon to save yourself from what happened to Iraq.

The risk of just one terrorist with just one nuclear weapon is a risk we simply cannot afford to take.

The most dangerous thing Iraq could have ever had was a nuclear weapon. The nuclear weapon Iraq was trying to build was not deliverable by bomb or ballistic missile. It was a large, bulky device that they hoped to bury and set off to let the world know they had a nuclear weapon. They never achieved that.

We are categorically against any new military nuclear power, be it Iran, be it North Korea, be it anyone.

The biggest problem that we have on the face of the planet is Iran getting a nuclear weapon.

We still need to be conscious of the fact that Russia has intercontinental ballistic missiles.

If we are to assume that North Korea becomes a nuclear-power state, of course the danger of having an all-out nuclear war, that possibility is very slim.

A nuclear weapon is not just a football that you can use at will.

Any country that has a nuclear bomb is a super power.

To be a major power, a country must have nuclear weapons.

If India builds the bomb we will eat grass or leaves, we will go hungry. But we will get one of our own.

We cannot allow the world’s worst leaders to threaten us with the world’s worst weapons.

The goal [of disarmament] is no longer a dream. It is a practical matter of life or death. The risks inherent in disarmament pale in comparison to the risks inherent in an unlimited arms race...

Simply stated, there is no doubt that Saddam Hussein now has weapons of mass destruction. There is no doubt that he is amassing them to use against our friends, against our allies, and against us.

I think we have to get rid of nuclear weapons. The idea that somehow by having nuclear weapons you make the world a safer place is essentially insane.

Israel’s development of nuclear capability would be a cause for war, no matter how suicidal it would be for us.

If Iran gets nuclear weapons we are near to the apocalypse.