Mark Esper Quotes

America should know that peace with Iran is the mother of all peace, and war with Iran is the mother of all wars.

President Trump has always said that he does not want war, that he seeks peace with Iran, peace in the Middle East.

You can't make war in the Middle East without Egypt and you can't make peace without Syria.

Anyone who believes that the eternal question of war and peace in Europe is no longer there risks being deeply mistaken.

Our Russian policy must not be dictated by people who have already made up their minds there is no possibility of working with the Russians and that our interests are bound to conflict and ultimately lead to war. From my point of view, this is an untenable position and can but lead to disaster.

What we wanted to tell North Korea is, look, we have told you we are not looking for regime change; we are not looking for war. But don't give us a reason to get involved in any of this, and so we're going to go ahead and push for a strong resolution against North Korea.

If you don't want war, then you had better be an advocate for diplomacy with muscle.

No deal means a greater chance of more war in the Middle East.

Many Europeans are concerned that stronger sanctions are a slippery slope toward war unless the U.S. is at the table.

Disarmament requires trust.

If a nation wants to live in peace with its neighbors, it doesn't keep rattling the saber at them.

Though no one wants war, Congress needed to give the President the authority he needs to protect America while encouraging the use of diplomacy and negotiations to try and arrive at a peaceful solution to this problem.

All war represents a failure of diplomacy.

The surest way to prevent war is not to fear it.

We must continue to pursue peace through diplomacy, but we must also not shrink from our responsibility through the option of strength. We must take advantage of internal resistance and change from within Iran to avert this path of mutual destruction.

I've been arguing this for months. This is not our war. This is not a war we should be in. Australia's better spending its time negotiating with North Korea.

I don't think the Middle East could afford another war.

Diplomacy was the only protection we had against war; and its achievements were of the utmost importance and value to the human race.

Where there is no trust, how can we give up our weapons first?

I could have been very popular if I had launched a military attack on Iran but I chose patience.

Wars are to be undertaken in order that it may be possible to live in peace without molestation. Bella suscipienda sunt ob eam causam, ut sine injuria in pace vivatur.

He had rather spend 100,000 pounds on Embassies to keep or procure peace with dishonor, than 100,000 pounds on an army that would have forced peace with honor.

I have never met anyone who wasn't against war. Even Hitler and Mussolini were, according to themselves.

It’s not a very nice solution, but a wall is a hell of a lot better than a war

It is still worth talking to Iran to see if there is a way through and to prevent the huge rivalry between Saudi and Iran turning into another version of the Iran-Iraq war. That is what all countries that have influence have to be thinking about.