Dick Cheney Quotes

We bring the fight to the enemy so that they don't bring it to us.

I don't want to get any messages saying, "I am holding my position." We are not holding a Goddamned thing. Let the Germans do that. We are advancing constantly and we are not interested in holding onto anything, except the enemy's balls. We are going to twist his balls and kick the living shit out of him all of the time.

You must not fight too often with one enemy, or you will teach him all your art of war.

The idea that a war can be won by standing on the defensive and waiting for the enemy to attack is a dangerous fallacy, which owes its inception to the desire to evade the price of victory.

We have to go in and win this war quickly, and then be prepared to help stabilize Iraq over an indefinite period, five to ten years, at a minimum, I believe, using a large fraction of American forces. This is a major undertaking that likely would require a total of 150,000 troops and could stay above 100,000 for several years

The force that we went to war with after 9-11 was a force designed for the Cold War. We have much different needs today.

The aggressive spirit, the offensive, is the chief thing everywhere in war, and the air is no exception.

Blunders are an inescapable feature of war, because choice in military affairs lies generally between the bad and the worse.

As in the war of 1941-45, our victory and our survival depend on how and where we attack.

Despise the enemy strategically, but take him seriously tactically.

When an aggressor force continually launches attacks from a particular base of operations, it is sound military strategy to take the flight to the enemy.

We all know that in war the political and military factors have to complement each other.

We ought to recognize that we have an offensive responsibility to take the war to the terrorists where they are. That responsibility has waned in the last year as military and intelligence resources were withdrawn from Afghanistan and Pakistan to be used in Iraq.

Thus it is that in war the victorious strategist only seeks battle after the victory has been won, whereas he who is destined to defeat first fights and afterwards looks for victory.

One of the lessons of Vietnam, which we failed to heed in the Iraq war and the Afghanistan surge, is that before you commit U.S. military forces to aid or assist, it is essential to know what you want them to achieve.

Our military commanders have said over and over again that a timetable for withdrawal sends the wrong message to our troops, but more importantly to our enemy.

The whole art of war consists of guessing at what is on the other side of the hill.

We cannot put limitations on ourselves to protect ourselves. We have to put limitations on the enemy.

The only defence is in offence, which means that you have to kill more women and children more quickly than the enemy if you want to save yourselves.

I want you all to understand that we are at war and we will stay as war until this is done. Nothing else matters. Everything is available for the pursuit of this war. Any barriers in your way, they’re gone. Any money you need, you have it. This is our only agenda.

The idea that we could live with another 20 years of stagnation in the Middle East that breeds this radicalism and breeds terrorism is, I think, just unacceptable- especially after September 11th.

We must take the battle to the enemy, disrupt his plans, and confront the worst threats before they emerge. If we wait for threats to fully materialize we will have waited too long.

Terrour ... makes short warres

I support the current operational position and tactics in Iraq, but we’re in a bad place, we didn’t need to be there, and we shouldn’t do it again.

In cases of defense, it is best to weigh the enemy more than he seems.