Scott Ritter Quotes

This war is being played in the realm of public opinion and has dire consequences for our soldiers in Iraq, the future of our country, and freedom around the world.

What the American people want to do is fight a war without getting hurt. You can't do that any more than you can get into a barroom fight without getting hurt... Unless the American people are willing to send their sons out to fight an aggressor, there just isn't going to be any United States.

The most difficult idea to reconcile in war is the notion that anything is going to be solved by killing a stranger, or in risking your life for a cause anchored in some distant political arena.

The decision to go to war is the most important decision that I can make as a representative in Congress. As a veteran, I see any potential military action first through the eyes of the young men and women who volunteered to wear the uniform and would carry out such a mission.

The only alternative is war or national dishonor; and between these two, what American can hesitate.

If American lives must end, and American treasure be spilled, in countries we barely know, that is the price that change has demanded of conviction and of our enduring covenant.

My dear Excellency! I have not gone to war to collect cheese and eggs, but for another purpose.

What makes war interesting for Americans is that we don't fight war on our soil, we don't have direct experience of it, so there's an openness about the meanings we give to it.

What I've learned, and will try to remember from now on, is that defending your country's credibility is never sufficient reason to fight a war.

I do not believe, given her past decisions and comments on the reasons to go to war in Iraq, that Dr. Rice will be able to represent the United States without a predetermined bias from the war.

The War Powers Act requires presidents to seek the consent of the American people, through their representatives, before sending our troops into war. It is the responsibility of Congress to deliberate and consult with the executive branch before involving ourselves in a military conflict.

Almost all wars, perhaps all, are trade wars connected with some material interest. They are always disguised as sacred wars, made in the name of God, or civilization or progress. But all of them, or almost all of the wars, have been trade wars.

The political object is the goal, war is the means of reaching it, and the means can never be considered in isolation from their purposes.

You could argue that war is always an irrational act, and yet many states enter into military conflict out of rational calculation or national interest or the stability or longevity of their regime.

Going to war is a rare experience in American culture, so it's easy for simple notions to gain a lot of weight. The reality is always more complex.

I believe that the purpose for which I and my fellow soldiers entered upon this war should have been so clearly stated as to have made it impossible to change them, and that, had this been done, the objects which actuated us would now be attainable by negotiation.

What is the 'noble cause' for which you sent our country to war?

If we're going to ask our kids at age 18 to go off to war and die for their country, I don't see any problem with asking them at age 16 to think about what that might mean.

What a country calls its vital... interests are not things that help its people live, but things that help it make war.

We have to make sure that we are a force for peace and stability in the world, and that we're prepared to defend freedom and the security of the American people.

I don’t think that Americans should die to make Iraq free. What are we going to do? Have these endless wars of altruism?

When a nation is at war many things that might be said in time of peace are such a hindrance to its efforts that their utterance will not be endured.

I believe in peace through strength. I would prefer to rely on the military rather than diplomats to protect our homes.

It’s very easy to advocate going to war if you’re not one of the people who is going.

The president refuses to say… refuses to say that the objective over there is victory.