Barack Obama Quotes

War is not an independent phenomenon, but the continuation of politics by different means.

War is too serious a matter to entrust to military men.

I think that the decision to go to war in Iraq was a mistake.

We prefer war in all cases to tribute under any form and to any people whatever.

I think what Mr. Trump has made clear is that he would not undertake optional wars, what I have called wars of choice, a la, say Iraq in 2003 or Libya, for the purposes of transforming another country. It's not clear whether Hillary Clinton, if she were to have the opportunity, would do such a thing again or whether she would have taken a - the lesson from both Iraq and Libya that we ought not to be undertaking those kinds of wars of choice.

Good presidents, people like George Bush, they SEND people to war. They don't bring them a rescue. This is America. We rescue insurance companies and banks.

I have never believed that war settled anything satisfactorily, but I am not entirely sure that some times there are certain situations in the world such as we have in actuality when a country is worse off when it does not go to war for its principles than if it went to war.

Going to war is an easy decision.

If you think I would have gone to war the way George Bush did, don't vote for me.

War should be the politics of last resort. And when we go to war, we should have a purpose that our people understand and support.

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'm just very wary that once you start military operations in any country, it's very difficult to predict what the outcome is.

While war is never anyone first choice, sometimes it is a necessary choice.

I believe the military should be wary of diplomacy until war is declared; then the State Department should keep its nose out and let the military do whatever is necessary to win.

If your government had given me a thousandth of the sum it spent to depose me, I could have won that war.

When the commander-in-chief sends Americans to fight and die, it should be only to protect our vital national interests, not for his own personal, political gain.

Woe to the statesman whose reason for entering a war do not appear so plausible at its end as at its beginning.

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

It is not every cause of war that should lead to war.

War is but an instrument of international policy.

Diplomacy has failed. The sword must now preserve our independence.

I know I will be severely criticized by the interventionists in America when I say we should not enter a war unless we have a reasonable chance of winning.

I learned to be far more skeptical of what I'm told by presidents, no matter who the presidents are, and also to be much more cautious, always, in any action or vote that could lead to the use of American military power and most particularly what we call 'boots on the ground.'

Generically, wars in necessity are wars where, I think, the vital interest of the nation are at stake, in which there are no viable alternatives to the use of force.

Wars of necessity are essentially unavoidable. They involve the most important national interests, a lack of promising alternatives to the use of force, and a certain and considerable price to be paid if the status quo is allowed to stand. Examples include World War II and the Korean War.