Condoleezza Rice Quotes (45 quotes) | Quotes of famous people

Condoleezza Rice: 45 quotes 0 likes

Famous Condoleezza Rice Quotes

“At no time did I intend to, or do I believe that I did put forward false information to the American people.”

Condoleezza Rice

Congressional hearing http://www.reuters.com/article/middleeastCrisis/idUSN13374647, February 13, 2008.

“…those hostilities were not very well contained, as we found out on September 11th, and so the notion that somehow policies that finally confront extremism are actually causing extremism I find grotesque.”

Condoleezza Rice

Interview on ABC This Week http://web.archive.org/web/20060717235153/http://www.state.gov/secretary/rm/2006/69026.htm, July 16, 2006.

“If you have any doubt about the degree with which this is self-defense, just look at those pictures from September 11th.”

Condoleezza Rice

Interview by Wolf Blitzer on CNN http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0109/24/se.22.html, September 24, 2001.

“I think the word of the United States has been as good as gold in its international dealings and its agreements.”

Condoleezza Rice

News conference in Ottawa, Canada http://www.dailykos.com/story/2005/10/26/113322/93, October 26, 2005.

“Condoleezza Rice: But I don’t remember the al‐Qaeda cells as being something that we were told we needed to do something about.
Richard Ben-Veniste: Isn't it a fact, Dr. Rice, that the August 6 PDB [Presidential Daily Briefing] warned against possible attacks in this country? And I ask you whether you recall the title of that PDB?
Condoleezza Rice: I believe the title was, Bin Laden Determined to Attack Inside the United States.”

Condoleezza Rice

testimony before the 9/11 Commission http://www.cnn.com/2004/ALLPOLITICS/04/08/rice.transcript/, describing the August 6 PDB, May 19, 2004.

“…it is a longstanding principle that sitting national security advisers do not testify before the Congress.”

Condoleezza Rice

60 Minutes http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/03/28/60minutes/main609074.shtml, March 28, 2004.

Condoleezza Rice Quotes about people

“I don't know anyone who is more admired and respected in the international community than President Karzai, for his strength, for his wisdom and for his courage to lead this country, first in defeat of the Taliban and now a democratic and unified Afghanistan. And I can tell you I am with foreign ministers and with heads of state all over the world. I sit in the councils of NATO. I sit with the EU. I sit with people all over the world and there is great admiration for your president and also for what the Afghan people are doing here.”

Condoleezza Rice

Condoleezza Rice, June 28, 2006 http://web.archive.org/web/20060630154056/http://www.state.gov/secretary/rm/2006/68396.htm

“…the consolidation of a stable and democratic Iraq after the overthrow of Saddam Hussein is a part of what America owes to the Iraqi people, owes to the region, and owes to ourselves so that our own security is there. Chris, it would be like saying that after Adolf Hitler was overthrown, we needed to change then the resolution that allowed the United States to do that so that we could deal with creating a stable environment in Europe after he was overthrown.”

Condoleezza Rice

Interview on Fox News Sunday http://www.state.gov/secretary/rm/2007/feb/81037.htm, February 25, 2007.

“People may oppose you, but when they realize you can hurt them, they'll join your side.”

Condoleezza Rice

Advice given to her protégée, Kiron Skinner, while serving as Provost at Stanford University; quoted in James Mann, Rise of the Vulcans (Penguin Books, New York: 2004, ISBN 0-143-03489-8, p. 227.

“I'm very glad that there was, in fact, a consequence. I think that this kind of coarse language doesn't belong anywhere in reasonable dialogue between reasonable people. … It gets ruined by this disgusting -- and I'll use the word 'disgusting' -- comment which doesn't belong in any polite company and certainly doesn't belong on any radio station that I would listen to.”

Condoleezza Rice

Interview http://today.reuters.com/news/articlenews.aspx?type=politicsNews&storyid=2007-04-13T215538Z_01_N13229123_RTRUKOC_0_US-USA-RACE-IMUS-RICE.xml&src=rss&rpc=22 by Michael Medved, April 13, 2007.

“I don't think that anybody could have predicted that these people would take an airplane and slam it into the World Trade Center, take another one and slam it into the Pentagon, that they would try to use an airplane as a missile”

Condoleezza Rice

Press conference http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2004-03-30-questions-usat_x.htm, May 16, 2002.

“Sometimes people decide to write reports even though they haven't been to Guantanamo. And so I would just suggest that people look at some of the work that's been done by people who have been there. But that's not to say that we will not be very glad at the day that conditions permit the closure of Guantanamo and the trying of its inhabitants or for their release.”

Condoleezza Rice

Remarks With British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw At Blackburn Town Hall http://web.archive.org/web/20060405071024/http://www.state.gov/secretary/rm/2006/63980.htm, April 1, 2006.

Condoleezza Rice Quotes about thinking

“Oh, indeed there is a tie between Iraq and what happened on 9/11. It’s not that Saddam Hussein was somehow himself and his regime involved in 9/11, but, if you think about what caused 9/11, it is the rise of ideologies of hatred that lead people to drive airplanes into buildings in New York.”

Condoleezza Rice

CBS News http://www.gop.com/news/read.aspx?ID=4386, November 28, 2003.

“Now, six years ago, al-Qaeda was planning to attack the Twin Towers. It wasn't a very nice world. And I think that if you think about six years ago, al-Qaida was preparing to attack the Twin Towers, Pakistan was allied with the Taliban, Afghanistan was the base from which al-Qaida was going to operate; the Israelis and the Palestinians had given up on a chance for -- or let me put it, the Palestinians had walked away from a chance for a Palestinian state, launched the second intifada, elected Ariel Sharon who basically said there would never be a Palestinian state and there will be a greater Israel; the North Korean were cheating on a deal that they had just signed; China and others were indifferent to that because it was a U. S.-North Korea bilateral deal; Iran was cheating on the IAEA out of sight. I could go on and on and on. That was the world in 2000 and 2001. And there is no doubt that by confronting -- oh, by the way, and Saddam Hussein was shooting at our pilots regularly in the no-fly zone and making a mockery of the Oil-for-Peace -- Oil-for-Food program and corruption was running rampant in that program. So, a worse world? I think so.”

Condoleezza Rice

Interview With the Associated Press Editorial Board http://www.state.gov/secretary/rm/2007/06/86248.htm, June 8, 2007.

“And so the administration, I think, has said to the American people that it is a generational commitment to Iraq.”

Condoleezza Rice

FOX News Sunday http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,160008,00.html, June 19, 2005.

“Condoleezza Rice: I think that these historical circumstances require a very detailed and sober look from historians and what we've encouraged the Turks and the Armenians to do is to have joint historical commissions that can look at this, to have efforts to examine their past and, in examining their past, to get over their past.
Adam Schiff:… you come out of academia… is there any reputable historian you're aware of that takes issue with the fact that the murder of 1.5 million Armenians constituted genocide?
Condoleezza Rice: Congressman, I come out of academia, but I'm secretary of state now and I think that the best way to have this proceed is for the United States not to be in the position of making this judgment, but rather for the Turks and the Armenians to come to their own terms about this.
Adam Schiff:… Why is it only this genocide? Is it because Turkey is a strong ally? Is that an ethical and moral reason to ignore the murder of 1.5 million people? Why is it we don't say, "Let's relegate the Holocaust to historians" or "relegate the Cambodian genocide or Rwandan genocide?" Why is it only this genocide that we should let the Turks acknowledge or not acknowledge?
Condoleezza Rice: Congressman, we have recognized and the president recognizes every year in a resolution that he himself issues the historical circumstances and the tragedy that befell the Armenian people at that time…
Adam Schiff:… You recognize more than anyone, as a diplomat, the power of words. And I'm sure you supported the recognition of genocide in Darfur, not calling it tragedy, not calling it atrocity, not calling it anything else, but the power and significance of calling it genocide. Why is that less important in the case of the Armenian genocide?
Condoleezza Rice: Congressman, the power here is in helping these people to move forward… And, yes, Turkey is a good ally and that is important. But more important is that like many historical tragedies, like many historical circumstances of this kind, people need to come to terms with it and they need to move on.
Adam Schiff:… Iran hosts conferences of historians on the Holocaust. I don't think we want to get in the business of encouraging conferences of historians on the undeniable facts of the Armenian genocide.”

Condoleezza Rice

Appropriations hearing before the Subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs http://schiff.house.gov/news/press-releases/schiff-presses-secretary-of-state-rice-on-armenian-genocide-recognition, March 21, 2007.

Condoleezza Rice Quotes

“And so, by definition, if it was authorized by the president, it did not violate our obligations under the Conventions Against Torture.”

Condoleezza Rice

Quoted in Glenn Kessler, "Rice Defends Enhanced Interrogations," http://voices.washingtonpost.com/44/2009/04/30/rice_defends_enhanced_interrog.html?hpid=news-col-blog Washington Post (2009-04-30).
Context: In terms of the enhanced interrogation and so forth, anything that was legal and was going to make this country safer, the president wanted to do. Nothing that was illegal. And nothing that was going to make the country less safe. Unless you were there, in a position of responsibility after September 11th, you cannot possibly imagine the dilemmas that you faced in trying to protect Americans. You were determined to do anything that you could that was legal to prevent that from happening again... We were told, nothing that violates our obligations under the Convention Against Torture. And so, by definition, if it was authorized by the president, it did not violate our obligations under the Conventions Against Torture.

“This is not 1968 and the invasion of Czechoslovakia, where Russia can threaten its neighbors, occupy a capital, overthrow a government, and get away with it. Things have changed.”

Condoleezza Rice

Press briefing http://2001-2009.state.gov/secretary/rm/2008/08/108194.htm, August 13, 2008.

Change

“This test has much in common with the other great challenges that are defining this young century -- from weapons proliferation, to the spread of disease, to transnational terrorism. These are truly global problems, and no one nation, no matter how much power or political will it possesses, can succeed alone. We all need partners, and we all need to work in concert.”

Condoleezza Rice

US Department of State http://www.state.gov/secretary/rm/2007/09/92893.htm, September 28, 2007.

Disease , Problem

“…there have been plenty of markers that show that this is a country that is worth the investment because once it emerges as a country that is a stabilizing factor, you'll have a very different kind of Middle East. And I know that from the point of view of not just monetary costs, but the sacrifice of American lives, a lot has been sacrificed for Iraq, a lot has been invested in Iraq.”

Condoleezza Rice

Interview by Anne Gearan of the Associated Press http://www.state.gov/secretary/rm/2006/78200.htm, December 21, 2006.

Country

“My Fox guys, I love every single one of them.”

Condoleezza Rice

Comments overheard on an open microphone between morning television interviews http://web.archive.org/web/20070111182154/http://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/01/11/rice.reut/index.html, January 11, 2007.

Love , Guy

“The United States doesn't and can't condone torture. And I want to make very clear that that's the view and the policy of the administration, the policy of the president, and that he's made very clear to American personnel that we will not condone torture…. Senator, under no circumstances should we or have we condoned torture. And the president has been very clear that he expects everyone to live up to our international obligations and to American law.”

Condoleezza Rice

Secretary of State confirmation hearing http://www.nytimes.com/2005/01/18/politics/18TEXT-RICE2.html?pagewanted=13&ei=5070&en=0134785e4e0eeadd&ex=1182225600, January 18, 2005.

Law

“You are a good friend and we welcome you.”

Condoleezza Rice

[http://web.archive.org/web/20060413191309/http://www.state.gov/secretary/rm/2006/64434.htm Remarks With Equatorial Guinean President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogol April 12, 2006.

“In response to a question about what "keeps her up at night", I worry about the fact that in K-12 education I can look at your zip code and tell whether or not you're going to get a good education.”

Condoleezza Rice

Interview by Donna Shalala C-Span Video Library No Higher Honor http://www.c-spanvideo.org/program/302536-1 University of Miami, School of Business Administration, November 3, 2011.

Education , Question , Night

“This is your baby. Go do it.”

Condoleezza Rice

Regarding directives to the CIA on which torture techniques should be used. Summer 2002 http://web.archive.org/web/20080412210301/news.yahoo.com/s/thenation/20080410/cm_thenation/45308561 http://abcnews.go.com/TheLaw/LawPolitics/Story?id=4635175&page=1.

Baby

“I'm a terrible long-term planner.”

Condoleezza Rice

Interview by Maria Bartiromo in Business Week http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/07_30/b4043101.htm, 23 July, 2007.

“Protests are a part of our democratic heritage and our democratic privilege … [US and British efforts in Afghanistan and Iraq] are finally getting those countries to the place that actually people might have the same privilege of protest.”

Condoleezza Rice

http://www.guardian.co.uk/print/0,3858,4798183-110878,00.html The Guardian, 2003-11-15

People , Effort , Parting , Country

“You see, this war came to us, not the other way around.”

Condoleezza Rice

Remarks at the U.S. embassy in Baghdad, Iraq http://usinfo.state.gov/usinfo/Archive/2005/May/16-275013.html, May 15, 2005.

War , Way

“The growth of entrepreneurial classes throughout the world is an asset in the promotion of human rights and individual liberty, and it should be understood and used as such. Yet peace is the first and most important condition for continued prosperity and freedom. America's military power must be secure because the United States is the only guarantor of global peace and stability. The current neglect of America's armed forces threatens its ability to maintain peace.”

Condoleezza Rice

Foreign Affairs http://www.foreignaffairs.org/20000101faessay5-p20/condoleezza-rice/campaign-2000-promoting-the-national-interest.html, January/February 2000.

World , Peace , Freedom

“Punish France, ignore Germany, and forgive Russia.”

Condoleezza Rice

Washington Post http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn?pagename=article&contentId=A10978-2003Apr11, April 13, 2003.

Forgiveness

“We are at war, and our security as a nation depends on winning that war.”

Condoleezza Rice

opening statement to 9/11 Commission http://www.cnn.com/2004/ALLPOLITICS/04/08/rice.transcript/, May 19, 2004.

War , Dependency

“Senator, I'm happy to continue the discussion, but I really hope that you will not imply that I take the truth lightly.”

Condoleezza Rice

Secretary of State confirmation hearing http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2005/01/18/RICEBOXER.DTL, January 19, 2005.

Truth , Hope , Happiness

“I have no doubt that as the Iraqi security forces get better, and they are getting better and they are holding territory and they are doing these things with minimal help, that we are going to be able to bring down the levels of our forces. And I have no doubt that that's going to happen in a reasonable time frame.”

Condoleezza Rice

Senate Foreign Relations Committee Hearing On U.S Foreign Policy in Iraq http://www.feingold.senate.gov/statements/05/10/20051019SFRC.html, October 19, 2005.

Time , Help

“We have had some bad incidents and there continue to be allegations of others which will be investigated; but overwhelmingly American forces there, putting their lives on the line every day, protecting Iraqis, helping to liberate them, that is appreciated by the Iraqi people and by the Prime Minister.”

Condoleezza Rice

Interview on Fox News Sunday http://web.archive.org/web/20060607112722/http://www.state.gov/secretary/rm/2006/67502.htm, June 4, 2006.

People , Help

“The United States government does not authorise or condone torture of detainees. Torture, and conspiracy to commit torture, are crimes under US law, wherever they may occur in the world.”

Condoleezza Rice

In response to the allegation that the U.S. has operated secret CIA prisons in Eastern Europe http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/4500630.stm, December 5, 2005.

World , Law

“In light of 50 years of bondage of Eastern Europe, [invading the Soviet Union in 1948 to prevent it from acquiring nuclear weapons] was probably a reasonable thing to do.”

Condoleezza Rice

TIME Magazine http://www.walter-c-uhler.com/Reviews/VE_Day.html, October 2002.

Light

“When are we going to stop making excuses for the terrorists and saying that somebody is making them do it? No, these are simply evil people who want to kill.”

Condoleezza Rice

PBS http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/white_house/july-dec05/rice_7-28.html, July 28, 2005.

People , Evil

“These people are making a choice for peace and that means that the time is coming in which this insurgency will have no foothold, in which it will be defeated, defeated by Iraqis and in which we can fully come home.”

Condoleezza Rice

Interview on ABC Good Morning America http://web.archive.org/web/20051219090425/http://www.state.gov/secretary/rm/2005/58191.htm, December 16, 2005.

People , Peace , Home , Time

“The United States has been very clear that we did have to have some political basis to make clear that that cessation of hostilities was not going to countenance a return to the status quo ante. This resolution does that. And now we're going to see who is for peace and who isn't.”

Condoleezza Rice

Press Briefing http://www.state.gov/secretary/rm/2006/70015.htm, August 6, 2006.

Hostility , Peace

“It's bad policy to speculate on what you'll do if a plan fails, when you're trying to make a plan work.”

Condoleezza Rice

Testimony before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/11/AR2007011100437_3.html, January 11, 2007.

“…I am proud of the decision of this Administration to overthrow Saddam Hussein. I am proud of the liberation of 25 million Iraqis. And I’m proud to see an Iraq that is now emerging with a stronger government, a truly multiethnic, multi-sectarian government that’s about to have its second set of elections, that’s inviting private investment into Iraq, and that is making peace with its Arab neighbors.”

Condoleezza Rice

Interview With Judy Woodruff of Bloomberg TV http://www.state.gov/secretary/rm/2008/07/106520.htm, July 1, 2008.

Peace , Decision

“But in terms of Saddam Hussein being there, let's remember that his country is divided, in effect. He does not control the northern part of his country. We are able to keep arms from him. His military forces have not been rebuilt.”

Condoleezza Rice

CNN Late Edition With Wolf Blitzer http://www.radio4all.net/proginfo.php?id=7877, July 29, 2001.

Parting , Country

“In any country, if you don't have countervailing institutions, the power of any one president is problematic for democratic development.”

Condoleezza Rice

Speaking of Russian President Vladimir Putin; Moscow, 13 October 2007
[Matthew, Lee, http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory?id=3726222, Rice worried by Putin's broad powers, ABC News, 13 October 2007, 2007-10-14].

Country

“As I was telling my husb— As I was telling President Bush.”

Condoleezza Rice

Newsweek http://msnbc.msn.com/id/4824766/, May 3, 2004.