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George Ball (diplomat) Quotes

George Wildman Ball was an American diplomat and banker. He served in the management of the US State Department from 1961 to 1966 and is remembered by most as the only cabinet member of Presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson who was a major dissenter against the escalation of the Vietnam War. Ball advised against deploying U.S. combat forces, as he believed it would lead the United States into an unwinnable war and result in a prolonged conflict. Instead, he argued that the United States should prioritize allocating its resources to Europe rather than engaging in expensive military ventures. He refused to publicize his doubts. He helped determine American policy regarding trade expansion, Congo, the Multilateral Force, de Gaulle's France, Israel and the rest of the Middle East, and the Iranian Revolution. Wikipedia  

✵ 21. December 1909 – 26. May 1994
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George Ball (diplomat) Quotes

“Nothing propinks like propinquity.”

George Ball (diplomat)

The &quot;Ball Rule of Power&quot; <br class="br">Source: Hugh, Sidey, Learning How to Build a Barn, Time, October 17, 1983, 14 September 2018 http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,952191,00.html,

“... the ultimate lesson of the Liberty attack had far more effect on policy in Israel than in America. Israel's leaders concluded that nothing they might do would offend the Americans to the point of reprisal. If America's leaders did not have the courage to punish Israel for the blatant murder of American citizens, it seemed clear that their American friends would let them get away with almost anything.”

George Ball (diplomat)

On the Israeli attack on the USS Liberty
Source: [Ball, George W., Ball, Douglas B., The Passionate Attachment: America's Involvement with Israel 1947 to the Present, 1992, W.W. Norton, 0-393-02933-6, 58]

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